PioneerVSX-935 7.2 Channel Surround Sound Network Receiver Dolby Atmos (2021)

Works and is awsome

This has given me great “smart” audio for my home and patio. It is very intuitive to set up and plenty of features.I’ve found the Bluetooth to not be the best but play music through AirPlay rather than Bluetooth and it works great.The app right on your phone is great to independently control the zones. As well asmany other features.

The two-way Bluetooth feature (using your AirPods to watch TV, etc.) was the number one reason I chose this receiver. But it's so wildly difficult to use and unreliable that I have given up trying to use it. You have to switch your TV to the receiver input and go through several layers of menus, and even then it rarely works. There should be a button for it somewhere (preferably on the remote), but there's not. I'm just not willing to spend five minutes of my life every night fiddling with this to turn that on. Oh and the receiver likes to just stop working. On my first one, the display simply didn't work, and there was no way to exchange it; only return it. On the replacement unit I bought, there was no sound. At all. I only got it working by randomly pushing buttons. Turning "room 2" (a feature I don't have hooked up and never use) on and off again fixed the issue for some reason. Then it happened again and I had to do the same thing to get it working again. Then... just the whole interface looks and works like it's from the 90s. These receiver companies need to get with the program and hire some actual UI designers. So... I use it. It works most of the time and does sound good. But I hate it.

It took two tries but I like the results. The first receiver was DOA. The vendor was quick to send out another receiver. The firmware on this receiver needs work. I hope Pioneer works out the kinks. The connectivity options are great as is the video. The receiver works flawlessly with Audirvana and works well with DSD128. The remote control buttons even work back through my network to Audirvana.The room correction with phase correction is much better than my decade old previous receiver. The detail I am getting is very close to what I hear with a dedicated DAC and headphone amplifier. I very much like the dialog control for video content. The receiver lacks suffisticated compression and dynamic EQ, or video controls. It has compression and EQ , but just on or off. This lack of things to screw up might grow on me. There is much to be said for simplicity.

This receiver was a bit difficult to install. The way the speaker wires connect is not well placed but hopefully I am done with that now. Also I used the automatic setup but was not happy with the results. I did a manual setup and now this thing sounds good! I am extremely happy with the sound and function. I replaced an old Onkio receiver that had quit working and this one blows that one out of the water. This Pioneer will play all the speakers when listening to music which always irritated me about the Onkio not doing that. I still have my same speakers and the sound is crisp and clear and loud. Up to 50 the volume is pretty low and gradual adjust which is nice for listening low but top level 50 and it gets loud fast. My ears can only handle up to 68 and then its too loud. I seriously couldn't be more happy. This thing surpasses my expectations. Very happy with my purchase. It even has an rf remote and dual zone speaker output if I want to put speakers in a different room or on the deck. The display is clear and not too busy with a dimmer on it. Where I have it its not very visible but is a good looking receiver I wouldn't mind having prominently visible. Very glad I picked this Pioneer out.

This receiver has so many features it will take you a few days of exploring around to figure it all out. The mic it comes with when setting up the speakers gets you a baseline but you will have to go back in and manually adjust the volume settings on each speaker and turn it up and the distance too will have to be extended if you want the true good sound this receiver will produce. It has a feature that allows you to sync it with a ROKU remote and when you turn on your ROKU it also turns on the receiver and it controls the volume to. The Bluetooth works great too which was another selling point for me since I like to stream music. Great receiver I recommend and Amazon has a very good price if you have a tight budget!

Easy to set up. The sound is incredible. I have always been a fan of Pioneer and this unit is exactly what I expected. The control app on my IPhone was even better than I expected!

Edited: an OK AV receiver as long as you don’t want any form of modern connectivity or remote control options. Connection was simple. Sound and video is amazing! It’s supposed to have connectivity to Alexa but that no longer works. It does have a remote app, but the app is worthless as you cannot control anything with it. Those abilities seem to have been removed in a recent “update” to the remote app :( After several months with the receiver I am now less impressed with it. Sound and video quality is OK, but who is selling an AV receiver in 2024 without some kind of remote control capability :(