I have read some of your comments and you seem to be very knowledgeable of the Pioneer Elite products and I was wondering if you could just help me to define what the difference is (besides the price) between the VSX55 and the VSX 53? If it's just the i-link, is it worth to pay the difference?. Are these two receivers highly recommended for music?
I thank you greatly in advance for your attention.
For a complete list of features of these two go to Pioneer's website and compare. The 55 does have the ilink as you say, has a phone input, and a much better remote. DSP's and DAK's are the same. Depending on what speakers you have these are excellent for music and movies. I have Monitor Audio Silvers and the combination is excellent. More laid back speakers like Paradigm are not such a good combination. The Elite's are very elegant looking, have very good build quality, a high end feel to their controls and exceptional power supplies. Whether you like their sonic characteristics only you can say.
The euro version of VSX 53 (the VSX-AX3) does not have component switching, but it seems that the 53 has 2 in, 1 out. So no difference there.
Music Fan
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Posted on
I truly appreciate your input both (Elite fan and Landroval) I just found out that there is a dealer in this area who carries these receivers. I will pay a visit and then decide which one to buy.
Thanks !
Music fan
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Actually, how safe is to buy on line? the retailers say that their products are brand new and factory sealed. but the prices are so low ! Too good to be true ?
I'd check the dealers' credentials real closely. Questions I'd ask:
- Does the BBB (Better Biz Bureau) have any complaints about them in their file? Check at search.bbb.org. If there are no complaints, check around to see if anyone you know has dealt with the company. Or google for the company's name. Sometimes customers who got shafted will be more than happy to let the whole world know through a website.
- Are they authorized? Just because they sell a product doesn't mean they're allowed to by the manufacturer. That could mean mondo headaches if you need to have warranty repairs done. Some companies out and out refuse to repair things bought from unauthorized dealers. Or claim to, at least.
- Whether or not the dealer is authorized, is it a legal sale? A lowball price could indicate that you're about to buy foreign goods not meant for US sale - gray market. And you're DEFINITLEY out of luck on warranty repairs if that's the case.
Don't mean to cause any paranoia here...just making sure you make an informed decision since online retailers can have wide swings in their ethics. Indeed there are some VERY good ones. But for every good one is at least one bad one. Be careful out there.