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NorthernShoob
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- Review count2
- Helpfulness votes109
- First reviewNovember 5, 2016
- Last reviewJuly 28, 2017
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating5
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NorthernShoob's Reviews
Discover high-quality audio and video with this Pioneer A/V receiver. The advanced 11.2-channel surround sound ensures you get the ultimate in audio quality, and it's compatible with 4K video, whether you are streaming with Google Cast or Apple AirPlay. Built-in Wi-Fi delivers easy compatibility and control from this Pioneer A/V receiver.
Customer Rating
5
Worth every penny!
on July 28, 2017
Posted by: NorthernShoob
I was in the market for a way to setup an 11.2 Dolby Atmos/DTS:X system in my living room (After having seen Logan w/Atmos at a theater that supported it, I was in love). I have 2 Klipsch R-28F speakers, 4 Klipsch R-26F speakers, and 1 Klipsch center speaker, along with 4 Klipsch RP-140S speakers - my Denon receiver supported Atmos, but only up to 7.2. I didn't want to run a separate amplifier, and wanted one AV receiver to rule them all (For ease of access, and to give a clean look). I went over to my local Best Buy, and was recommended this receiver by an associate there (Who setup a similar Atmos system, but w/a 9.2 Pioneer receiver v. the 11.2 I bought). I ordered the receiver, and waited for it to arrive (Paid for 1-day shipping).
Three days later, it arrived! Be warned that this receiver is extremely heavy (Caught the Fedex guy/myself off guard, felt like it'd be easier to carry a palette of bricks), and is probably around 60-70lb. First thing I noticed when taking it out of the box was the build quality - it felt like the $3000 I dropped on a receiver was actually worth $3000. The front panel is beautiful, adorned with a gold "PIONEER ELITE" logo on the front of it (Buttons are hidden behind the panel, which is a nice touch - gives it a very clean look overall).
Now, let me tell you right off the bat that this receiver has way more inputs than I'll ever need - I have a Sony UBP-X800 Blu-Ray player, Xbox One S, Playstation 4 Pro, and an Nintendo Switch. The receiver has 7 HDMI ports total, and 5 that support HDCP 2.2 (For 4k content playback). I don't have any other devices at the moment, so that was perfect for me (But if you have a lot of devices to connect, this is the receiver for you).
Setup was extremely easy - the speaker plugs in the back have a plastic backing to protect against the wires touching the metal parts of the receiver (Much appreciated feature). It took some work to get the massive thing into place (Being 60+ lb), but it fit like a glove in my media center.
Once you turn it on for the first time, it doesn't prompt you to set it up - you have to press the home/setup button on the remote to get to that menu. I haven't tested the mcacc automatic tuning feature, as I calibrated/measured/laser lined everything by hand for precise measurements, but my last experience with Audyssey (On the Denon) was fine. Setup was a breeze, and everything went without a hitch w/calibrating everything.
Now, onto the juicy part - the movies. I didn't have an Atmos demo disc on hand, so I opted to use Deadpool on 4k Blu-ray for the first movie I would watch. I put it in my Blu-ray player, pressed play, and went to the scene with (Spoiler alert) Wade jumping off of the bridge to intercept the convoy.
I was whelmed - the sound felt a bit muted, and I felt like the speakers were underperforming (W/the back surround speakers not firing at all). I chalked it up to being an okay/buggy receiver, and was going to return it (My Denon sounded better).
Then I realized that my Blu-ray player was set to PCM for the audio output - I set it to Bitstream (Let the receiver decode the raw audio), and rewatched the same scene.
o
m
goodness
m
goodness
Words cannot describe how amazing Atmos/DTS:X is - it's absolutely mind-blowing (The sound of helicopters flying overhead, bullets flying by, glass hitting the ground, explosions coming from all around) - it caught me off guard. The receiver really shined with the audio being bitstream - the sound was crystal clear - no fuzziness, no distortion at higher volumes (I turned it up to the point that I was worried I was going to lose my hearing, and it was still loud and clear). The bass was tight and clean (Each subwoofer firing independently from each other), but still shook the room (The molding in my kitchen was actually knocked loose, and I had to nail it into place v. gluing it). Each speaker sung in perfect harmony with each other, like a relay race (Where one speaker would hand off the sound to another w/o choppiness/delays) - it was a melting pot of orchestrated chaos, and it was beautiful.
Side notes, I love the fact that the receiver is connected w/so many Internet apps (And has the ability to stream from high-resolution services, such as Tidal). I use Spotify when listening to some relaxing music while working in my living room on my laptop, and the ability to control the receiver from the app on my phone/tablet/PC is wonderful. It's a receiver that is designed to truly do everything a home theater needs to do, and it executes that perfectly.
If you love music, movies, or games, and want to get a complete Dolby Atmos/DTS:X system in one package, get this receiver. It is absolutely the best receiver I've ever purchased, and is worth every penny - the difference while watching movies/listening to music is night and day.
My Best Buy number: 2932078966
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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-29points
35of 99voted this as helpful.
The Nighthawk X10 AD7200 Smart WiFi Router is industry's fastest router for media streaming with Plex media server. The X10 delivers 802.11ac/ad WiFi for ultra-smooth 4K streaming, VR gaming and instant downloads. With a powerful 1.7GHz quad core processor and Quad-Stream architecture, you can enjoy combined wireless speeds of up to 7.2Gbps.
Posted by: NorthernShoob
Forgive the unoriginal title, but this router truly left me speechless. As a system administrator, I'm always using the latest and greatest technology, so I can keep up to date and be current with the trends. I had a Netgear Nighthawk X6, but noticed that it started slowing down when I added more smart devices to my network (I currently have > 50 wifi-enabled devices connected to my router at a given moment).
This router answered my prayers - I was truly taken aback by the performance of this router. Plugging it in, I was amazed to see an amazing boost in performance, reliability, and range. I have a 3000sqft home, and I previously designed a mesh network to cover the entire house. With this router in my basement, the entire house has a strong wifi signal (Even outside in my front yard).
Performance-wise, this blows the X6 out of the water. I have a few 4K TV's, and noticed slow-downs when trying to run multiple streams at once from Netflix (Even though my Internet is > 200mbps). When I installed this, I could watch 4K streams on all of my TV's at the same time, while using my smart phone and tablet to check up on my other devices/read the news - all without running into lag (MU-MIMO is most likely to thank for this). Streaming 4K content from my NAS drive is a piece of cake with this - the included USB 3.0 ports are also great for when I need to share content across the entire network (Eg. Family photos from a vacation, or movies on a hard-drive).
By far, my favorite feature is the built-in Plex server. My Plex library has > 5tb of content (1080p & 4K, DTS-HD-MA) that I use to stream to my home theater system. I was previously using my custom built work computer, but even my i7 processor was sweating a bit when it came to transcoding videos in real-time. From my observations, the X10 can handle two simultaneous Plex streams at the same time without slowing down (Thanks to its quad-core design). Being able to shift the responsibility of transcoding videos to my router was a godsend that I didn't know I needed until I tried it out for the first time.
Last point - 802.11ad. 802.11ad isn't supported by many devices yet, and has its shortcomings (Mainly range/penetration through materials). By VR ready, Netgear is saying that this router is capable of supporting 802.11ad VR headsets when companies start releasing them. At the moment, I can't gauge how the 802.11ad performs (As I don't have devices that support 802.11ad), but I'll be very excited to see how this beast handles wireless VR gaming.
Be warned though, this router is huge, and will take up a lot of space on your desk (It's about 25-40% bigger than the X6), but that's to accommodate the massive heatsink that's needed to keep everything cool.
If you have $500 to spare, and you're a media/technology enthusiast like myself, get this router - you won't regret it!
My Best Buy number: 2932078966
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+63points
74of 85voted this as helpful.
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