A good entry level AV receiver down to £179 from £249 with good reviews


With soundbar-beating audio and input flexibility, the Pioneer VSX531 is your entry to truly immersive surround sound.
Top value cinema sound
Featuring both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD surround sound processors, the Pioneer VSX531 makes an ideal entry into the immersive world of High Definition surround sound. With 100w per channel, the VSX531 has the power to fill all but the largest rooms and makes even the best TV sound tinny by comparison.
Stream music from your mobile via Bluetooth
With a Bluetooth receiver built in, it's easy to enjoy your music from other devices. Pair with your smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC and wirelessly stream all your favourite music. With the possibility of streaming music services, such as Spotify, Deezer and Tidal, as well as your own music library, you get access to near unlimited music!
Advanced Sound Retriever for enhanced detail
Advanced Sound Retriever (ASR) improves the dynamic response from compressed music sources, adding 'sparkle' to the sound and restoring the sound quality. Ideal for use with WMA, AAC and MP3 files played via disc or USB, ASR makes music sound more realistic than before.
Equipped for a 4K future
Although focused on value, the Pioneer VSX531 still has an eye for the future. Featuring the latest HDMI connections with support for HDCP 2.2, you can stream UltraHD video and it's ready for use with the exciting new range of 4K UHD Blu-ray players.
USB and multiple sockets
Also standard is a front-mounted USB socket. Plug in your USB device and you'll instantly be able to playback MP3, WMA and AAC music files. There are also four HDMI inputs, both optical and coaxial digital inputs, a range of audio and composite video connections and a headphone socket for private listening.
Easy set-up
Despite packing a lot of tech in, the VSX531 is easy to set-up and use. Pioneer's unique MCACC (Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration) system tunes the amplifier to the size of listening room and speaker placement, at the touch of a button. Phase Control technology means a cohesive sound between the speakers, wherever you choose to place them in the room.
Take your TV's sound to a new dimension, with the immersive Pioneer VSX531.


With soundbar-beating audio and input flexibility, the Pioneer VSX531 is your entry to truly immersive surround sound.
Top value cinema sound
Featuring both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD surround sound processors, the Pioneer VSX531 makes an ideal entry into the immersive world of High Definition surround sound. With 100w per channel, the VSX531 has the power to fill all but the largest rooms and makes even the best TV sound tinny by comparison.
Stream music from your mobile via Bluetooth
With a Bluetooth receiver built in, it's easy to enjoy your music from other devices. Pair with your smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC and wirelessly stream all your favourite music. With the possibility of streaming music services, such as Spotify, Deezer and Tidal, as well as your own music library, you get access to near unlimited music!
Advanced Sound Retriever for enhanced detail
Advanced Sound Retriever (ASR) improves the dynamic response from compressed music sources, adding 'sparkle' to the sound and restoring the sound quality. Ideal for use with WMA, AAC and MP3 files played via disc or USB, ASR makes music sound more realistic than before.
Equipped for a 4K future
Although focused on value, the Pioneer VSX531 still has an eye for the future. Featuring the latest HDMI connections with support for HDCP 2.2, you can stream UltraHD video and it's ready for use with the exciting new range of 4K UHD Blu-ray players.
USB and multiple sockets
Also standard is a front-mounted USB socket. Plug in your USB device and you'll instantly be able to playback MP3, WMA and AAC music files. There are also four HDMI inputs, both optical and coaxial digital inputs, a range of audio and composite video connections and a headphone socket for private listening.
Easy set-up
Despite packing a lot of tech in, the VSX531 is easy to set-up and use. Pioneer's unique MCACC (Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration) system tunes the amplifier to the size of listening room and speaker placement, at the touch of a button. Phase Control technology means a cohesive sound between the speakers, wherever you choose to place them in the room.
Take your TV's sound to a new dimension, with the immersive Pioneer VSX531.
It does support HDR here is pioneer specs here pioneerelectronics.com/PUS…531
SO HDR10 is good news, not seeing anything about Dolby Vision though.
Great value for an HDR10 device though, given most TVs don't do DV anyway.
Why wouldn't it do vision is it not just pass through for the video signal.
It still needs to support it.
Really impressed with setup.
Atmos appears to be massive overkill for the home user. What is its USP that makes it really worth having at home?
Can I ask where/how you did this?
accorduing to who? I have a 5.1.2 system and sounds fantastic and with the PC and Xbox embracing this format why not?
Presumably Richer Sounds - who sold out after that deal was posted, and nobody else has stock any more - at least not close to that price. So not a lot of point to his post really.
The sound was good but it has very very basic settings.
Bluetooth was unusable as it kept cutting out and it didn't seem to support CEC control unless it was plugged into an ARC hdmi socket on the TV. Meaning the volume control on my tv remote or freebies remote wouldn't control the AV receiver. (Annoying having to switch around multiple remotes)
This was no good for me as on my Samsung, only port 1 was full bandwidth 4k HDR and port 3 was ARC.
It also didn't switch it's audio input automatically when using the TV smart apps.
My previous ONKYO does all the above correctly, as does the Yamaha that I replaced the pioneer with.
Good sound, poor software and no firmware updates available.
Also with my Xbox one plugged into it, the Xbox said it didn't support HDR (though it should) despite being set to passthrough .
Same cables and setup with the Yamaha works fine.
Like rev6 said, if it doesn't support it then it won't pass through.
I wouldn't recommend buying anything that wasn't compatible with DV or HLG these days. HLG is likely to become very popular for broadcast TV in the future.
It is of course entirely subjective, I never planned to go Atmos but ended up with a compatible amp and decided to try it out. The immersive sound is amazing and, if you like your surround sound, it's a whole new level.
Essentially you have a low surround speaker and a high surround speaker. The system can then effectively have a vertical balance control which dictates where the surround sounds appear from, to the side or from above. It's way better than all the surround sound coming in one plane.
If even my wife can tell the difference, it's well worth it.
think you'll find you're wrong.
Well, one of us is wrong and I'm the one who installed a software update to add Dolby Vision support to a device that already had HDCP2.2 but wouldn't pass DV or HLG through.
Every DV device needs to support HDCP2.2, every HDCP2.2 device doesn't support DV - they have to pay Dolby for that.
denon-uk.custhelp.com/app…ity
this is not a Denon
Yamaha RXV 381 was on Sale for long time on Richersounds. but seems like it is now out of stock. However this pioneer deal is great as well.
Indeed, the only accurate thing you've said all day. If it was a Denon, it might support Dolby Vision - but this does not.
Only the higher model VSX831 has Dolby Vision support.
soundandvision.com/con…ate
Even the newer VSX532 model doesn't support DV, it can only handle HDR10.
ecoustics.com/pro…rs/
Now, now don't be a Muppet, you show me on the product page where it states it does not support it and I'll concede. The higher models have video processing this does not, it is just passing the video through.
If it did Dolby Vision it would say so. The 531 would be on the list of models with the DV update, it isn't. Follow the link.
It specifically says the 831 does do it, but doesn't say that about the 531 - if it could, it would say so.
Likewise the 832 support DV and the 532 doesn't, it's in the link. Here's another link that says the same:
pioneerelectronics.com/PUS…ers
There's rather a limit to how much one can prove that something doesn't exist.
Here is the 831 product page that proudly claims DV support:
pioneerelectronics.com/PUS…831
Show me that on the 531 product page? Oh, you can't...because it's not supported.
Call me a muppet and get as personal as you like, you're still wrong.
That's good enough for me, if your wife notices then things are happening
Where did you buy it from? The rxv 381 is sold out everywhere at 169...
Which Yamaha did you buy? What's your current set up?
I think you proved him wrong mate. Haha we all know who the Muppet was now.
Sorry, but no. Like how he forgot to quote me so I wouldn't see an update.
for gods sake do some research, how could the 531 but on the update list, since the firmware cannot be updated.
for the umpteenth time it just passes video through, no upscaler, no processing, just pass through, 4K@60Hz:4:4:4 HDCP 2.2.
I bought the display model of a Yamaha rxv-v581 ( paid £80 more)
I try not to quote misinformation.
There's really a limit to how many times I can tell you you're wrong. You've reached it, go ahead and live with your ignorance if you wish. I genuinely hope you buy this receiver and want to use it with Dolby Vision. It won't work.
Not going to feed your ridiculous trolling any longer, you clearly just don't understand.
like speaking to an Adamantium wall, muted, so no more inane rambling off you.
As with a lot of this stuff, speaker placement is important. Many people get this all wrong, on 5.1 they talk about "rear" speakers, which they have never been - they are surround speakers. They should be located more to the sides than behind you.
A lot of people get this wrong, and put the surround speakers behind the sofa on a stand or mounted on the wall. With some sources, the noise coming down your ear from behind the sofa can be a bit annoying unless you're sat in the best seat.
With Atmos, it's a whole different dimension so they added a new point - hence 5.1.2 indicating 2 vertical channels. Instead of audio only coming from your surround speakers, it also comes from above. In much the same way as left/right stereo speakers allow an object to pan across from one side to another, with Atmos you can move it between the surround speaker and the height speaker above it.
On stereo front L/R channels you don't usually hear sounds coming from one speaker or another but projected somewhere in-between. Likewise with Atmos, it won't come from the speaker to the side, or the one above, but somewhere in-between. You end up with a much more immersive experience.