Pioneer VSX-924 review

Set-up is a cinch. The once lengthy Pioneer Advanced MCACC room calibration seems shorter – although it’s still a harsh few minutes on the ears.

Set-up is easy using Pioneer’s newbie-friendly AVNavigator built in to the receiver.

Meanwhile, the iControl AV5 control app has features such as a searchable music list and is backwards compatible to amps dating from 2012.

All the step-by-step instructions on wiring and calibration you will need are here, plus an interactive guide on what each of the remote buttons do.

There’s plenty of ‘new’ packed into this receiver: 4K upscaling at 60Hz and full-colour resolution across all seven of the 924’s HDMI ins, a new DAC, DSD file playback over your home network, and built-in Bluetooth with aptX support.

Unfortunately, wireless connectivity remains an external add-on via an adapter, but it is at least included in the box now.

We start with a high-speed car chase from Fast & Furious 6.

As Dom and Brian race through the winding roads of the opening scene, it’s clear Pioneer is keen to add ‘big and dynamic’ to its attributes.

It sounds richer and weightier than last year’s model, with a larger soundfield. Precision and detail are still this amp’s strong points, and sound effects are placed superbly around the room.

The roaring engines of the racers are delivered with aggression, and you can hear and feel every change of pace thanks to a good handling of dynamics.

Speed is highlighted by a solid punch from the bass, with zing in the treble giving a wonderfully layered sound.

For all that is good here though, there are competitors that can do all this, and better.