Why You Can Trust CNET Pioneer HTZ-808BD review: Pioneer HTZ-808BD
With good looks, impressive audio and video quality and useable connectivity features, this Pioneer HTiB system is one of the better sub-$1000 ones out there. It lacks 3D Blu-ray playback and wireless speakers, but if neither of these features matter, then this is a fantastic system to partner with a quality flat-panel screen.
While Pioneer has been out of the plasma TV game for some time now, its current range of home-theatre electronics provide everything but the actual pixels. This, the HTZ-808BD, is a 5.1-channel Blu-ray system comprising head unit, subwoofer, five loudspeakers and more than a few connectivity tricks up its sleeve.
Pioneer HTZ-808BD
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Design and features
It couldn't be more high-gloss black if it tried, which is standard finish these days. Although made almost entirely of acrylic, the Pioneer does have a solid and substantial feel to it all. Slimline is the minimalist look, with all of the HTZ-808BD's components, including the tall (101cm) towers that act as the main fronts and surrounds. These are joined by a slim, passive subwoofer, and the smallest speaker of the lot, the centre channel.
The receiver head unit boasts a fairly decent playlist, handling a variety of media, such as the regular disc formats, plus it supports iPod-video playback, DivX, DivX HD and MKV video formats. It also supports a range of surround-sound formats, including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and has HDMI, Ethernet and USB connections to allow digital links to HDTVs, home computer networks (to link to the internet for BD-Live applications) and to DLNA-compliant applications or storage devices and to portable music players. There's Bluetooth connectivity for audio streaming, and, for those traditionalists amongst us, a good old FM tuner to listen to the cricket on.
On the video side, the Pioneer does pretty much the lot, including 1080p up-scaling via HDMI, with Deep Colour and HD Digital Film Direct processing to accurately handle 24 fps movie content. The one video omission here is that it won't handle 3D Blu-ray software. Another non-inclusion is the ability to run the surround speakers wirelessly, so you're stuck with a cable run.
Performance
After around 30 minutes of putting everything together, the Pioneer was up and running. It initially runs you through a basic set-up, including speaker distance, and there's a handful of different audio modes available for use. We kicked off with some rousing BD action courtesy of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Visually and sonically, the Pioneer delivered the action and anthropoid adventure with bags of enthusiasm, and really got the adrenaline pumping. We were impressed with the way in which the Pioneer speakers came together as a whole — tonal matching across the board was spot on, and with "tall boy" speakers, front and rear surround-sound fields with genuine substance and depth were created.
The subwoofer isn't bad for a passive unit — it's highly unlikely that for under a grand you're going to get an active device, but this Pioneer sub managed to hold it together, with some fairly punishing low frequencies. We popped on an acid tester — the scene in War of the Worlds when the tripod emerges from beneath the city street — and, to its credit, the Pioneer fought admirably against impending driver implosion from the LF onslaught.
A dynamic and punchy surround sound is matched with an equally vibrant and impacting image quality, which is no surprise from any Pioneer BD player. We didn't detect any obvious picture noise, even on straight edges; deep-black levels had plenty of depth; and colours looked natural and vivid. Add to this visual mix high levels of detail and smooth-looking motion, and there's really nothing to grumble about, as far as picture quality's concerned.
We Bluetoothed a Sony Ericsson phone without any wireless hassles, and had music easily and effortlessly streaming, as well as with an iPod attached to the system with the included cradle. Musically, this is one of the Pioneer's fortes among the home-theatre-in-a-box (HBiB) crowd. It can hold a tune, which is not normally the case with the vast majority of HTiB systems. More than just providing background music, the Pioneer was actually enjoyable to listen to.
Conclusion
With good looks, and audio and video quality that both impress, plus useable connectivity features, this Pioneer HTiB system is one of the better sub-$1000 ones out there. It lacks 3D Blu-ray playback and wireless speakers, but if neither of these features matter, then this is a fantastic system to partner with a quality flat-panel screen.