I've been using the EX-500 combo for almost a year now, and am very pleased to finally see a direct comparison between it and a Panny. My set was built in 2003, even though I bought it in the summer of 2005, so it looks like Pioneer has had a hard time clearing them out. Hmm...
Anyway,
I agree with everything Carl said about the Pioneer, it's quiet, sounds great, looks good and so on. I use mine about 95% of the time for 2-channel background listening, and with it's fine (by HT receiver standards) tuner, it's quite pleasant to use. I like the blue readout too much better than Pioneers' reliance on amber displays during the 90's.
However, for anyone considering one is that there are a couple of serious limitations worth noting -
First, its "100 watt" power rating is totally bogus. The back of the manual admits it puts out only 42 wpc at 1KHZ. Doing the math and converting the figures into the old RMS 20-20KHZ standard, it really puts out more like 30 watts into 2 channels, tops.
Secondly, there is a real lack of inputs. Including the tuner, there are only four accessable from the remote control, with another front panel input.
Speaking of the front panel of the receiver, it has only two controls, a volume and a source selector. EVERYthing else is operated from the remote, so you don't dare lose or mistreat it!
Overall though, I'm very pleased with the Pioneer. Like Carl said, it's a nice for-the-money entry level system for those with few sources, and it comes with a free Elite-badged universal player that's a dead ringer for the old 563. Not too bad!
Otis
