Pioneer VSX-531 vs Pioneer VSX-532

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      Overview

      Here we are comparing Pioneer VSX-531 to Pioneer VSX-532 to reveal their common strengths and weaknesses as well as the differences between them which will help you in making a correct decision before the purchase. Both receivers have 5 channel and equally powerful amplifiers.


      Pioneer VSX-531 Pioneer VSX-532

      Pioneer VSX-531 was introduced in 2016. It is equipped with 5 channel amplifier with 80 W (8 Ω, 20 Hz - 20 kHz and 2 channel driven) power per channel and is capable of 5.1 maximum channel processing. It , passes 4K/60Hz video signal.

      Pioneer VSX-532 was introduced in 2017. It is equipped with 5 channel amplifier with 80 W (8 Ω, 20 Hz - 20 kHz and 2 channel driven) power per channel and is capable of 5.1 maximum channel processing. It , passes 4K/60Hz video signal.

      Highlights

      • 5.1 Channels
      • 5.1 Channel Processing
      • 80 W (8 Ω, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 2 channel driven)
      • HDR10
      • 4K/60Hz Passthrough
      • Bluetooth

      Highlights

      • 5.1 Channels
      • 5.1 Channel Processing
      • 80 W (8 Ω, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 2 channel driven)
      • HDR10
      • 4K/60Hz Passthrough
      • Bluetooth

      Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these receivers, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

      Pros and Cons

      In this section we present pros and cons of Pioneer VSX-531 and Pioneer VSX-532.

      PROS

      Pioneer VSX-531

      Pioneer VSX-532

      •   DSD via HDMI
      •   HDR10
      •   New HDCP Version
      •   Bluetooth
      •   USB Input
      •   Composite Video Inputs
      •   Analog Tuner
      •   DSD via HDMI
      •   Auto Speaker Calibration System with Mic.
      •   HDR10
      •   New HDCP Version
      •   Bluetooth
      •   USB Input
      •   Composite Video Inputs
      •   Analog Tuner

      CONS

      Pioneer VSX-531

      Pioneer VSX-532

      •   Few Channels - 5.1
      •   Low Power Output - 80 W
      •   5.1 Channel Processing
      •   No Dolby Atmos
      •   No Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization
      •   No DTS:X
      •   No IMAX Enhanced
      •   No Auro 3D with Auro-Matic Upmixer
      •   No Auto Speaker Calibration System with Mic.
      •   No HDR10+
      •   No Dolby Vision
      •   No eARC
      •   No 8K Passthrough
      •   No Wi-Fi
      •   Does not Work with Amazon Alexa
      •   4 HDMI Inputs
      •   1 HDMI Outputs
      •   0 8K Input
      •   Few RCA Line Inputs
      •   No Phono Input
      •   No RCA Pre-Outs
      •   No Ethernet
      •   No Zones
      •   No Digital Radio
      •   No Pandora
      •   No Spotify
      •   No Tidal
      •   Bluetooth 3.0
      •   Few Channels - 5.1
      •   Low Power Output - 80 W
      •   5.1 Channel Processing
      •   No Dolby Atmos
      •   No Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization
      •   No DTS:X
      •   No IMAX Enhanced
      •   No Auro 3D with Auro-Matic Upmixer
      •   No HDR10+
      •   No Dolby Vision
      •   No eARC
      •   No 8K Passthrough
      •   No Wi-Fi
      •   Does not Work with Amazon Alexa
      •   4 HDMI Inputs
      •   1 HDMI Outputs
      •   0 8K Input
      •   Few RCA Line Inputs
      •   No Phono Input
      •   No RCA Pre-Outs
      •   No Ethernet
      •   No Zones
      •   No Digital Radio
      •   No Pandora
      •   No Spotify
      •   No Tidal
      •   Bluetooth 3.0

      Advantage of Pioneer VSX-531

      This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Pioneer VSX-531 over Pioneer VSX-532.

      Pioneer VSX-531 vs Pioneer VSX-532
      Front A/V Inputs USB, Mini-Jack vs USB

      Check out other receivers which are frequently compared to Pioneer VSX-531.

      Advantage of Pioneer VSX-532

      This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Pioneer VSX-532 over Pioneer VSX-531.

      Pioneer VSX-531 vs Pioneer VSX-532
      Front Stage Surround Advance vs
      More Advanced Auto Speaker Calibration System vs MCACC
      Manual MCACC vs
      Auto Subwoofer Crossover vs
      Versatile Speaker Configuration vs FRONT, CENTER, SURROUND

      Check out other receivers which are frequently compared to Pioneer VSX-532.

      Common Strengths and Weaknesses

      We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

      STRENGTHS Pioneer VSX-531 Pioneer VSX-532
        DSD via HDMI 2-ch Input 2-ch Input
        HDR10
        New HDCP Version2.22.2
        Bluetooth SBC, AAC SBC, AAC
        USB Input1 Front1 Front
        Composite Video Inputs22
        Analog Tuner FM/AM FM/AM
      WEAKNESSES Pioneer VSX-531 Pioneer VSX-532
        Few Channels5.15.1
        Low Power Output80 W (8 Ω, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 2 channel driven)80 W (8 Ω, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 2 channel driven)
        Channel Processing5.15.1
        No Dolby Atmos
        No Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization
        No DTS:X
        No IMAX Enhanced
        No Auro 3D with Auro-Matic Upmixer
        No HDR10+
        No Dolby Vision
        No eARC
        No 8K Passthroughup to 4K/60p (4:4:4)up to 4K/60p (4:4:4)
        No Wi-Fi
        Does not Work with Amazon Alexa
        Few HDMI Inputs44
        Few HDMI Outputs11
        Few 8K Inputs
        Few RCA Line Inputs3 (1 front)3 (1 front)
        No Phono Input
        No RCA Pre-Outs0.10.1
        No Ethernet
        No Zones11
        No Digital Radio
        No Pandora
        No Spotify
        No Tidal
        Old Bluetooth Version3.03.0

      Audio Section

      Amplifier

      Pioneer VSX-531 Pioneer VSX-532

      5 channel Discrete Direct Energy Amplifier: Pioneer VSX-531 features 5 channel power amplifier with Discrete Direct Energy design. It is rated at 80 W (8 Ω, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 2 channel driven).

      5 channel Discrete Direct Energy Amplifier: Pioneer VSX-532 features 5 channel power amplifier with Discrete Direct Energy design. It is rated at 80 W (8 Ω, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 2 channel driven).

        Speaker Configurations

        Pioneer VSX-531's and Pioneer VSX-532's amplifiers can be assigned for different speaker configurations.

        • Configurations: Available configurations are:
        • Pioneer VSX-531: 5.1 with internal amplifier.
        • Pioneer VSX-532: 5.1 with internal amplifier.
        • Sound Processing

          • Compressed Music Enhancer: Pioneer VSX-531 and Pioneer VSX-532 feature Compressed Music Enhancer which enhances the quality of the music files with lossy compression.
          • Advanced Sound Retriever: Compressed music enhancement in Pioneer VSX-531 and Pioneer VSX-532 is done by Pioneer’s Advanced Sound Retriever. Hear the detail, warmth and clarity, the way the artist intended it, from all of your highly compressed MP3 and WMA files stored on USB, Smartphone and portable media players. By restoring data that tend to get lost in the digital compression process, Pioneers Advanced Sound Retriever Technology enhances audio reproduction all the way upto 20 Khz frequencies.

          Room Calibration

          Pioneer VSX-532 comes with MCACC room correction system.

          • MCACC: Pioneer’s exclusive Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration System (MCACC) delivers an easy-to-use, automatic sound adjustment system to precision-tune your Pioneer and Pioneer Elite receivers with minimal effort. Every MCACC system comes with a microphone to measure and analyze reverb characteristics. The equalizer optimally adjusts sound parameters to fit the size and shape of your home environment while maintaining the integrity of high-resolution playback without any degradation to the quality of your music.

        Video Section

        HDMI

        Pioneer VSX-531 and Pioneer VSX-532 come with 4 HDMI inputs. It has 1 output.

        • 4K/60Hz Passthrough: On both receivers all inputs pass up to 4K/60p (4:4:4) video signal.
        • HDCP 2.2.0 Copy Protection: Both receivers are HDCP 2.2.0 compliant which is a requirement for 4K/HDR copy-protected content transmission.
        • 3D Ready: Both receivers are able to pass 3D video through HDMI.

        HDR (High Dynamic Range)

        Both receivers support HDR10

        High dynamic range video has greater dynamic range than standard dynamic range (SDR) video with brighter whites and deeper blacks. The result is greater contrast and more details in dark and bright areas, better color and depth.

        • HDR10: HDR10 uses the wide-gamut Rec. 2020 color space. It sends static metadata via video stream to the TV which calibrates its screen brightness and color according to that. HDR10 supports 10-bit color which corresponds to 1024 shades of the primary RGB colors. It is technically limited to a maximum of 10,000 nits peak brightness, however common HDR10 contents are mastered with peak brightness from 1,000 to 4,000 nits.

        Inputs and Outputs

        Audio

        • Analog Line Inputs: There are 3 pair of line inputs on both receivers for connecting sources with analog outputs.
        • Digital Inputs: 1 optical input and 1 coaxial input are available for digital audio connections on both receivers.
        • Headphone Output: There is a 6.3 mm (1/4") headphone output jack on the front panel of each receiver.

        Video

        • HDMI:
        • Pioneer VSX-531
          Inputs:
          4   Outputs: 1
          8K Inputs: 0.
        • Pioneer VSX-532
          Inputs:
          4   Outputs: 1
          8K Inputs: 0.
        • Composite Video: Connect you VCR, Laserdisc player and other old video equipment with composite video cables.
        • Pioneer VSX-531
          Inputs:
          2   Outputs: 1.
        • Pioneer VSX-532
          Inputs:
          2   Outputs: 1.

        Front A/V Inputs

        • Pioneer VSX-531: USB, Mini-Jack
        • Pioneer VSX-532: USB

        Pioneer VSX-531

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        Pioneer VSX-532

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        Evaluations

        We evaluate Pioneer VSX-531 and Pioneer VSX-532 and give them scores of 67 and 68 out of 100 recpectively. We also give separate scores for 7 different categories according to the available features and specifications some of which are listed below. These evaluations are relative and may change each time a new receiver is added to the database.


        Pioneer VSX-531

        Pioneer VSX-532

        OVERALL
        67
        OVERALL
        68

        Amplifier

        Pioneer VSX-531

        Pioneer VSX-532

        AVERAGE
        68
        •   Few Channels - 5.1
        •   Low Power Output - 80 W
        GOOD
        73
        •   Few Channels - 5.1
        •   Low Power Output - 80 W

        Audio Features

        Pioneer VSX-531

        Pioneer VSX-532

        AVERAGE
        62
        •   Few Channels - 5.1
        •   5.1 Channel Processing
        •   No Dolby Atmos
        •   No Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization
        •   No DTS:X
        •   No IMAX Enhanced
        •   No Auro 3D with Auro-Matic Upmixer
        •   DSD via HDMI
        AVERAGE
        62
        •   Few Channels - 5.1
        •   5.1 Channel Processing
        •   No Dolby Atmos
        •   No Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization
        •   No DTS:X
        •   No IMAX Enhanced
        •   No Auro 3D with Auro-Matic Upmixer
        •   DSD via HDMI

        Video Features

        Pioneer VSX-531

        Pioneer VSX-532

        GOOD
        80
        •   HDR10
        •   No HDR10+
        •   No Dolby Vision
        •   No 8K Passthrough
        GOOD
        81
        •   HDR10
        •   No HDR10+
        •   No Dolby Vision
        •   No 8K Passthrough

        Connectivity

        Pioneer VSX-531

        Pioneer VSX-532

        AVERAGE
        63
        •   No eARC
        •   New HDCP Version
        •   No Wi-Fi
        •   Bluetooth
        •   Does not Work with Amazon Alexa
        •   4 HDMI Inputs
        •   1 HDMI Outputs
        •   0 8K Input
        •   USB Input
        •   Few RCA Line Inputs
        •   No Phono Input
        •   No RCA Pre-Outs
        •   Composite Video Inputs
        •   No Ethernet
        •   Bluetooth 3.0
        AVERAGE
        62
        •   No eARC
        •   New HDCP Version
        •   No Wi-Fi
        •   Bluetooth
        •   Does not Work with Amazon Alexa
        •   4 HDMI Inputs
        •   1 HDMI Outputs
        •   0 8K Input
        •   USB Input
        •   Few RCA Line Inputs
        •   No Phono Input
        •   No RCA Pre-Outs
        •   Composite Video Inputs
        •   No Ethernet
        •   Bluetooth 3.0

        Zones

        Pioneer VSX-531

        Pioneer VSX-532

        AVERAGE
        55
        •   No Zones
        AVERAGE
        55
        •   No Zones

        Radio

        Pioneer VSX-531

        Pioneer VSX-532

        AVERAGE
        59
        •   Analog Tuner
        •   No Pandora
        •   No Spotify
        •   No Tidal
        AVERAGE
        59
        •   Analog Tuner
        •   No Pandora
        •   No Spotify
        •   No Tidal


        For a full specification list please go to the specifications page:

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