Pioneer Speaker Base TV Audio System

I'm an audiophile so I like good sound quality no matter if it is audio system or TV. I've owned 2 different Zvox's before this one. This year I saw the Pioneer on line and did so research and saw a nice review on you tube and Cnet. It just so happened that a neighbor of mine who's done a lot for me over the years just purchased a Sony 4K TV, I own the Pioneer FD 111 Plasma TV, and he had asked me I was buying a TV today which would it be and I said the Sony 4K XBR series. So I figured I gave him as a Christmas present a speaker base to go with his TV. He his a bit older than me and I knew the TV bases would be easy for him to learn. So I decided to order the Pioneer, and it arrived from Amazon quickly which was great because Christmas is right around the corner. My plan was to audition the Pioneer and keep the one that I liked better and give the other one to my friend for Christmas. Hook up was bout the same so within 5 minutes I was ready to listen. I used ESPN, HBO, and a DVD. After about 1/2 hour and taking all things into account I decided to keep the Pioneer. The simple reason was sound quality. It was much richer sounding, vocals were clear but now with more body to them. I use my TV as the switcher, so I run the audio with the Monster cable fiber optics. My TV also as a sub out where I have 2 subs running using a splitter from the sub out on my TV. So huge bottom end was not a concern for either sound speaker base. The Zxox is a great unit also, but the Pioneer tops it as far as full body sound quality. The Zvox is more thinner sounding, mot as much presence in any mode you may choose. Even when I used the EXP. mode of the pioneer unlike the Zvox everything still sounded great but a bit bigger. With the Zvox you like detail as you go up the scale using their surround mode. The pluses for the Zxov of course is more DSP modes to play with, if your hard of hearing you can really make the Zvox midrange standout though very bright, but good if you have hearing loss. The surround modes 2 or 3 I rarely used because I did not like what they did to the audio so I stayed with sound mode 1 most of the time. The display on the Zvox is better of course, but really I set it by ear anyway and not much as changed with the Pioneer, some stations you have to turn up and other down. But having said that, the reason you buy the Pioneer is because it sound good better than any sound bar, or other TV bases, and I've many at different stores and friends homes some costing 3 times the cost of the pioneer. Even without the many surround modes that the Zvox's have the midrange is better on the pioneer, good diction on dialog, and when I muted the pioneer so I could use the side speakers on the Pioneer plasma which I really nice, you lose about 50% of the sound that is in the movie and effects. That was a big surprise to me, with the Zvox I would hear a loss of brightness, of clarity, that stood out, but now with the Pioneer, you lose a lot more than those to areas, the pioneer brings things forward that is lost when using the other speakers. You have good clarity with the Pioneer, but now it has more body and a much better balance top to bottom. Does either speaker shake the house with bass it's own? No, but the Pioneer gives you a balance better and the perception due to this is a sound that is clear, warm and dynamic, the dynamics are better than the Zvox by the way. For the money this is a wonderful purchase. I cannot wait to get home tonight and take a real listen to the Pioneer with some of my music video concerts. This unit is a best buy if there ever was one. I cannot recommended it more. Add a sub to it and you will have a very nice system for TV/Video and it looks good to, it gets out of the way, and under my Pioneer Plasma you won't know its is there. It blends in perfect to what you are watching. Keep in mind this unit will not shake the house wit 2 4" bass drivers, you need to move air for that to happen, so don't buy this thinking that what you will hear even if it is rated to 55Hz. Think of this as a great mid-bass, lower midrange drivers, but even so, the sound because of these 2 drivers carries excellent body to the over all sound. So to end, the Zxox's were good the Pioneer at a lower prices is better. I am very happy with the design, and I knew if Andrew Jones did the work the sound should be good, and I was right it is!