It might only be an upper midrange receiver, but the Pioneer VSX-LX51 looks every inch a high-end product.

Offering a pokey seven-amp powerplant capable of delivering every HD sound format available, could the VSX-LX51 actually offer all the functionality and performance you need for upmarket home cinema?

It certainly seems to have the credentials. There's onboard upscaling to 1080p, scads of audio trickery and THX post-processing – albeit the more sedate Select2 certification rather than the cavern-filling Ultra level.

It's also got balls, at least in stereo mode; two-channel power output was measured in our labs at 99W into 8ohms. And, like all good AV receivers these days, it comes with auto calibration, here in the shape of MCACC (Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration), not to mention a USB socket for your iPod (Doh! I wasn't going to mention that!).

Frustrating connectivity

But there are a few things missing from the package that keep this Pioneer receiver in its place. There's no DAB tuner or Ethernet connection that you might find on higher-end models; no flash universal remote control; and no fancy onscreen graphics to help you get set up.

All of these I could live without, but the fact that there are also only three HDMI inputs is difficult to ignore, and I suspect a lot of home cinema fans planning a serious installation will stop reading at this point.

With virtually every AV source – including games consoles and even digital cameras – adopting HDMI as the standard connection, three inputs is simply not enough on an AVR that aspires to be more than budget. This rules out any notion of Pioneer's VSX-LX51 being a forward-looking media hub.

Frustratingly, there are seven analogue video inputs, including four composites, that will probably remain unused.

Glossy design

Connectivity aside, there's no denying that this is a well-built machine. The frontpanel and the obligatory huge volume and source-select knobs are plastic, unlike the aluminium favoured by most of the competition, but the unit feels solid nonetheless, and it's built to Pioneer's own 'Advanced Direct Construction' parameters to assure reliability.

The glossy, double-decked styling matches the rest of the brand's LX components, such as the BDP-LX71 Blu-ray player and LX6090 plasma TV that I'm using for this audition.

Keeping the entire system all Pioneer means you can, of course, use Kuro (CEC) Link to operate all three components from one remote.

The handset itself is very simple. There is no touchscreen or learning facility for other brand's components, and all the buttons it on a long, narrow body. The useful 'Tools' button lets you change relevant settings without delving into the setup menu.

Text menus

When you do get to the onscreen area in order to assign inputs and inform the receiver how many speakers you have connected, you'll find it's the bog-standard text menu of AVRs past. Shudder!

The populous list that appears on each page isn't very explanatory and it can be a confusing task if you're doing it for the first time. Rival brands, including Denon and Sony, have abandoned this crude default interface for slick easy-to-understand graphics. Pioneer has done the same, but only on its more expensive models – with the VSX-LX51 you just have to persevere and refer to the manual if necessary.

The good news is that the MCACC microphone does a sterling job with the auto calibration routines, setting all the speaker levels and phase.