I set up my SC-05 about a month ago and am very happy. The receiver decodes Dolby TrueHD and dts HD, so you should really enjoy the new Bluray titles. I was amazed how cool the receiver runs with the ICEPower-based amps and would not hesitate to put it in a relatively-enclosed cabinet. I am running a 7.1 setup, but the receiver can also run up to three zones if you are not using all channels in your primary listening position. The multi-zone setup looks fairly simple, although the receiver does not come with an rf remote.
When setting yours up, be sure to measure and adjust the speaker distance after running the
MCACC auto-setup. Mine was off by quite a bit. I also set the levels
with an SPL meter and the system sounds great. The menus are a bit clunky, but once you have it setup you probably won't be navigating through them much anyways. I've run my system through the paces and the receiver has never run out of steam or seemed to be straining to drive my Aperions. I still find myself experimenting to find the best surround sound format for each type of listening. The loss-less formats are obviously best for Bluray, but I find myself switching between the THX Music, NEO:6, and Dolby EX for music. Still undecided on what I like.
The only thing I have been disappointed with so far is the inability to play videos from a media server. When I purchased the Pioneer, I was under the impression that it would play videos as well as audio. Not a big deal as I also have a PS3, but would have been nice. I like the fact that it does not process the HDMI signal and instead passes it directly through. I purchased a new Sony KDL-46XBR9 for its ability to handle several different formats very well and I prefer to let the display do the processing it is designed for. I let the SC-05 scale the analog inputs and they look great with the Faroudja processing onboard. Also allows me to run one HDMI to the TV so that's one less remote control I have to explain to the girlfriend.
Overall I am liking the thing. I've checked out all the regular brands and was debating between the Pioneer and a the Marantz SR6003 (please don't hurt me Onkyo guys). Opted for the Pioneer for its ethernet connectivity and ability to play music from my media server. It will also read files directly off a hard drive or geek stick. I eventually plan on copying my library of CDs onto a terabyte drive uncompressed so I can enjoy my beautiful Aperions the way they were meant to be heard.
TVMan