Pioneer has confirmed details and prices on its four new high-end AV receivers, due for release in the UK later this year.
Eagle-eyed readers of our Forums will have seen the information leaked on the Pioneer website and we have since had details and prices confirmed.
There will be four models, the VSX-2021, VSX-LX55, SC-LX75 and SC-LX85, with prices at £800, £1000, £1500 and £2000 respectively.
All models process all key HD audio and video formats and incorporare features such as a Made for iPod/iPhone/iPad connection via USB, Apple AirPlay, DLNA, Bluetooth, vTuner and 3D support.
All receivers use the latest specification HDMI inputs, support 3D and Audio Return Channel, and decode all key HD audio formats.
The top-of-the-range SC-LX75 and SC-LX85 receivers use Pioneer's Direct Energy HD amplifiers built on Class D technology and feature tuning by AIR Studios.
The top two models also include a new DAC filter, 32bit audio processing and support DTS Neo X.
Both offer seven HDMI inputs and two HDMI outputs, with the '85 delivering 810 watts of power over nine channels and the '75 delivering 720w through nine channels.
The receivers can be used in up to 10 different settings allowing you, for example, to listen to five channels in one room and stereo sound in two other rooms.
Also of note on the two flagship models is Stream Smoother Link, for boosting low quality bit-rate video, and Sound Retriever Link, for doing the same with audio. Both require content over HDMI from a latest-gen Pioneer Blu-ray player.
The top-of-the-range SC-LX75 and SC-LX85 receivers are due to be available from September, while the VSX-LX55 and VSX-2021 are due to be out in July.
The VSX-LX55 and VSX-2021 both deliver 7.1 channels with 150 watts of power per channel.
Apple AirPlay and DLNA support is on all the AV receivers, with a wireless adapter supplied with all but the VSX-2021 (where it's optional). There's an optional Bluetooth adapter, too.
Also new are the iControlAV2 and Air Jam apps, both compatible with all four models, the latter delivering streaming networked music over Bluetooth (adapter required).
Elsewhere (amongst a wealth of features) is Virtual Depth, which adds a "deep sound field" to Virtual Surround Back and Virtual Height processing.
To read more about the four new AV receivers, head over to the Pioneer website.
