pioneer

An AirPlay-friendly AV receiver stuffed with HDMI

The pitch for Pioneer's VSX-823-K ($400 street price) is straightforward: six HDMI inputs, built-in AirPlay, and not much else. That's more HDMI connectivity than the similarly AirPlay-equipped Denon AVR-E300 ($400) offers, and AirPlay gives it an edge against other receivers that offer six HDMI inputs at this price, like the Marantz NR1403 and Onkyo TX-NR525.

Where the VSX-823-K falls short is wireless connectivity. There's no built-in Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and adding those features later is pricey, with Pioneer charging over $100 for each of its accessories. The lack of wireless wouldn't be so glaring if it … Read more

Pioneer's new Andrew Jones-designed sound bar coming this fall for $400

Pioneer seems set on busting the myth that high-quality home audio needs to be expensive, offering outstanding budget speakers like the SP-PK52FS, designed by the renowned speaker engineer Andrew Jones.

Now Jones and Pioneer have turned their attention to a sound bar, announcing the new SP-SB23W ($400), slated for a fall release. Dubbed the "speaker bar made for sound quality," it features a composite wood design that's in stark contrast to the plastic cabinets seen on most sound bars.

The SP-SB23W features six independently amplified drivers: four 3-inch woofers and two 1-inch tweeters. The sound bar is … Read more

Pioneer AppRadio 3 debuts with MirrorLink connectivity

Pioneer pulls the wraps off of the third generation of of its app-powered series of car stereos this week with the announcement of the AppRadio 3. The new model adds a surprising new feature and a few others that I feel the line of receivers should have had all along.

AppRadio 3's biggest new party trick is the addition of the MirrorLink connectivity standard to its feature set. When connected to supported phones via USB, MirrorLink allows AppRadio to mirror the phone's display with touch sensitivity, putting the apps on the device at the user's fingertips. More … Read more

Rate your AV receiver's autosetup program

I've had a run of bad luck with some of the latest AV receivers' autosetup programs; they set the subwoofer volume way too loud, or misidentified the "sizes" of the speakers (one receiver tagged our small Aperion 4B satellites as large speakers). These reviews have yet to post, but that boo-boo played havoc with the sound. Rerunning autosetup sometimes fixes the problem, but not always. When I'm testing speakers I always do a totally manual setup. In this man versus machine contest, I always win.

Automatic calibration programs started to appear on Pioneer's higher-end receivers … Read more

3D holograms show if baby's smiling in the womb

Remember back in the olden days, when you had to wait till your baby came out of the womb to start determining whose nose and chin it had?

Pioneer, maker of speakers, receivers, and headphones, is moving into the in-utero-baby-picture realm with 3D holograms that give a remarkably detailed look at an infant's early visage.

The company does that using a full-color hologram printer. The device, which fits into a briefcase, can record a full color card-size hologram in 120 minutes, and a single-color hologram in 90 minutes. … Read more

Six aftermarket car stereos for app addicts (roundup)

Look in the comments below any portable GPS navigation device review or news story on CNET and chances are that you'll find a large number of readers saying something akin to, "Why would I buy this when I've got an app that's better?" You people can't seem to get enough of your smartphones and your apps!

But while a suction cup mount and an aux-audio cable may be enough for some people, many could benefit from a phone-app integration system that makes accessing a smartphone's navigation and audio-streaming apps a bit more solid and a lot less distracting. With that in mind, I've rounded up some of my favorite car stereos that help you to (safely) get your app fix on the go.… Read more

Sharp to sell stake in Pioneer

Sharp, the struggling electronics manufacturer, is reportedly looking to sell its stake in another consumer electronics company, Pioneer, to raise the funds needed to pay off 200 billion yen ($2.14 billion) in convertible debt.

Citing unnamed sources, the Japan Times reported yesterday that Sharp is looking to dispose of its 9.2 percent stake, or 30 million shares, in the maker of car navigation systems and home electronics to help finance the payment of its debt due this September. Sharp is Pioneer's top shareholder, the Japan Times added.

The idea of selling off its own shares was mooted … Read more

Do separate components sound better than AV receivers, Part 2

Back in February I first posed the question, "Do separate components sound better than AV receivers?" when I checked out the Outlaw Audio 975 surround processor and 7125 power amp and compared their sound with a Denon AVR-1912 AV receiver. The Outlaws handily trumped the receiver.

I ran another comparison with the Denon, this time with the Emotiva UMC-200 seven-channel surround processor ($599) and UPA-500 five-channel amplifier ($399). If you just go by the numbers, the AVR-1912's 90 watts per channel might appear to be slightly ahead of the Emotiva UPA-500 amp, which has 80 watts per … Read more

Remember when video discs were the size of LPs?

Years ago, long before the dawn of the DVD or Blu-ray formats, consumer video was strictly all-analog, from the very first broadcasts right up to the introduction of the LaserDisc. The 12-inch, double-sided LaserDisc looked like a giant CD, but the video was analog encoded on two single-sided aluminum discs layered in plastic. The discs that debuted in 1978 had analog audio soundtracks, but later discs featured stereo digital sound. Millions of players were sold in the U.S., but LaserDisc was, even during the height of its popularity, a niche format that appealed mostly to videophiles. It had much … Read more

Pioneer's flagship CD receiver does not disappoint

The largest number in the current lineup of Pioneer Electronics' DEH CD receivers is 9500, which means that the DEH-X9500BHS is the top of the line, but there is more information that can be gleaned from the model name. The X designates that Mixtrax functionality (more about that later) is, for better or worse, baked in, B is for Bluetooth connectivity, H is for the HD Radio tuner, and S indicates that the DEH-X9500BHS is SiriusXM Satellite Radio-ready.

What's in the box? The DEH-X9500BHS CD receiver comes with a remote control, a USB extension cable, a microphone for hands-free … Read more