Pioneer's new 2010 AV receivers: photos

Pioneer has announced its new line of 2010 AV receivers, with all of them featuring 3D-compatibility, all the way down to the $230 price level.

Matthew Moskovciak

Covering home audio and video, Matthew Moskovciak helps CNET readers find the best sights and sounds for their home theaters. E-mail Matthew or follow him on Twitter @cnetmoskovciak.

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Matthew Moskovciak

March 4, 2010 2:25 p.m. PT

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Pioneer VSX-520-K

Last year, Pioneer's VSX-1019AH-K was our top midrange AV receiver pick, offering more features for the same price as its competitors, and still serving up solid sound quality. Pioneer has announced its new 2010 lineup for AV receivers and our first impression is that the company looks like it has a good shot at maintaining its edge in the "features war." Here's a quick rundown of the announced models.

Key features of the Pioneer VSX-520-K:

5.1 AV receiver, 110 watts per channel
3 HDMI 1.4 inputs
3D-compatible (able to pass 3D HDMI signal from 3D Blu-ray player to 3D TV)
Onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, plus Dolby ProLogic IIz decoding
Bluetooth-ready (can stream Bluetooth audio from compatible A2DP devices with $100 AS-BT100 adapter)
Advanced Sound Retriever and Automatic Level Control processing
$230 | Available in April

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Pioneer VSX-520-K back panel

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Pioneer VSX-820-K

Key step-up features of the Pioneer VSX-820-K:

4 HDMI 1.4 inputs
iPhone/iPod compatibility via USB, using included cable
Basic onscreen display (text-only)
Automatic speaker calibration
Sirius-ready
$300 | Available in April

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Pioneer VSX-820-K back panel

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Pioneer VSX-920-K

Key step-up features of the Pioneer VSX-920-K:

7.1 AV receiver, 110 watts per channel
Analog video upconversion
Full color graphical user interface
Anchor Bay video processing (ABT1015)
Two channel PQLS
$400 | Available in April

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Pioneer VSX-920-K back panel

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Pioneer VSX-1020-K

Key step-up features of the Pioneer VSX-1020-K:

6 HDMI 1.4 inputs
Controllable with Pioneer's new iControl iPhone app
Onscreen album art for iPhone/iPod
Powered second zone functionality
Internet radio, using Ethernet port
Improved automatic speaker calibration (Advanced MCACC)
$550 | Available in April

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Pioneer VSX-1020-K back panel

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Pioneer's new "iControl" iPhone app

New for 2010, the VSX-1020-K has the ability to be controlled using Pioneer's "iControl" iPhone app.

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Control

We weren't overly impressed by the initial descriptions of the iPhone app we've heard; much of the functionality is based on tilting the remote to make adjustments, which sounds a little gimmicky.