June 7, 2011
PIONEER’S NEW GENERATION OF ELITE RECEIVERS EXPAND ON CONTROL AND CONNECTIVITY

AirPlay and iControlAV2 App Enhance the Home Theater Experience for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch

By Gary Reber


Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. today unveiled  its  new line of Elite® branded AV receivers designed to meet the needs  of today’s connected consumers and their portable devices.  The five new  Elite  models,  consisting of the VSX-40 ($450), VSX-50 ($600), VSX-51 ($700),   VSX-52 ($900)  and  VSX-53 ($1,100),  incorporate  state-of-the-art performance  and specifications based on Pioneer’s uncompromising standards of  engineering  and  manufacturing.   All  five  new receivers utilize the renowned  Elite  audio  and  video  technology  and  the VSX-50 and up have advanced  network  features like Pioneer’s proprietary iPhone and iPad apps including  iControlAV2¹  and  Air  Jam²,  as  well as Apple’s AirPlay, DLNA
Certified®  (1.5) and Internet radio to become the hub of a consumer’s home
network and entertainment system.

“By expanding on networked features such as AirPlay and DLNA, and combining
them  with  exclusive  control 
functions  such as iControlAV2 and Air Jam,
Pioneer’s  new  line  of Elite receivers is making it easy for consumers to
integrate  their  portable devices while still providing them with superior
audio and video performance they expect from our brand,” said Chris Walker,
director  AV  marketing  and  product  planning  for the home entertainment
division of Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.

The Power of Connectivity
Starting  with  the  VSX-50 and up, each Elite receiver is network capable,
offering  Ethernet  connectivity  to provide consumers with a wide range of
new  content, set-up and control of their home theater system. Features and
apps  that  consumers  can  take  advantage  of  with the new line of Elite
receivers include:

   ·   AirPlay - Elite consumers have complete access, control and playback
      of  their  entire  iTunes music library wirelessly through their home
     
theater  system.   The AS-WL300, optional wireless LAN converter from
      Pioneer  (sold  separately),  is available to simplify the connection
      process.   Users  can  quickly  and easily enjoy all their music with
      song   information  and  album  art  simultaneously  displayed  on  a
      connected  monitor/TV.   AirPlay  requires  iTunes  10.1 or later and
      iPad, iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4.2.

   ·   Air Jam - Encouraging social connectivity via entertainment devices,
      Pioneer’s  free Air Jam App is available from the App store for iPad,
      iPhone  and  iPod  touch or at www.apple.com/itunes/. Compatible with
      four  of  the  five  Elite receivers, the app allows pairing of up to
      four 
devices  via  Bluetooth  (optional  AS-BT200  Bluetooth adapter
      required).  Once linked, each individual can cue songs from their own
      music  libraries  to  create a shared playlist to play back on the AV
      Receiver. Each connected device also displays the list of songs added
      by all the users and which device a song plays from.  The Air Jam App
      conveniently  stores  the lists of songs created for each session for
      future purchases at the iTunes Store.

   ·   DLNA Certified (1.5) - The new line of Elite receivers are also DLNA
      Certified (1.5), allowing music content to be shared from a PC to the
      receiver  via  the  consumers’  home network. Through Ethernet or the
      optional  AS-WL300  wireless  LAN  converter  (sold separately), each
      receiver   can   access   and  play  high  resolution  music  (up  to
      192kHz/24-Bit).   Audio  can  also be streamed and controlled through
      the  Elite  receivers  using a device that supports UPnP / DLNA media
      servers  and renderers, enabling an entirely new way for consumers to
      share and play their music collection.

   ·   Bluetooth Audio Streaming - With the optional Bluetooth adapter, the
      entire  lineup  of  receivers features wireless Bluetooth transfer of
      audio  content from any A2DP Bluetooth wireless enabled mobile device
      or  personal  computer.   Pioneer’s  AS-BT200 ($99) Bluetooth adapter
      allows  listeners  to keep their phone close to them while they enjoy
      music  through  their  home  theater  system.   And,  with  Pioneer’s
      exclusive  Sound  Retriever  AIR technology, specifically designed to
      enhance  Bluetooth  audio  transmissions,  music  playback  delivered
      through Bluetooth is near-CD sound quality.

   ·   vTuner  -  The  line  also brings thousands of high quality Internet
      radio  stations  into  the  living room with vTuner for endless music
      entertainment.   The  feature  is  further enhanced on the VSX-52 and
      VSX-53 with the addition of other Internet radio based music services
      such as PANDORA.

Growing Mobility
Portable  devices  such  as  the  iPad,  iPhone and iPod touch are becoming
exciting  and  ever-expanding  components  of  home  entertainment systems.
Pioneer’s  Elite  receivers  are  designed to utilize the wealth of content
from  these  types  of  devices  as  well  as  provide  a  larger emotional
experience of high definition multi-channel home theater.

   ·   Each  receiver in the lineup is “Made for iPad, iPhone and iPod” and
      comes  with  a  free  USB/video  cable  to provide an “out of the box
      plug-and-play”  convenience.   Consumers  can  enjoy audio, video and
      photos   stored  on  their  mobile  device  with  no  “optional  dock
      required,” in addition to charging while plugged into the receivers.

   ·  iControlAV2 - Pioneer is placing even more home entertainment control
      in  the  hands  of  enthusiasts  with its iControlAV2 App enabling an
      iPad,  iPhone  or  iPod  touch  to control four out of the five Elite
      receivers. Available free from the App store for the iPad, iPhone and
      iPod  touch  or  www.apple.com/itunes/,  the iControlAV2 App controls
      volume,  bass,  balance  and room settings as well as the ability for
      the  user  to  choose  Internet  radio  stations and music files from
      network-attached  storage  (NAS)  on a home network.  For iPad users,
      the  iControlAV2  integrates  all four app controls into an intuitive
      single  screen.   The  app  also includes control for Pioneer Blu-ray
      Disc  players.   Additional  features  include sound adjustments that
      enable users to create their own equalizer settings by simply drawing
      their  desired  equalizer curve on the screen and for iPad consumers,
      detailed  graphic representations of before and after Pioneer’s MCACC
      room calibration feature.

Maximize Television Performance
Taking  advantage  of Pioneer Elite’s long history as an industry leader in
high performance video processing, the 2011 Elite receivers use proprietary
enhancing  technologies  to maximize the user’s television performance with
video  conversion  and scaling, image enhancement, and video adjustment for
detail,  sharpness,  brightness, contrast, chroma level and black level for
individual video sources.  To enhance the video performance from any source
connected,  Elite  receivers  convert analog signals to HDMI and scale both
analog and digital signals to 1080p resolution for a highly improved visual
experience.   Additional  technologies  include  Marvell™ Qdeo™ processing,
Advanced Video Adjust and Stream Smoother to enhance the picture quality of
any source.

   ·   Marvell Qdeo video processors – The top Elite models, the VSX-52 and
      VSX-53,  offer  high quality video processing for maximum performance
      and  flexibility  powered by Marvell’s award-winning Qdeo technology.
      Marvell   Qdeo   offers  a  truly  immersive  viewing  experience  by
      capturing,  processing and rendering a wider variety of video signals
      ranging  from  high definition Blu-ray Disc to portable video sources
      such as smartphones.

   ·  Advanced Video Adjust – Available on the VSX-50 and up, Pioneer’s new
      Advanced   Video  Adjust  technology  automatically  optimizes  video
      signals  by  the type of display (selected manually) connected to the
      receivers, such as Plasma, LCD and Front Projector.  For example, the
      receivers  can  reproduce a detailed and virtually noiseless image on
      Plasma  panels,  enhance the black level of LCD displays, and produce
      sharper,  more  vivid  image  matching  for  front  projectors.   The
      receivers  can  further adjust and enhance images based on the user’s
      viewing  distance  from  their  display  by  utilizing  the  distance
      information   established   during   MCACC   (Multi-Channel  Acoustic
      Calibration  System)  calibration to determine how much adjustment is
      necessary.

   ·   Stream  Smoother  –  Pioneer  is  among  the first to create its own
      technology  to  enhance  compressed video files with Stream Smoother,
      available on the VSX-52 and VSX-53 models.  The feature automatically
      calibrates  images coming from the Internet via other devices such as
      Blu-ray Disc players reducing compression noise and establishing more
      detailed,  finer  images.   The technology is especially helpful with
      low  bit-rate  video sources originally intended for viewing on small
      screens.

AVNavigator (Interactive Assistance)
   ·   Wiring  Navi  –  Pioneer is making the installation process for each
      receiver   simple   by   providing  consumers  an  interactive  guide
      application with the use of a Window-based PC.  Users simply answer a
      series  of  questions  about the hardware connected to the system and
      the  application  will  automatically  update  the  receiver with the
      correct settings.

   ·   Interactive Manual – Once the receiver is connected using the Wiring
      Navi  application set up, the Interactive Manual application provides
      a  linked  two-way  interactive  manual giving users a way to quickly
      learn  about all of the new features of each AV receiver (i.e. a push
      of  the  ALC  button  on the front of the receiver will take the user
      directly  to  the  portion  of the manual that explains the Automatic
      Level Control feature).  Alternately, users can click on a section of
      the owner’s manual and the feature of the receiver will automatically
      activate  (i.e.  when the user clicks on the FL Dimmer section of the
      owner’s manual, the Front Panel Display of the receiver will dim).

The new line of Elite AV receiver models will be available in the summer of
2011.

New Elite Receivers – At a Glance
                                                                                                        
                |     VSX-40    |      VSX-50     |      VSX-51     |      VSX-52     |      VSX-53     
 ---------------+---------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------
      Price     |      $450     |       $600      |       $700      |       $900      |      $1,100     
 ---------------+---------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------
      Power     |  80 watts x7  |   90 watts x 7  |   90 watts x 7  |  110 watts x 7  |  110 watts x 7  
 ---------------+---------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------
     AirPlay    |       No      |       Yes       |       Yes       |       Yes       |       Yes       
 ---------------+---------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------
    iControl2   |       No      |       Yes       |       Yes       |       Yes       |       Yes       
       AV2      |               |                 |                 |                 |                 
   iPhone/iPad  |               |                 |                 |                 |                 
       App      |               |                 |                 |                 |                 
    Compatible  |               |                 |                 |                 |                 
 ---------------+---------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------
   THX Select2  |       -       |        -        |        -        |       Yes       |       Yes       
       Plus     |               |                 |                 |                 |                 
    Certified   |               |                 |                 |                 |                 
 ---------------+---------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------
     Network    |       -       |    DLNA 1.5/    |    DLNA 1.5/    |    DLNA 1.5/    |    DLNA 1.5/    
     Content    |               |      vTuner     |      vTuner     |     vTuner/     |     vTuner/     
                |               |                 |                 |    PANDORA /    |    PANDORA /    
                |               |                 |                 |    Rhapsody/    |    Rhapsody/    
                |               |                 |                 |     SiriusXM    |     SiriusXM    
 ---------------+---------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------
   HDMI (V.1.4a |  4 In / 1 Out |   4 In / 1 Out  |   6 In / 1 Out  |   7 In / 1 Out  |   7 In / 2 Out  
     with 3D,   |               |                 |   including a   |   including a   |   including a   
       ARC)     |               |                 |   front input   |   front input   |   front input   
      In/Out    |               |                 |                 |                 |                 
 ---------------+---------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------
      Video     |   HDMI 1080p  |   HDMI 1080p /  |   HDMI 1080p /  |   QDEO 1080p/   |   QDEO 1080p/   
    Processor   |               |  Advanced Video |  Advanced Video |      24fps/     |      24fps/     
                |               |      Adjust     |      Adjust     |  Advanced Video |  Advanced Video 
                |               |                 |                 |     Adjust /    |  Adjust/ Stream 
                |               |                 |                 |      Stream     |    Smoother /   
                |               |                 |                 |    Smoother /   |    Triple HD    
                |               |                 |                 |    Triple HD    |      Noise      
                |               |                 |                 |      Noise      |    Reduction    
                |               |                 |                 |    Reduction    |                 
 ---------------+---------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------
     Pioneer    |  Auto MCACC / |     Advanced    |      Jitter     |  Virtual Depth  |    Full Band    
      Sound     |     Phase     |   MCACC/ Phase  |    Reduction    |                 |  Phase Control  
   Enhancements |    Control    |  Control Plus/  |                 |                 |                 
      Steps     |               |       PQLS      |                 |                 |                 
                |               |    Bitstream/   |                 |                 |                 
                |               |    Auto Sound   |                 |                 |                 
                |               |    Retriever    |                 |                 |                 
 ---------------+---------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------
    Multi-Zone  |  2 Zone Audio |   2 Zone Audio  |   2 Zone Audio  |   2 Zone Audio  |   3 Zone Audio  
    A/V Steps   |    Pre-out    |  Pre-out/Speake |  Pre-out/Speake |  Pre-out/Speake |  Pre-out/Speake 
                |               |      r out      |    r out and    |    r out and    |   r out and 2   
                |               |                 |    Video out    |    Video out    |  Zone Video out 
                |               |                 |                 |                 |                 
                                                                                                        


Full  product  specifications  on the new line of Elite AV receivers can be
found at www.pioneerelectronics.com.
Pioneer’s  iControlAV2  and  Air  Jam Apps are currently available for free
from the App Store on iPhone and iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

About Pioneer
It all began with a passion for music that Pioneer founder Nozomu Matsumoto
hoped  to  share with the world.  He started Pioneer in 1938 as a specialty
speaker  company,  building  products  out of his garage.  Today, Pioneer’s
Home  Entertainment  and  Business  Solutions  Group  continues Matsumoto's
enthusiasm,  developing award-winning audio and video home theater products
including  A/V  receivers,  Blu-ray  Disc®  and  DVD players, and speakers.
Long-standing  partnerships  and collaborations with the creative community
have  provided Pioneer unique insight in its quest to capture the purity of
a  movie  or  musical artist’s original vision into its broad range of home
entertainment  products.  The company’s brands include Pioneer® and Elite®.
More details can be found at www.pioneerelectronics.com.

1 A/V receiver needs to be connected to a wired LAN in a wireless LAN
network. This application is developed and checked for operation under iOS
4.2 conditions.
2 Noise and interruption may be caused when the iPod touch/iPhone/iPad is
connected to other Bluetooth devices. This application is developed and
checked for operation under iOS 4.2 conditions. The number of connectable
devices or compatibility may differ when other software versions are
installed.




Tags: - equipment - - Pioneer Electronics - - Elive AV receivers VSX-40 - - VSX-50 - - VSX-51 - - VSX-52 - - VSX-53 -