LATEST ADDITIONS

Summer is ending. School is starting. Transitioning into a new season is an outstanding opportunity to consider new gear like the equipment that follows. This crop includes a TV with bragging rights, a pair of stylish earbuds that the company terms in-ear computers, a THX-certified home theater in a box, noise-cancelling headphones that let in the outside—or not, and a cool turntable that plugs into the company’s speaker system or your own receiver.

These days you're not likely to see a Quentin Tarantino script directed by someone else, but there was a time when the young filmmaker-cum-video-store-clerk was raising funds to make his directorial debut (Reservoir Dogs) and sold True Romance, which was ultimately helmed by Top Gun's Tony Scott. The movie took a few years to find its audience—and current cult status—but is now hard to see it as anything but inspired and uniquely entertaining.

PRICE $1,499

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Dirac Live and Pioneer MCACC room/speaker correction
9 powered channels for driving a 5.1.4 Dolby Atmos or DTS:X system
HDMI 2.1, 8K-ready with variable refresh on all inputs
Minus
Small, unlit remote
Cheesy speaker-out terminals
Can’t store Dirac and MCACC “runs” simultaneously

THE VERDICT
The Pioneer VSX-LX505 provides a lot of bang for your buck, including nine channels for powering a full Dolby Atmos or DTS:X setup and two excellent auto-EQ options.

Pioneer's VSX-LX505 Elite A/V receiver represents a new generation of reasonably priced AVRs that boast up-to-date technology and enough channels to rock a full 5.1.4 Dolby Atmos or DTS:X surround setup with four height speakers without having to rely on an outboard amplifier to power "extra" channels. And that's not its only marquee feature: The LX505 is Roon Tested to ensure compatibility with the music-management/streaming software, supports HDMI 2.1/4K passthrough on its main HDMI inputs and outputs, and is certified to work with Sonos systems. It also supports 8K video and incorporates Dirac Live room/speaker-correction EQ technology along with Pioneer's proprietary MCACC (Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration) system.

Spider-Man is a comic-book character that was created in 1962. The inaugural issue sold for 12 cents. Sony Pictures, which now owns the screen rights to the character, decided not to release the latest Spider-Man movie in the world’s biggest movie market. That decision might cost Sony as much as $340 million.