New Products

It's kind of amazing that a component that hasn't changed much outwardly for 20+ years can change so much internally in the course of just a couple of years. I'm talking about Pioneer's surround-sound receivers, which I first encountered in 1989 ... and which still looked almost exactly the same when I walked into the demo room at the company's Long Beach, Calif., headquarters last week to check out its four new affordable models.

But they don't work the same. The new receviers, priced from $249 to $599, are even more packed with technology than the generation they replace. Fortunately, though, Pioneer's taking some steps to help consumers deal with all that complexity.

There are a zillion soundbars out there, and it seems like every one of them has something missing: a key feature, total integration with your TV or, worst of all, good sound. But from what I saw last week on a press junket to the Santa Barbara, Calif., headquarters of Sonos, it looks like maybe somebody finally got it right.

Count Polk Audio among the growing ranks of veteran speaker manufacturers entering the rapidly expanding headphone market.