Thomas J. Norton

For its 2011 lineup of AV receivers, Pioneer has gone Apple in a big way. The four new models, introduced at a press event in San Francisco, range in price from $249 for the VSX-521 to $549 for the top-of-the-line VSX-1021.

To various degrees, depending on model, the receivers incorporate a high level of compatibility with iDevices from Apple, including iPhone and iPad, with no external dock required. All four feature at least 110 watts per channel (120W per in the VSX-1021, all measured at 1kHz and 8Ω) using traditional class-AB amplification. The two lower end models sport 110W x 5 and the top two are equipped to drive 7 channels. Among their features are compatibility with today's most widely used audio formats (including Dolby Pro Logic IIz's height-channel option), 3D pass-through via multiple HDMI 1.4 inputs, and Pioneer's proprietary MCACC room calibration. All of the new units are Bluetooth-ready (with the addition of an optional adapter).

The new DV-09 is Pioneer's first DVD player in its Elite line. More than simply an upscale version of a standard Pioneer DVD player, the DV-09 was built from the ground up to be a flagship product. It's also the first DVD player I've seen to have been certified under THX's DVD-player certification program (see sidebar, "THX DVD Players").

Pioneer Elite's DV-79AVi "Universal" DVD player ($1,000) won't play HD DVD and Blu-ray discs, but it does play nearly everything else on a 5" consumer disc format. A glance at the specs tell you what formats it's designed to handle, though with all such players there will be exceptions. For me, it never hiccupped with any DVD-Video, CD, CD-R/RW, DVD-Audio, or SACD discs I threw at it. For the present, I don't speak either DVD-R/RW or MP-3/CD-ROM, so I did not check either format, though the player is specified to handle them.

This review is part of a four-way Face Off. Read the introduction and conclusions of the Face Off here.

Manufacturers of flat-panel plasma televisions have been refining the technology for years. But Pioneer has been particularly successful at it. In the past, the company made some of the world’s best rear-projection CRT sets, and it knew that great black levels are the foundation of a great picture. That philosophy has paid off over the years, particularly in recent-generation KURO sets.