Thomas J. Norton

Pioneer's newest flagship 50-inch plasma display differs from its predecessors, including the <A HREF="http://ultimateavmag.com/flatpaneldisplays/405pioneer/ "> Elite Pro-1120HD</A>, in a number of important ways. For the buyer, however, the most important change is the price. At $5500, the Elite PRO-1130HD is a whopping $8000 cheaper than the $13,500 PRO-1120HD we reviewed back in April 2005. The fact that the PRO-1130HD is also better than last year's model illustrates just how competitive flat panel sales have become. Pioneer has had to dance as fast as it can to keep up with the major players in the market.

<I>The original text of this review stated that the Pioneer Elite PRO-940HD will not accept native 1080p/24 material. That was incorrect. It will. The set will not, however, accept a native 1080p/60 source. In addition, the set includes two NTSC tuners (useful in the split-screen and picture-in-picture modes), a fact not noted in the text but now added to the Specifications section. &mdash;Ed</I>.

Price: $7,000 Highlights: Superb sound for both movies and music • 10 channels of powerful Class D amplification • Sets a steep learning curve but rewards with immense flexibility • Video processing has limitations, including no upconversion of HDMI sources

And the Kitchen Sink

Sometimes I get nostalgic for the early days of home theater. For example, I fondly remember the Proceed AVP processor I reviewed for Stereophile Guide to Home Theater in 1997. Conventional Dolby Digital and DTS were its most exotic operating modes, the remote had fewer than a dozen buttons, and it didn’t provide room equalization, extra surround modes, or onboard video processing. In fact, it didn’t have any video switching beyond S-video. We didn’t need no stinkin’ component, and no one had even heard of HDMI. Laserdisc was the most established source, DVD was brand new, and consumer high definition was still a mote in the FCC’s eye.

Pioneer announced the BDP-88FD Blu-ray player, at $2000. Not only is it a universal player, but offers advanced audio and video circuitry--the most advanced Blu-ray player yet from the company. It can also play back DSD, though multichannel DSD is limited to its HDMI outputs, as the analog outs are 2-channel only. It will be available by the end of this year.