Pioneer to Start Shipping Elite AV Receivers in July

Just yesterday, we were telling you about the upcoming Speaker Bar from Pioneer Electronics. However, the company also has a little something for that larger home theater setup. The company just announced a trio of AV receivers under its Elite brand.

The SC-75, SC-77 and SC-79 are all THX-certified 9.2-channel receivers with Class D3 amplification, Ultra HD 4K upscaling, nine SABRE32 Ultra DACs (digital-to-analog converters), and a 192kHz/32-bit audio scaler. Each one is also designed to work in multiroom and multi-source scenarios.

Whether you have one of these hooked up for use in one room or more, each one works with Pioneer’s iControlAV2013 Apps for iOS and Android devices. This provides complete control for any and all zones, all from your favorite portable.

Pioneer has named the SC-79 its flagship model. Some of that product’s perks include the HDBaseT standard, which means that it can do uncompressed HD video and audio, all via one Cat 5e or Cat 6 cable. Other features include a USB 32-Bit Asynchronous Audio DAC and support for DSD Native playback (DSD over PCM transfer) via MAC and Windows computers.

Other features of each receiver include Crestron and Control4 support, two-way RS-232-over-IP control, Windows 8 certification, and MHL 2.0 connectivity. The SC-77 and the SC-79 are also Air Studios Monitor Certified. All three models support an Ethernet connection for tapping into streaming media services or users can opt for the add-on AS-WL300 WiFi adapter.

“We’re continuing to integrate the newest and most advanced technologies available into our products, including being the first manufacturer to incorporate the new HDBaseT high definition multi-zone standard,” said Chris Walker, director of AV marketing and product planning for Pioneer’s home electronics division. “Through our Class D3 technology, each one of these receivers is built to produce an enormous amount of power efficiently without sacrificing performance, whether it’s powering an advanced 9.2-channel home theater set up or spreading the task to various rooms of the house.”

Pioneer says that the Elite SC-75, SC-77 and SC-79 receivers will start shipping sometime this month. Expect each model to be priced at $1,600, $2,000 and $3,000, respectively.

If you want to learn more about the Air Studios certification, here’s a brief video Pioneer put together on the topic and why it’s important to their receivers:

Also Check Out:
Venting Your Home Theater Equipment
Pioneer Adds 4K and MHL to New Elite AV Receivers
8 Things Most Receivers Don’t Need (and why I’m wrong about most of them)