New Pioneer AV receivers

In tandem with its new plasma sets, Pioneer has announced four AV receivers in its Elite line (not pictured): the VSX-90TXV, 91TXH, 92TXH and 94TXH. The latter three are the focus of the company's efforts, as they support HDMI 1.3a, which is said to have twice the bandwidth of earlier HDMI connectors. They are also equipped with better sound support, including DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD, and Dolby Digital Plus. The 92 and 94 go a step further, supporting Neural-THX Surround -- this attempts to recreate original theatrical audio separation, but supports anything from two-channel stereo through to 7.1 surround.

The two also use Faroudja chips to scale video up to 24Hz 1080p. The 94 takes features to a further extreme, since it can play music files or Internet radio from a connected computer or USB device, complete with a display of artist and track information. The 90TXV and 91TXH will go on sale in June for $650 and $1,000; the 92TXH and 94TXH will ship in August for $1,300 and $1,600.

By Electronista Staff