Pioneer launches its flagship Elite series SC-57 and SC-55 A/V receiver designed to deliver the audio performance necessary for Blu-ray Disc and other high fidelity audio formats. They both are equipped with the company’s new Class D3 digital amplifier that can deliver Pioneer’s highest-ever continuous power simultaneously to all dedicated channels with extremely high efficiency, significantly less heat production and ultra-low distortion.
Both SC receivers enable users to configure their home theater in multiple customized configurations. The 9.1-channel SC-57 provides 10 different configurations while the 9.1-channel SC-55 offers up to seven. They support Apple’s AirPlay, DLNA 1.5 and Bluetooth for wireless media streaming. The Elite receivers both sport Marvell Qdeo video processors, Advanced Video Adjust technology automatically optimizes video signals by the type of display (selected manually) connected to the receivers, and Stream Smoother.
The Elite SC-57 offers 149W x 9 output and the SC-55 has 140W x 9 power output. They have Ethernet LAN port for internet connectivity and USB port for direct music playback from USB drives. Pioneer’s SC-57 and SC-55 are priced at $2000 and $1600, respectively.
