Audio Video News

Pioneer showcased Dolby Atmos-enabled Elite Series receivers and speakers at the CE Week trade show held in New York City.

Central to the Atmos-enabled speaker lineup are the SP-EBS73-LR bookshelf (shown above) and SP-EFS73 floorstanding models, featuring an upward firing 4-inch driver that projects height-channel information toward the ceiling so it reflects into the listening area, making these speakers ideal for situations where ceiling-mounted speakers are impractical. Both models are three-way designs with a Pioneer-developed CST coaxial driver that positions a 1-inch tweeter in the middle of a 4-inch midrange driver; the EBS73 adds one 5.25-inch woofer and the EFS73 floorstander adds three.

Rounding out the line is the three-way SP-EC73 center speaker, which also utilizes a CST driver, and the SW-E10 powered subwoofer featuring a 300-watt amplifier and 10-inch driver. Designed by Andrew Jones, creator of Pioneer’s popular budget line of home theater speakers, the Dolby Atmos-enabled Elite speakers are slated for release late summer. Prices are as follows: SP-EBS73-LR, $749/pair; SP-EFS73, $699 each; SP-EC73, $399; and SW-E10, $599.

Pioneer also announced that a Dolby Atmos firmware update will be available by the end of the year for its new 9.2-channel Elite SC-85, SC-87, and SC-89 AV receivers. The receivers will be available in the fall at $1,600, $2,000, and $3,000, respectively.

All models are certified as Roku Ready and feature Pioneer’s Class D3 amplification, HDMI 2.0 connectivity, ESS SABRE32 Ultra digital-to-analog converters (DACs), 192 kHz/32-bit audio scaling, and multi-room/multi-source configurability. The models can also be controlled via Pioneer’s iOS/Android-compatible iControlAV5 app and include the company’s MCACC Pro automated calibration system, which supports Dolby Atmos speaker configurations and has been updated with dual subwoofer outputs and a four-band subwoofer EQ.

The flagship SC-89 also supports the HDBaseT standard, which enables a one wire multi-zone connection for uncompressed audio and video, and incorporates an asynchronous 32-bit USB DAC for direct connection to computers and for playback of native DSD files.