This week Pioneer launched a new range of Hi-Fi products, Home Cinema Receivers and series 8 speakers.

The famous Air Studios was the venue for Pioneers press day and we were greeted by the team behind the electronic equipment who were specially flown in from Japan and Bertand Mellot from France who works at the speaker design centre.

Air Studios is based in Hamstead in a converted church and has played host to the mixing and recording of the James Bond films and many musical artist such as Paul McCartney.

Pioneer and Air studios teamed up to get the best sonic performance from their products. The new products consist of the new VSX-1019AH, VSX-919AH, VSX-819H and VSX-519V AV receivers, the new Series 8 speakers which comprises of three models: the S-81 floor-standing speaker £2800, the S-81B-LR bookshelf speaker £2000 and the S-81C centre speaker £1000.

We also got to see the new G-Clef Hi-Fi range, HERE A-A9MK2-K and A A6MK2-K amplifiers, the PD-D9MK2-K and PD-D6MK2-K Super Audio CD players and the F F6MK2-K DAB tuner.

The new AV receivers which were accompanied by three new BD-Live Blu-ray Disc players the BDP-LX52 £550, the mid-range BDP-320 £400 and the entry-level BDP-120 £270 looked and sounded amazing especially with the PQLS (Precision Quartz Lock System) turned on.

The three AV receivers are some of the industry’s first to feature iPhone and iPod certification for enhanced compatibility to Apple’s mobile digital devices.

On board the VSX-1019AH, VSX-919AH, VSX-819H you will find DTS HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD. The VSX-919AH and VSX-1019AH allow the conversion of conventional analogue inputs to HDMI, which simplifies AV connections by carrying digital audio and video signals in one cable. Additionally, the VSX-1019AH provides 1080p up-scaling of all video signals.

The series 8 speakers from Pioneer not only sounded great on Movies but through the new G-Clef Hi-Fi HERE sounded excellent on music too.

Cutting-edge TAD technologies allow the driver to reproduce exceptionally accurate audio. By mounting the tweeter in the centre of the midrange driver, the sound directivity can be precisely controlled at any frequency. All sound – direct and reflected – will arrive at the listening position with identical timbre. The tweeter diaphragm is fabricated from titanium, a light but rigid material that push the diaphragm resonance beyond the audible range, which results in a cleaner and more accurate sound reproduction.