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Pioneer outlines two new Elite receivers for 2016

​Pioneer has announced that its 2016 Elite receivers will include next-generation surround technologies Dolby Atmos and DTS:X in addition to Google Cast.

Ty Pendlebury Editor
Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury
2 min read
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Pioneer

Pioneer has announced that its 2016 Elite receivers will include next-generation surround technologies Dolby Atmos and DTS:X in addition to Google Cast.

Pioneer outlined two new models in its Elite range -- the $500 LX101 and the $700 LX301 -- which offer 7x140W and 7x170W, respectively.

Both models support 4K video in whichever guise you want to tap in to it (60p/4:4:4) in addition to the all-important HDCP 2.2 copy protection.

The receivers offer the latest Dolby Atmos and DTS:X formats, though the latter is not scheduled till Fall 2016, in a 5.1.2 configuration (which includes two overheads).

Wireless connectivity includes Bluetooth and Wi-Fi which also brings with it AirPlay support for Apple devices. Given that Pioneer is part of Onkyo now it's not surprising to see this receiver also siding with the FireConnect (BlackFire) wireless multiroom standard. But how useful will it be in the end?

Google Cast is also supported by these Elite receivers and this protocol is likely to become a de facto standard in home audio, particularly for use in multiroom situations. If Google allows Google Cast and Chromecast Audio units to be grouped together (which hopefully will be soon) you'll no longer need to learn a proprietary app to cast music across your entire house, just use your usual music app.

The receivers will also support streaming from Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn and Tidal in addition to media support for in-home streaming of 192kHz/24-bit FLAC, WAV, AIFF, Apple Lossless and DSD (2.8/5.6MHz).

The receivers will be available in the US in April 2016.