Pioneer Elite SC-57

Pioneer Elite SC-57 Review

The Pioneer Elite SC-57 outmuscles many competitors with the company’s potent D3 digital amplification while preserving natural, transparent sound.It is hard to believe it’s been six months since we first laid eyes on Pioneer’s new Class-D digital amplification technology at CEDIA last year. At the time, we were pretty excited because, based on the conversation we had at the show with Pioneer’s Executive VP of home electronics, Russ Johnston, it seemed as if the new technology the company had developed involved real technical advancement rather than just a cleverly brewed vat of marketing stew. Pioneer asserts that the limitations inherent to conventional class A/B amplifiers are stunting the growth of the A/V receiver. The high-definition audio found on Blu-ray discs, for instance, has untapped potential; what we need is a more powerful, stable amplifier to better deliver the highly dynamic, uncompressed audio contained on the discs. Class-D digital amplification can deliver that kind of power in spades, but has endured criticism for sounding sterile, bland or just plain unmusical. So, Pioneer teamed up with ICEpower and the audio engineers at Britain’s renowned Air Studios and got to work redesigning Class-D digital amps from the ground up.