Pioneer Intros New Features at SEMA in 2013 Car Radios

Pioneer is showing some unique features at the SEMA show this week in two car radio lines updated for 2013.

First, Pioneer announced the high end segment of its 2013 single CD line (the lower end of the line debuted at KnowledgeFest in August). Three new single CD radios are the first to use new SiriusXM convenience features.  One is Tune Start.  When you switch sat radio channels and you land on a song, Tune Start starts it from the beginning.  Another feature, Tune Scan, allows the user to scan and listen to 6-second samples of songs currently playing on their favorite music channels.

The new Pioneer receivers also receive SiriusXM 2.0 Xtra Channels.

Also at the SEMA show, Pioneer unveiled 5 new Audio/Video car radios, including some with a cool feature that lets you literally draw your equalization settings.  Users draw an eq curve on the touch screen to set the desired eq level.

All the new AV models come with App Mode, which lets you control more than a dozen smartphone apps from the car radio.

All models also get Pandora control on an iPhone and all but the leader includes Bluetooth control over Pandora on an Android phone.  And all include the DJ-like MIXTRAX.

Two models give you both SiriusXM capability and built-in HD Radio (AVH-X3500BHS and AVH-X5500BHS).

The car AV models ship in November with either 6.1 or 7-inch WVGA touch screen displays.  They include a leader AVH-X1500DVD at $300.  All additional models include Bluetooth with audio streaming and Pandora control on Android phones: AVH-X2500BT at $350 (AVH-X3500BHS at $400 (with SiriusXM capability and built-in HD Radio), AVH-X4500BT at $450 and AVH-X5500BHS at $500 (with SiriusXM capability and built-in HD Radio).

Pioneer’s new flagship CD single radios range in price from $150 to $260 and may viewed feature-by-feature in a chart at the end of this post.  Three models give you Bluetooth control over Pandora on an Android phone and all models include MIXTRAX virtual DJ technology and Pandora control on an iPhone.

All the Pioneer radios follow the same compatibility levels with iPhone 5 as in the 2012 line.

Pioneer is also showing at SEMA a line of Class D amplifiers under the “GM Digital” series and new TS-A speakers and “Champion” series subwoofers.

Four new subwoofers ship in November with a new prism patterned seamless cone for strength and durability.  They come in 10- and 12-inch versions with dual or single 4-ohm voice coils.  Pioneer said it also improved the line by using a 4-layer copper voice coil with an aluminum former for better heat dissipation and power handling.  Models range in price from $100 to $130.

The 3 new compact-sized amps deliver 100 Watts x 4 (4-ohm) RMS power, 150 Watts x 4 (2-ohm) of RMS power, or 300 Watts x 2 ( 4-ohm bridged) RMS power when configured to play in 2-channel mode.  Models GM-D8604, GM-D9601 and GM-D8601 will be available in November with suggested retail prices of $220, $280 and $200 respectively.

TS-A speakers have a newly integrated Multilayer Mica Matrix Cone that is 30 percent lighter than similar polypropylene cones. They come in 5-1/4”, 6-1/2”, 4” x 6”, 6” x 8” and 6” x 9” sizes and include 3 component models.  Prices start at $80.

Source: Pioneer Electronics

2013 PIONEER FLAGSHIP CD RECEIVERS