Pioneer Intros Flagship Receiver

Pioneer Electronics will ship this month a new flagship, audiophile car audio receiver, it said.  The new deck provides double the processing power of recent Pioneer radios and it sports a higher resolution 720p 10.1-inch floating screen.

The DMH-WT6000NEX has “the biggest power supply that we have ever put into a head unit,” said Tony Verni, Pioneer VP Sales.  It has double the storage of most decks with two low ESR capacitors for a total of 28,700uF (capacitor size).  It has a 64-bit processor plus the typical A7 chip processor found in head units.  And it has 2GB LPDDR4 memory, which Pioneer said is “the fastest memory you can get,” typically used in  gaming and in smartphones.

The new DMH-WT6000NEX has hard buttons for volume on the top of the head unit (similar to an iPad) as well as a hard mute button.

It ships this month at $900.

There is a new “Luminous Bar” or light bar at the top of the screen that morphs in color and shape to indicate functions.  So in Apple Maps, as the user gets closer to a turn, the bar shifts to indicate an upcoming turn (useful when the driver mutes map cues).  It also works with Google Maps when in Android Auto.  It can also sync to one’s music or bass as a light show and can become red blinking lights when the car is parked, mimicking security system warning lights.

The DMH-WT6000NEX also has stronger WiFi and Bluetooth as well as both wireless and wired CarPlay and Android Auto, and a dedicated 48-bit dual core DSP/DAC.  “This is our audiophile piece,” Verni said.

The unit has a new companion app that lets the smartphone screen serve as a second screen, where the user can view tiles for controlling Maestro functions, HVAC, radio or other functions.

The DMH-WT6000NEX is iDatalink Maestro compatible and can work with Metra Axxess.

Photo: Pioneer’s Tony Verni demonstrates the new DMH-WT6000NEX