Pioneer VSX-520-K

Last year, Pioneer's VSX-1019AH-K was our top midrange AV receiver pick, offering more features for the same price as its competitors, and still serving up solid sound quality. Pioneer has announced its new 2010 lineup for AV receivers and our first impression is that the company looks like it has a good shot at maintaining its edge in the "features war." Here's a quick rundown of the announced models.

Key features of the Pioneer VSX-520-K:

• 5.1 AV receiver, 110 watts per channel
• 3 HDMI 1.4 inputs
• 3D-compatible (able to pass 3D HDMI signal from 3D Blu-ray player to 3D TV)
• Onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, plus Dolby ProLogic IIz decoding
• Bluetooth-ready (can stream Bluetooth audio from compatible A2DP devices with $100 AS-BT100 adapter)
• Advanced Sound Retriever and Automatic Level Control processing
• $230 | Available in April