Hi folks, Andy Parsons here from Pioneer Electronics. This thread concerns me because there are some assertions in it that are simply not accurate.
I want to reassure you that Pioneer is doing fine, and no one should be concerned about buying our products. It's certainly no secret that we went through a difficult period while exiting the plasma TV business, and, like many CE companies, we had our challenges with the economic slowdown during a very tough 2009. But I want you to know that our company has not reduced our commitment to the same business we started with more than 70 years ago, which is to design and produce the best quality, most innovative audio and video components our people know how to build.
I've been with Pioneer for more than 25 years, and come from the product and technology side of the business. I know many of the engineers and product planning people in Japan personally, and I will tell you that _none_ of them are interested in tolerating any reduction in our build quality or in settling for a mediocre product design. In fact, it's very much the opposite. If, for example, you were to check out the sound and build quality of our SC series receivers, you will find that these products epitomize what Pioneer Elite has been about since the line's introduction in the '80s. I currently have an SC-25 in my system at home, and the only problem I have is trying to figure out what to do with my three older Elite units (VSX-53, VSX-39TX, VSX-54TX) that simply refuse to break after many years of frequent use.
So please do not hesitate to take a serious look at our products. By all means, compare them against the very fine models that Denon and our other competitors make, and most important, give them an in-person audition if you can. I think you'll find that we have not changed our design approach and quality commitment one bit. Pioneer isn't going anywhere, and you can feel confident that if you like what you see, feel and hear, you'll be able to depend on both our products and our company for many years to come.
-- Andy Parsons
SVP, Advanced Product Development
Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.
Long Beach, CA
