Pioneer plots a Kuro-less future in the home theater market

If you were afraid that the post-Kuro Pioneer would retreat to car audio, fear not, because the company has plans to soldier on in the HT space with a marketing message that emphasizes both its A/V specialty roots and "balanced" home-A/V product lineup. As much as we love those Kuro plasmas, there's no denying that the prices didn't exactly jive well with the company's efforts to get consumers to recognize the value proposition in its other products. We'll admit that everyday consumers (read: not Engadget HD readers) looking to assemble a one-brand system could have been scared off of the Pioneer name by the Kuro prices, but we wish Pioneer would have kept its plasmas around as an "aspirational" product and allowed shoppers to cross-shop displays by building in deep, off-brand HDMI-CEC support into its other electronics. Wiping our fanboy tears aside, we have to give Pioneer credit -- its current lineup of electronics (AVRs especially) stack up competitively on the value-o-meter; which is good, because with companies like Denon, Onkyo and Yamaha around, it's in for a tough fight.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 19th 2009 5:48PM]

Let me just be the first to say.....this is the sadest thing ever. (yes I know sadest is not a word)

Seriously, the KURO line was leaps and bounds above any competition. Oh well, there's always the VIERA to fall back on. As long as I don't have to buy LCD, I'm happy.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 20th 2009 9:14PM]

Sadest is not a word because it is spelled s-a-d-d-e-s-t.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 19th 2009 6:10PM]

Haha, OMG. Yeah, that's right. Oh man, it's been a long day.

[HC Posted Aug 20th 2009 2:55AM]

Check out Samsung's new 58" series 850 plasma this year... Will make you forget your pioneer. The black's are almost completely the same while I acutally noticed better and accurate colors than the Kuro. Not to mention it is only 1.4" thick.

It's a little high in terms of the glossy screen, but the thing glass bezel is really attractive. This plasma along with the viera's should carry you at least until LED's fix viewing angles and motion or until OLED's start to come out.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 20th 2009 10:11AM]

Sorry, you lost your credibility when you typed "Samsung" and "Will make you forget your pioneer." in the same post.

[HC Posted Aug 21st 2009 8:11AM]

All right then... Don't take my word for it. What do I know except the fact that my friend runs his own A/V shop and I usually help him set up every new display he gets and calibrate them to near 6500k.

Or the fact that I have roughly 3 plasmas and 2 LCD's in my entire house.

You only lost credibility in my eyes when your obvious fanboyism for Pioneer is blurring your sight and you cannot seem to understand that Pioneer's awesome plasma is now nearly a year and a half old. That other companies have either matched, or surpassed in most aspects.

You might want to take a look at the Samsung 58" 850 series plasma for yourself. You'll be pleasantly surprised. But hey, by all means continue clinging to your Pioneer.

I hooked it up and compared it with the Pioneer. Almost same black levels, some scenes it was less, some scenes more. But color reproduction and accuracy were better on the samsung. Add the fact that it is also only 1.5" thick and you have possibly one of the best Plasma's Samsung has ever released.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 19th 2009 6:33PM]

They have good, no, great receivers, their new line of BD players is just fine, and I would like to see them compete in speakers.

Before you say, "Oh, but they have TONS of speakers" (they do), it seems they do not promote them and make them as available as they could to really drive speakers. They also seem to have either:

-Cheap junk
-Uber high-end stuff (or at least stuff that is far outside mainstream spending)
-In-wall/ceiling products

They obviously have the technology and size to do whatever they want. Maybe they feel the market is too crowded, or maybe they feel they cannot compete in the mainstream, but it would be interesting to see if they do something to make up for the lost revenue (I will not say lost profits, unfortunately) of plasma sales.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 19th 2009 6:41PM]

With my marketing BS filter on, this article says shockingly little.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 20th 2009 4:44AM]

I still think it is not a smart decision from Pioneer to stop producing the Kuro plasma's.

So what if they didn't make any money with them. They are seen as the best hdtv's on the market and from an advertising view it is priceless.
No better way to make a name for your company.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 20th 2009 5:12AM]

Uh, it isn't priceless . . . its price is how much money they were losing and obviously they decided not losing money was more valuable to them than whatever halo effects it produces.

My PRO-800HD from 2002 still looks pretty good, btw

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 19th 2009 9:18PM]

Pioneer.... the next Coby / Jwin..

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 19th 2009 10:10PM]

know a guy that bought a 60" Kuru Elite right when he heard they were stopping production. the quality of that tv's picture is almost too gorgeous for words....lucky bastard

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 20th 2009 4:06AM]

@HC: Look at the HDTV Shootout 2009, there is the truth! The Pioneer KRP 500M ist the best consumerTV you can get for your small Money!

The new Sammys are good, but not as good as the Kuro! :D

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 20th 2009 10:14AM]

The new Sammys aren't even as good as a VIERA. But hey if LCD is your thing, go for it.