HTF Attendees Report: Pioneer Kuro Loft 10/21

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Pioneer Kuro Loft 10/21

First up for my group on Tuesday was a visit to the Pioneer Kuro Loft where Pioneer pulled out all the stops with a furnished a loft loaded with a sweet home theater setup comprising of a Pioneer Kuro Plasma HDTV set as the centerpiece, along with their Pioneer HT receiver and speakers to bring to life the audio and visual experience that was waiting for us in the form of high definition content from their Pioneer Blu-ray player.

After a nice breakfast spread to feed the hungry masses, We were treated to some recorded testimonials from film/TV industry professionals who were very complimentary in their evaluation of the Kuro HDTV plasma sets, as these sets proved to be up to the challenge of revealing the finer details to those who actually work on the material being delivered to the HDTV sets, as it was intended. Also, in that same setup, which featured an array of 6 flat panels on a wall (3 sets across, 2 sets high), we were treated to clips from "Spider-Man 3" and other films in order to compare the Kuro plasma sets and other flat panel alternatives (1 Panasonic plasma, 2 Samsung LCDs, and 1 Sony LCD).

Next, the kind folks from Pioneer gave our group a sampling of demo's from "Gone Baby Gone", "Dave Matthews in concert", "The Dark Knight"'s 6-minute opening from the "Batman Begins" Blu-ray edition. All were effective demo's in creating the experience that pulled us into the film or concert, all benefits from an outstanding display, and an enveloping sound system targetted towards the home theater enthusiasts.

Going back to the wall of the 6 flat panel sets, which offered ease in comparative viewing, it was apparent for most that if you were looking for amazing black levels, the Kuro plasma sets did not disappoint at all. We were given remotes of the other models and allowed to fidget with the video settings of all the models as an exercise to get the other models to look as good as the Kuro sets, and it was a somewhat daunting task.

Overall, the Pioneer Kuro Lounge provided us a nice presentation of what Pioneer has to offer to the home theater enthusiasts who are thinking about leaping into the 1080p/lossless audio/HDMI pool for the new generation of high definition content that is certain to enrich their audio/visual experience at home. Kudos to the Pioneer crew who welcomed us into their lounge with open arms and were very hospitable hosts.

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Pioneer Kuro Loft 10/21

It's none more black! -Nigel Tufnel

More later, gotta run! But thanks for the awesome demo!

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Pioneer Kuro Loft 10/21

The Pioneer Kuro loft is in the most amazing art-deco building in the middle of Hollywood. Truly beautiful!

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Pioneer Kuro Loft 10/21

Thanks for allowing us to visit. The loft is a sweet place and I'm ready to move in. Shows off how great the Pioneer plasma TVs really are.

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Pioneer Kuro Loft 10/21

Patrick did an excellent write up of the experience. Not much more I can add other than my thanks for the hospitality and the help with identifying my next upgrade.

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Pioneer Kuro Loft 10/21

I'd have to say Pioneer's demo was great, if only because it was one of the only sessions to emphasise the sound in addition to video. Many of the other studio meets showed off improvements in video and BD-Live features...but the lossless sound on BD is, IMHO, a significant part of the experience. Maybe because sound is already at its maximum (PCM, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA) there isn't much to improve on, but certainly the gunshot in Gone Baby Gone and the 96kHz/24bit fidelity of the Dave Matthews disc are showcases for how sound can engage you emotionally...

Joe

Re: HTF Attendees Report: Pioneer Kuro Loft 10/21

All I have to say is, wow.

The facility and the advancements in the premiere display technologies were nothing short of incredible.

Not only will I be keeping a close eye on the upcoming third-gen Kuro's -- since they'll be the ones to benefit from the content creator interface of Project Kuro -- but now I've got some ideas for my new home theater re-design.

Thank you so much for the demos, food, refreshments and overwhelming hospitality!