My observations after using the HTS-570:
The Pioneer HTS-570 is a 5.1 channel home theater-in-a-box system, with 6 compact satellite speakers, an AV receiver/subwoofer combination, and separate LED display unit.
However, the AV receiver section lacks video connections, which would have made it a more flexible central control unit to use with HDTVs and progressive scan DVD players.
Two innovations:
1. The separate LED display allows the heavier, and boxier, amplifier section to be placed in the subwoofer cabinet, allowing the LED display and control unit to be put in a smaller space, away from the system.
2. A modular Speaker design allowing the speakers to be placed around the room for a more enveloping surround sound experience, or assembled into two small towers for placement on the left and right side of a TV, which provides a front-based surround sound experience.
The HTS-570 has a variety of useful listening modes, including an expansion mode that widens the surround field and a sound retrieval mode that eliminates much of the compression artifacts present in MP3 and WMA encoded CDs.
As far as audio performance, the more demanding sound samples I used from DVD, Blu-ray, HD-DVD, lost their impact due to the small speakers and low-powered system. In addition audio-only CDs lacked the depth they would get from a more substantial system.
The highs were fair, but didn't standout, the subwoofer wasn't tight enough on the lowest frequencies, and subtle transient details got lost in some of the DVD soundtracks.
Despite its modest rated power output and small satellite speakers, the HTS-570 should have performed better for a compact system at its $399 price point, such as Pioneer's previously released HTS-260.
Pioneer deserves credit for its sound processing options and modular speaker design, but the sound quality needs to be improved.
The HTS-570 gets 3 out of 5 Stars.