Pioneer VSP-555
Not much information survives on the Pioneer VSP-555. No manual, brochure or full review has turned up in the archive's research so far. What the period record shows is a modest presence in the annual equipment directories. Audio listed it under ambience and surround sound processors in its October roundups for 1988, 1989 and 1990 (Audio, October 1989, p.327). It was still in HiFI-Stereo's signal processor directory in 1991.
That 1991 directory entry is the most concrete thing we have. The surviving scan shows a surround processor with rear delay adjustable over a 0-32 ms range, frequency response of 10-16,000 Hz (±1, −3 dB), signal-to-noise above 80 dBA, and total harmonic distortion under 0.05% (HiFI-Stereo, 1991, p.208). The same garbled entry appears to give dimensions of roughly 17 × 2½ × 12½ inches, an 11 lb weight, and a $950 price (HiFI-Stereo, 1991, p.208). The OCR of that column is rough, so treat the precise figures with caution.
Beyond these directory fragments, the VSP-555's story is essentially undocumented. It seems to have been a workaday late-'80s surround processor rather than a flagship, but that is inference from silence, not evidence. If a manual or review ever resurfaces, this page will grow.
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