The Pioneer 47a & 47ai are used as a reference players in most Stereophile review systems.

;-)

The Digital Stereo Mode does, however, allow BM for the two main channels.

Some of the CD’s seemed to come across bass light, and the Dig Stereo, would occasionaly help those. More often (recording dependent) the digital input was detrimental to the base which would seem better integrated and fuller in bypass?! Learning I LACK, need to deal with my Sub, (which I’m not too fond of). I find it boomy and muddy. If I’m learning properly, - I believe its dampening stinks, it just does not appear to be able to handle fast transients. Disagreeable hanging around in the air like a bad headache on occasion..

Good reason to look into Outlaw’s new sub. Originally I had intended (when I found time) to try and find a REL, to demo, from certain reviews I had read, - thought that brand might be a consideration to blend with the Beethoven’s. I’d love to study up and implement SH’s stereo SW’s. But space is THE problem.
I never released how TERRIBLE some CD’s were till setting up the 950 and the Vienna’s. Thank you for the info on the 91. I promise to try experimenting with upsampling. Hopefully that will help add some air to the some of the less than ideally mastered (but sometimes favorite) CD’s I spin.

I don’t know your tastes in recordings. But shortly after purchasing the new mains, I picked up George Winston’s CD “Night Divides the Day”.

Wow! That frequency range (actually more the voice of a grand) on that particular recording is something to hear on the VA’s. (bypass for this one). I recommend the CD but will mention it DOES crack me up on a few of the tracks, (all tracks are songs by “The Doors”). On a few of these (sorry they were just NEVER composed for piano solo.) I cannot help but picture one of varying Saturday Night Skits about cheap cheesy piano bars. (“Light my Fire’ always has me snickering).

But a few tracks, are worth the purchase, - particularly “Crystal Ship” “Summer almost Gone” and “My Wild Love” are really really magical to hear on this system. I believe it’s the “My Wild L?” track where he hand plucks the strings in the body of the Grand during large portions of this composition. The resonance and pitch and reverberation of the bass notes during this, will mezmorize you! Occasionally he plucks one of the largest diameter wire, (you know how long these bass notes reverberate before it decays to inaudiblity). And the mic stays with the single note till it does. Very NICE!.

If my “bass” would just sound like that ….all the time…sigh.

ASoonas possible. I’m going to be playing with settings again, due to your reminder! Thanks for the help and settings to check and consider!

OK, here's my take. I use the 45a and am quite satisfied. Even though I can appreciate cutting edge, I'm more excited by the convenience of throwing any cd in the machine and having it automatically read it, regardless of format. I used to be a vinyl purist but the idea of washing both sides of the lp, then de-static-ing it w/ the Zerostat, then carefully cleaning the stylus to listen to 20 minutes of music is anathema to me now. I guess I'm just lazy but, I notice that the software is generally more variable in quality than the machine hides with it's own supposed lack of quality. I'll take the relatively high quality convenience of the 45a.
BTW, what's the opinion of the new Pioneer all in one being sold by Best Buy?

Jay

JMS,

I seem to recall hearing that the latest Pioneer players do not have the CUE problem. I don't know whether that's true, or anything else about the new line.

Jeff

I read reviews talking about sounding clearer from this player and warmer from that player. I thought those characters have more to do with amp and speakers than DVD player itself. Am I wrong on this?

If I am concerned with 51% audio quality, 49% video quality and trying to decide from two to three DVD players in the same price range, are there information I should look for in the spec that may help me to choose the better one?

Try the Pioneer DV-563A. If you can belive Sound and Vision and Home Theater its the player to get. Price $250 list but ive seen it for $179 at Crutchfield.

149 at wholesaleconnection.com who I deal with pretty frequently, pretty reputable folk.

Hi. I am a new 950-/770 owner and loving it. I, too, am looking to add a new DVD-A/SACD player. I am replacing my Pioneer ELite DV-47A. Please accept that my comments are totally subjective. IMHO, the Pioneer unit is a great DVD player. Picture is superb and colors are grand. (I do route it through a DVDO IScan Ultra processor). DVD-A sounds terrific (I also have an ICBM in the loop for 5.1 audio). I am not as impressed with SACD sound. I am not sure how to describe it, but "antiseptic" comes to mind, or "thin." My main gripe is that the build quality is not what I have experienced with previous Pioneer Elite gear I have purchased, and after owning it for about a year, I have started experiencing serious video drop-outs. It is on its way back to Pioneer, and I am using my SOny DV9000ES for DVD right now (which I think provides a superior picture ot the Pioneer despite its age). I have just ordered a Denon 5900 DVD player, but due to availability it may not be in until early January. I will return and drop a few lines on my "subjective" impressions of the new player.

Good luck!

Mike

If interested and you have a CC store near you, I saw the Pioneer 563A for 10% off via their web site, January 27, 2004.

Well, I promised that I would drop back and comment on the Denon 5900 when it came in. We hooked it up tonight and because of the late hour (OK - I am 52 and 11:00 is nor "late" for me) we were only able to preview a few minutes of one or two DVDs. It may be the hour, or it may be that I do so want to really be bowled over by a player that costs what this one did, but we are bowled over! The video is simply amazing. The picture clarity is outstanding. Flesh tones are super-realistic and natural. And the audio is really something to behold. The gunfight in Open Range occasionally makes me jump as the crack of a pistol shot leaps over our heads.

OK. I am probably not being objective. But I am really impressed with the initial experience with this unit. After I hook up the 6 channel audio and get to listen to some DVD-A and SACD I will check back.

Thanks for listening!

Mike