Anyone here own a Pioneer Elite 45A dvd player?

[Tarheel_]

i've wanted one of these puppies since they debuted, but could not afford it. Now, going into the used market/ebay they are in my price range.

Delimma is....i own the Pioneer 563a, which is a universal (budget) player so i enjoy SACD and DVD-A, but the video is not that impressive.

What is your opinion on this unit and by chance has anyone compared these two?

Thanks...

[edtyct]

Tarheel,

I don't own this player, but I have a definite impression of it, at least for video. It's one of the players with CUE (chroma upsampling error), and its deinterlacing performance is suspect. An attentive viewer would see jagged edges and other artifacts from slow or poor reaction to video and film material, as well as inadequate processing of color information. It has other factory calibrations out of the box that may require external correction (a darker than normal picture, for one). These are all avoidable problems these days--at least one or two of them at a time, with other, often less expensive, DVD players (Panasonics, Sonys, and even Pioneer's own higher-end Elites). I'm by no means saying that the 45A will cause immediate emotional trauma (or buyer's remorse), but over time, some of its flaws might start becoming conspicuous and thereafter distracting. In the twilight years of DVD as we've known it, there seems to be little reason to settle for compromised video performance. If you have your heart set on this model, and your display can compensate for the player's shortcomings, its performance interlaced rather than progressive might make it worth considering at a decent price (that is, if my video caveats bother you at all in the first place).

I recall hearing that audio performance was pretty good, though nothing special. Drawing up a short list of other players in your price range and doing a little research on them might be a good idea in this case.

Ed

[recoveryone]

i've wanted one of these puppies since they debuted, but could not afford it. Now, going into the used market/ebay they are in my price range.

Delimma is....i own the Pioneer 563a, which is a universal (budget) player so i enjoy SACD and DVD-A, but the video is not that impressive.

What is your opinion on this unit and by chance has anyone compared these two?

Thanks...
I do own the Dv45a and have had no problems or complaints to note to this day. The picture quality is very nice, but as always that will depend on other factors (T.V. signal type ( Composite/s-video/component). I connect the video (component) directly to my RPTV and run the sound via Optic to my AV. The one thing that impressed me the most was the Dac's on it. I was able to cut my listening level by -10, it seams the sound comes through a bit more clearer. As far as the SACD and DVD-A it uses the analog outputs to your AV ( for me I wish it could use the digital output) just less hassle switching back from analog input to digital, the player will stay in analog mode for regular DVD's if not changed back over and there is a sound difference. Its great with Mp3's disk displays name of song and artist if downloaded with song. I use mine mainly for DVD viewing, I upgraded from the 525 that I brought in 97 (moved it to the bedroom,but another very good DVD player for its time)

[Slosh]

I don't own this player, but I have a definite impression of it, at least for video. It's one of the players with CUE (chroma upsampling error), and its deinterlacing performance is suspect. Don't believe everything you read. I got my 45A soon as it hit the market in Sept. '02 and about a year later I saw that report you're referring to on Secrets to Home Theater and Hi Fi (.com). At the time I had an analog TV so I tried it on my friend's HD-ready CRT RPTV using scenes pointed out specifically by Secrets and saw no CUE whatsoever. Then we played those same scenes on my friend's DVD player, a Toshiba 4800 which Secrets said only had minor CUE, and saw the errors instantly. Go figure.

I've since purchased my own HDTV (a direct-view) and see no CUE on that set either. No jaggies or other deinterlacing problems have cropped up in the eight months I have owned my new TV, though I must admit that since a direct-view's screen is so relatively small there could be some errors that I may be missing (which of course would make it a moot point anyway).

So while the 45A certainly isn't a world class DVD player or an audiophile component, its performance has been pretty solid in my experience and AFAIK it's still the least expensive universal that does SACD without converting DSD to PCM. Also, it has outlasted my previous two Panasonic DVD players combined, with never a single problem and I've never come across any type of disc it wouldn't play.

[edtyct]

Glad to hear that yours has held up. Secrets generally does a pretty good job with DVD players. Not believing everything you read, however, is generally a good policy. Whenever we get the chance, we should try to get firsthand experience with these things. When we can't, we read.

Ed

[Geoffcin]

i've wanted one of these puppies since they debuted, but could not afford it. Now, going into the used market/ebay they are in my price range.

Delimma is....i own the Pioneer 563a, which is a universal (budget) player so i enjoy SACD and DVD-A, but the video is not that impressive.

What is your opinion on this unit and by chance has anyone compared these two?

Thanks...

Especially if you have a TXi Pioneer reciever.

Here's a PIONEER ELITE 47-ai on Audiogon.

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlplay&1126221613

I keep looking at this one too, but without a TXi receiver it looses a bit of it's versatility.

Here's a review;

http://www.audiorevolution.com/equip/pioneer_elite/index.html

[Tarheel_]

Thanks for all the great input everyone....it seems the audio is above average and the video is somewhat average.

Since i use my DVD about 75/25 movies/music and don't own an Elite receiver, i'll probably keep shopping in that price range or wait for the 47 model to come down a bit.

I was always impressed with my older Denon DVD-1000 (sold on audiogon), the video was fantastic, maybe i should research some Denon universal players....but they seem a tad on the expensive side.