Ever since I started collecting LDs I've been looking to find myself a premium player. Browsing through eBay one day i saw a Theta Data II and I fell in love. It just looks so sleek. I couldn't afford it then and I reckon I'd struggle now. Are the Theta transports really that good? Are they worth the high prices I've seen them go for?

I had a Data II a few years ago. It was definitely nothing special as far as LD playback goes (maybe it was by 1992 standards when it came out.) Compared to the CLD-79 I had at the same time the Data II didn't compare well.

Plus, the innards might be somewhat Frankensteined. I took some pictures of the insides with the bonnet off, and sent them to Duncan at Bayview Electronics. He said some parts looked like Sony and others like Phillips.

So it'd be better used as a CD transport than an LD player. I eventually sold mine off for a nice profit.

Now, the Data III is different as it is reportedly a Pioneer CLD-99 under the hood. And since it is called a "transport" I can only imagine the audio D/A convertor was removed like the Data II.

I will say that they are built like tanks and weigh a bunch. That probably helps with stability for a better picture.

That and you can use them block bullets if you're ever held at gunpoint.

So as far as worth the price--maybe if you had one of their D/A convertors to go with it or a really good D/A convertor in your amp/receiver (it sounded good with the 24-bit Burr Brown in my Elite receiver.)

I wouldn't pay that much more for a Data III than I would for a CLD-99 since they're the same machine. And I wouldn't really pick up a Data II at all unless it was just a curiosity at this point and it was a decent price.

The stats on this page (http://www.laserdiscarchive.co.uk/laser ... _data3.htm) mention the following for the Theta III:

"Video signal to noise ratio: Greater than 54 dB"

"Horizontal resolution: greater than 450 lines"

If that's true then that's the best video S/N ratio I've ever heard of. Of course that's far from the only factor affecting picture quality, but that's up there with the MUSE capable Pioneer players and the Runco LJRII.

Yeah, when I messaged Theta with a question of the Data II S/N ratio, they said it was like 53.7, yet the picture wasn't all that great. So I can't really put much stock in that.

I saw that on the Laserdisc Archive as well and is the reason why I wanted to ask around about the units. I've never seen another laserdisc player that has been advertised with a S/N ratio that high.

The style of the Data II reminds me of Cambridge Audio products, which I am quite fond of as well.

Every Theta unit I've worked on had Audio upgrades only. The video was a normal Pioneer player. Keep in mind that Theta and other high end Audio companies used LD players for high end transports as they have a larger motor and the larger mass has less jitter. The digital outputs are redesigned to be Audiophile quality. The only one I ever saw with Video updates was the MSB/Runco and that was just to eliminate the Panasonic Video AGC that did not allow full dymanics with the LX-900U.

Remember there is no common standard to determine video S/N measurements for units specs. There is a common concept but source for example has tolerances and they effect the output result. For example the Owners manuals for the Pioneer players do not even list S/N for Video. Brochures may but I cannot say if they do. Test houses do list Video Spec's. The older units usually did have lower S/N's as they had better power supplies. Newer players depend on DNR. Just look at the recent modifications being made, It's all about cleaning up the power in the newer units.

Are they good CD transports, Yes they are. Are they better video players, No real updates from the stock unit.

Data transport is philips cdv 400 rebadge. below link has info onit. What theta did was put the philips 488 inside a theta body.beside that everything is kept identical,including audio.

http://lampizator.eu/LAMPIZATOR/REFEREN ... theta.html

Thanks for that link, a good read. Seems like such a scam that you wonder how they got away with it. I guess they're not Frankensteined... They're BODY SNATCHED!

I still think it looks pretty though. And I actually have always liked the brand Philips, they've got a simple, functional style that appeals. I always wished they had done better. They released an LCD TV a while back that I loved the look of, but it vanished from the market as quick as it arrived.

21:9 ratio 55" tv was really nice. I hope to see more tvs with such aspect ratio

Theta had to do more work inside the Data III as it is a CLD-D704 clone and the power supply is cheap enough they had to put in a new additional supply with clean power just for their digital circuit. Then the only improvements are with the digital bitstream outputs.

Remember these are just meant to be transports to be used with a separate D/A unit. The goal was not to enhance other functions for this unit.

I do own a Theta Data III. Like Kurtis mentioned it has a modified power supply, but it is basically a CLD-704. Offers some extra connections like XLR audio as well as AC3 RF outputs. Got it first-hand and had it checked / readjusted by a local Pioneer service center a while ago. Nevertheless this "thing" gives me the creeps. For example whenever I try to play a CLV disc there's steady crosstalk allover the screen. And it is not caused by a misaligned laser pickup (like I mentioned I had it checked andy adjustments were just fine). In fact I never found out why there's crosstalk visible on CLV discs. A very few CAV play flawless, let's say about 5 or 6 of 'em (mostly Criterion stuff). Other CAV titles vary a lot - sometimes it looks ok, sometimes you got horizontal lines whenever the picture shows red or blue colors. Sometimes it's just blurry. Oh, and sometimes the display does not light up for whatever reason. We checked the electrics but couldn't find anything. The ONLY thing that is really cool is the quality of the sound, no matter if analog or digital. Outperforms all other CD or LD players I own (or owned so far).

I say it's a really good CD player but not a good LD player. If you find one for a few bucks and like to play with it: fine - otherwise: hands off!

Your players tilt or tangential adjustment are out. The service center did not know what they were doing. Crosstalk is reading data from the adjacent track.

With CAV LDs the adjacent tracks have much the same data as each revolution is one frame. Set two frames on top of each other and the only difference is from what has moved so crosstalk is not introduced

For CLV LDs one revolution could be 2.5 frame for revolution or something different depending on where you are at on the LD. So when you get partial reads from the adjacent track and you can get out of sync noise on top of a frame. Take a frame and then put another frame starting half way thru the initial frame. You get a distorted picture.

Either myself or a few others can fix this correctly.