Guess I should say upfront that my current player works good with no issues.

What I currently have is a Pioneer DVL-909 being feed (RCA jacks) into my Samsung DVD-VR375 DVD/VHS (HDMI out) and routed through my Denon AVR-X6500H and into my Sony VPL-VW285ES Projector. In conjunction with my DVL-909 is a Lexicon LDD-1 Demodulator.

If I was out and about dumpster diving the internet, what LD player would I be looking for that is a better fit (picture quality) for my HT?

While a Pioneer HLD-X0 (black) weighs in on my want list that is pretty spendy if you can even find one. Anyway, just thinking out loud today.

Dennis

In this day and age I would just wait for a local pickup LD player that is working.
Personally I wouldn't spend more than 300 on a player now unless you have a massive collection and at least 25% of said collection being on LD only
with no Bluray or 4K in any sight of the near future.

With that said I would try to focus on mid to high end players you can afford, but newer players need M holder replacements, older players are
built tough but are super hard to repair on most.

So it all depends on what your collection looks like and what you feel you need for your lists of wants.

My collection is about 300 LD and 100ish DVD/Bluray and a handful of 4K UHD. I was thinking CLD-97 or CLD-99 but am a little gun shy on shipping, had a CLD-99 arrive DOA a few years ago due to poor packing.

There can be only one...



...and when you unbox one, this music plays as you carefully open the shipping box.



The mighty R7G. May you live forever you wonderful spinner of the fabled videodisc!

A nice CLD-97 would be a great way to go but as you seemed to have learned the hard way from a previous shipping experience (myself also btw!) the risks involved are just too great, I think rein-o offers real sound advice to wait for something suitable to come up more locally unless you were certain the seller/sender knew how to properly pack a player - even then though it only takes one one rough drop in the hands of the wrong person

You just pipped me there Ted!

Tbh, as excellent as it is I don’t think the R7G is such a good choice for the OP as I doubt the Denon has an s-video input and likewise the Samsung and there’s no chance of one on the Sony PJ either. That only leaves composite so just try running your 7G that way and you’ll see what I’m on about

Best advice then is throw everything in the local tip and get some kit with SVideo inputs and an R7G!

Yeah R7G is just like a 503 with bells and whistles, but I think built slightly better with no M holder issues.

I had bad luck selling 2 out of 3 LD players over 15 years ago and I never touched them again to sell, only for keeping and those were bought
one on ebay that was messed up, drawer opened but didn't close so I would have never been able to ship for repair, gave it a hard push and it closed
and still works.

Other 2 were from good packing and from techs.
Since you are in AL and aren't super far you may want to check with Kurtis, I know he has some players, or had unknown what his inventory is now
but he's in NC? and will know how to pack and ship etc.

Unless I find something in the CDL-97 and up range that is somewhat local the current DVL-909 I have will have to do for now. Not a big demand for LDs in my neck of the woods, Atlanta and Nashville are the closest big cities.

Has anyone watched a movie on a Pioneer HLD-X0? Is there a wow factor worth the entry cost?

I'm ok with "buy once cry once" but is there really considerable difference between a $750 player and a $3,000 player for LDs?

R7G gives a wow factor

substance @ What's your verdict on these Pioneer players?


+1


Not for $2,250.

It also bothers me how people disregard the LD-S2. The design base is the same as the HLD-X0. If you take away the DNR and the 3D adaptive filter from the HLD-X0 you have a LD-S2. The X0 and S2 don't have the sharpest picture but the background is so smooth and not digitized like the other players. You can get a LD-S2 a lot cheaper than a X0. I've worked on both and have had them sitting side by side comparing them on my Pioneer Elite Plasma. But these are single sided players

I agree the CLD-97 is the lowest noise dual sided player but they are expensive if you find a good working one.

The CLD-D704 is what I consider the best bang for the buck Pioneer player if you want a sharper picture and don't mind a little of the digitized look in the background. The R7G is a good machine being a CLD-59, CLD-D605 based machine with a re-equalized output to make it sharper. The DVL-909 is based from the CLD-D604/CLD-59 for LD playback circuitry family. With the CLD-59 or CLD-605 you can select soft/normal/sharp picture so you can see that sharper picture but you will also see the amount of background digitizing look change with the sharpness. The 59/605/R7G all use the same power supply design and mechanical assembly with the R7G having the video section modified with the 3D adaptive filter and video equalization. I actually think the HLD-X9 is a better choice than the R7G

Just don't get caught up in the generation of the 3D adaptive filter as the best one was still designed back around year 2000 (in the R7G) and many advances have been made since then and if you use an up-converter you don't want to digitally process in two places as you get negative results, you would turn off the processing in the player and process in the up-converter.

If you are happy with what you have then just enjoy it. There is not an absolute answer here, some prefer the sharper picture which leans toward certain models and other prefer the smooth background without the digitized look. So you'll get lots of different answers. You need to decide the type of picture you prefer.

If you are feeding the LD output to a DVD/VHS player to get the HDMI then to a Denon and then to your projector your video signal no matter what you use is limited to the processing in the Samsung DVD/VHS unit. No matter what you get you may not see that big of a difference as the up-converting unit quality and abilities may give that digitized look to a X0 or S2 defeating the purpose of using one. You would need to do some research on finding the really good up-converters like the higher end DVDO units and some others, find a used one since they are no longer being produced and try that first. I'd offer to sell you a refurbished 704 or 605 but I could not say it is worth it in your current setup.

Krbahr I think you hit the center of the target; I have been rolling that marble around in my brain for a couple days now. I just looked in my rack to see how my LD player is hooked up.

DVL-909 Laserdisc is Video 1 Out (RCA) to DVD-VR375 AV 1 In (RCA), the DVD has a HDMI Out. The Denon AVR HDMI ports are assignable so when I select Laserdisc it looks to the DVD HDMI port for video feed. I did this on the recommendation of a post I read here or on the AVS Forum for better picture quality and I think it was better. I don't recall if I ever did Component Video Out from the LD Player to the Denon AVR Component Video In. The LD player Digital Out and AC-3 Out audio feed into the Lexicon LDD-1 Demodulator than into the AVR, the LD player Audio Out L/R (RCA) feed into the AVR.

With the above setup I select Laserdisc on the AVR, power on the DVD and Demodulator and regardless of what laserdisc I load be it non-RC-3 or RC-3 I have audio.

I wonder if I wouldn't be better served by buying a DVDO iScan VP50 Pro now regardless of what player I buy in the future????????????????

Found this doing a search on DVDO

Every time I spin a disc in the R7G and switch on the DEXT mode thing it makes me smile. I have it running over S Video up to the DVDO Edge. The combination of the two is superb. I didn't really believe the talk about it on the LDDB forums until I actually saw it for myself. Keep in mind though it also depends on how well mastered the disc you are playing is. Good audio, good picture and good kit and you'll wonder at certain times if you are watching something on par, or better than DVD (minus the horrid digital mosaicing).

What is DEXT mode?

Great post Kurtis.


This was my grail, and I lucked up finding one for sale about 30 minutes away a few years ago.


I think the CLD-95 and even CLD-3080 are excellent choices for far cheaper for those going for a CLD-97 "analog" picture. This is with price strictly in mind. A CLD-95 is about half the cost of a CLD-97.


Agreed. Focusing on the cleanest composite signal possible will allow for the most flexibility as technology advances.


So true.


Go for a Kramer: Kramer VP-773 (773A, 773AMP)

The God mode button.

Been doing some internet dumpster diving and it looks like for an upgrade for lack of a better term to call it would be the Pioneer HLD-XO followed by the CLD-R7G than the CLD-99. I don't see myself dropping the coin for the HLD-XO and the CLD-R7G seems to be only available from Japan with a few CLD-99s on eBay in the states.

I will keep my eyes out for a CLD-R7G for now and in the meantime grab a DVDO iScan VP-50 Pro to run my DVL-909 through. I think that option will be better than the Samsung DVD-VR375 I'm currently using via the composite video ports.

Lot of good info and advice in this thread, thanks.

Just saw the reply about the Kramer VP-773, will research that.

Aren’t you getting audio delay issues by running the player into the DVD/VCR especially when you are utilizing the AC3-RF or S/PDIF Digital Output?

No, none that I can detect anyway. Has never been an issue.