I have owned these LD/DVD combo players.
-
Theta Voyager Rev.2 in Black with the progressive scan add on
-
Theta Voyager Rev.2 in Silver (Sold)
-
Pioneer DVL-919E-
Pioneer DVL-919Theta Voyager are with very impressive built quality and have the best esthetic look for any LD player. It is no secret to anyone that a whole DVL-919 is inside it. The entire power supply section of the DVL-919 is bypassed and much improved, all discreet, multiple linear power supplies provide power the player. The analog video output stage and the digital audio output stages are also bypassed and new boards are used in their places. Perhaps still a great CD transport, even in today’s standards. It was an average DVD player back then, a mediocre one today. The LD section doesn’t measure up with the best but good enough in my opinion. For those who are big into music and concert LDs, this perhaps is the player to use for its excellent digital audio output and above average video. Unless you can afford an HLD-X0 which is the best in everything. For those who watch movies, your money is probably best spent on a higher end Pioneer player.
The DVL-919 is a good player. Probably a very good purchase for well under $200. The EU version is internally a 909 equivalent which is not far behind, especially on the LD side. I did not compare the picture quality of all PAL players to each other but I compared their service manuals. DVL-919E is by far the best design for PAL LDs. There are also other interesting iterations of the 919, a Karaoke version which gives you “unadvertised” LD-G decoding, a Japan only H9 version with the best 3D comb filter ever put onto an LD player and an Asian market version with a nice to look at gold finish and a nicer remote (otherwise equal to the US 919).
I have seen and/or owned the earlier DVL players in the past although very briefly. I remember the difference between the very early version to the latest version is noticeable to a very careful eye but very subtle. The Elite models have the nice side woods which are really nice to look at. They also have a built in video noise reduction function which is debatable today whether it should ever be enabled.
My short summary is, I would take the DVL-888 (Karaoke version) for its built in LD-G if one can live with its microphone inputs and the Karaoke enhancement buttons on the front fascia, I would take the Theta Voyager if I watched a ton of music and concert LDs, I would take the E version if I cared for the very few PAL exclusive LDs and I would take the H9 version if ultimate video quality was my goal and I didn’t own a top of its class video processor or a TV with excellent NTSC decoding. Neither of these versions are easy to find so you must really want a DVL to get one of these. Otherwise any DVL for well under $200 is a good buy in my opinion.