I have my sights set on a Denon LA-2700, which is obviously a clone of the Pioneer CLD-D925. Does anybody know if the remotes are interchangeable?

Thanks! Lars

Should be ok, the Denon 2700 remote appears to be identical to that of a Pioneer CLD-515. Don’t know if it concerns you but except for AC-3 RF out I think the Denon lacks any form of digital output so you are restricted to using its onboard dac, I’d personally much prefer a 925 if I had the choice, which at least has a toslink optical output fitted.

Thank You!

I didn't know that! That indeed renders it almost useless to me as I have several DTS LDs that I like to watch once in a while.

Makes you wonder why they did that...

Indeed! Its spec seems closer to the Pioneer CLD-515 which also omitted any digital outputs as did Denon’s cheaper MLD-2300 (515 clone) a very poor show for a 1997 flagship model (by European standards ) Yet if you check out the NTSC versions of these models digital outputs are all present and correct - I know I sound like a stuck record but doesn’t it seem like we always got a raw deal here in Europe compared to our US and Japanese cousins

The players sold in the US were no different in respect to cost cutting on the PCM outputs.

Starting with the CLD-D502, Pioneer took away the 2nd set of AV outputs, the S-Video output, and optical output that were on the 501 the previous year. After that, all the subsequent 500 series models lacked the optical out but AC3-RF did make its way to the 504 and beyond from that point.






I assume Pioneer did this as a marketing tactic regarding the “player upgrade path”. Starting with the 1995 model year, the 600 series was introduced to provide a mid level player between a 500 and 700 series and I’m sure they wanted consumers to weight the options of what they could afford or desired in a model. The difference between a 504 & 604 was that the 604 included the optical output, digital field memory for CLV trick player, an extra mic input for karaoke, and a key controller also for karaoke. That’s quite a number of added features and I think the cost might have added up to an additional $150 which wouldn’t be bad (but I could be wrong on that).

Very interesting reply as usual ldfan, but I’m still baffled as to why Denon’s then top of the range 2700 which seems to have all the same bells and whistles as the Pioneer EU range topper CLD-925 bar its Toslink - I mean we couldn’t go anymore upmarket than that in Europe unlike you guys with the US Elite models etc. Do you think Pioneer perhaps ordered this omission to prevent the Denon 2700 making a dent in sales of its EU flagship 925 players in what was a much smaller market over here?