Hey everyone, I've been rocking a CLD-D406 for a couple years now, after some questionable endeavours with a LD-V4000, CLD-V2600, and a ProScan PSLD41. Nothing's wrong with the D406 (any weird error code fixes itself with a power cycle, and that's been quite rare), but I feel that this player is the bare minimum for what I want: S-Video, digital out, AC3 out, matches everything else's colour. I've been curious as to see what my potential upgrade paths are, and if they're even necessary as players seem to be getting into the stratosphere after a certain level, and law of diminishing returns may just ring true. I probably won't want to spend $400-$500 to get something really quite nice, and that feels like pulling teeth for how blatantly archaic (!) this all is. I've made a list of players on my radar, but I seem to be hitting contrasting opinions on things (especially in the CLD-x9 Elite line). What I'd REALLY like to know is: what am I getting out of a better machine? Is a different comb filter worth doubling the price? Is it easier for the five remaining technicians to still charge me more than the cost of another player? Is there a magic trick play feature that does my taxes for me?

Models in question:

Denon LA-3300
Denon LA-3300G
Denon LA-3500 (LX-900u w/ RF)
Marantz LV520 (CLD-59/504)
McIntosh MLD7020b (CLD-97 w/RF)
Mitsubishi M-V7057 (CLD-D704)
Panasonic LX-H680
Pioneer CLD-59
Pioneer CLD-79
Pioneer CLD-99
Pioneer CLD-D604
Pioneer CLD-D605
Pioneer CLD-D606
Pioneer CLD-D704
Pioneer CLD-D780
Pioneer CLD-D99
Pioneer DVL-700
Pioneer DVL-90
Pioneer DVL-909
Pioneer DVL-91
Pioneer DVL-919
Pioneer DVL-V888
ProScan PSLD46 (CLD-59/504)
Yamaha CDV-W901 (CLD-59/504)

So in short, should I upgrade, and if so, to what?

As a long time LD user I mainly concentrate on maintaining a stock of working players so that I can play my collection for as long as possible. While I prefer better players I will take literally anything that works as long as it’s within driving distance. At the peak I had seven working players. At the moment I’m down to two working and one out for repairs. While I prefer quality and fancy features, basic capability is my main concern. The first fancy feature I’d gladly lose is AC-3 since, while occasionally impressive, it’s not so great really and not found on all that many discs, mostly just then-current Hollywood BS from the late 90s. Also, the s-video on most decks sucks so I wouldn’t bother unless it was a CLD-99, R7G, or one or two other players.

DO NOT MAIL ANY PLAYER PLEASE.

WOW haven't seen a wishlist like that in some time.
Enjoy collecting LDs

Even when LD was current you were lucky to see any store with more than four different players.

On top of what Zeta mentioned about simply having a stock of working players, I would simply play the patience game and wait for something to pop up locally (even a model not on your list).

You'd be surprised what people give away for nothing. I actually acquired a number of players for free including a Mitsubishi, M-V7057 about three years back.

Perspective: I wasn’t that hot on the CLD-95 at one point…I think it’s great now that it’s my best currently up machine. I’m not saying that because I’m settling for less either. The drawer is way nicer than any other player I’ve owned and the look of the thing…not the video, the machine, it’s amazing. The curved front on the 99 is way less beautiful. It’s also quieter than most machines. The video is great but not the absolute best. It’s not modded for AC-3 but I really don’t care. I’ll watch those six or seven movies in PCM, no big deal.

The 95 is a great player.

Having read plenty about them, I’ve never seen or heard either of those US market players over here unfortunately - totally trust your opinions though. Re Dolby Digital on LD - save for a handful in my possession I too have a preference for the PCM option most of the time. E.g. ran the AC-3 DD version of Titanic only the other week and after flipping between the PCM and DD tracks a few times it didn’t take long to realise that PCM was far superior in nearly every way, although I did hear the DTS LD many years ago - now that one from memory seemed to be on another level!

The CLD-95 is really nice but use the composite output, the S-Video output had a pixel shift between the chroma and luminance as written up in " A Prefect Vision" and has a Multi-bit DAC. They replaced it with the CLD-97 to correct the S-Video but switched to a bitstream DAC. There are many more 97's out there but both are very good units.