Good evening everyone

A good friend of mine came around my house around a week ago and now has the LD bug!

He went hunting and has found 2 LD players to choose from. He asked for my opinion but I dont feel like I have enough knowledge to suggest to him which to choose.

He can either have the

Panasonic LX 600U (with remote)

or

Panasonic LX H670 (no remote)

or my old one which i thought was a decent player

Pioneer CLD d406 (with remote)

He wants the best combination of sound and visual quality (dont we all). He intends to use a demodulator if need be for sound

Any advice?

Thank you all!

Chris

Of the three I would choose the LX-600. This should give him a fairly good picture and is a fantastic first player.

Thanks for the reply bguzman

Even without the AC-3 output?

What would he need to do to get DD etc?

Thank you

I would go with the LX-600 as well. From what others have said on the boards here, its picture quality is about the same as the LX-900 and even betters the highly touted Pioneer CLD-D703/D704--it just doesn't have the digital frame memory, noise reduction and trick play functions that the LX-900 has.

Now an AC-3 output can probably be added to the LX-600 since one can be added to the LX-900 if you really want one.

Found the thread where a user compared the LX-600 to a Pioneer CLD-D703 for your reference . . .

Panasonic LX-600 and Pioneer CLD-D703

I hate to muddy the water; but, I have a CLD-D406 and it has the AC-3 output. All you would need is an RF modulator. I am using an SDP-E800 to do this.

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks guys

elahrairrah:Does he actually need the AC-3 in that case? The 600 has an optical out so that should suffice for most LD's? I understand that only the AC3 encoded disks need ac3 out. Please correct me if I am way off.

I have the 406 and it does have an ac3 although I have never used it. He is tempted by it but if the image is better on the 600 then I would suggest to him to go for that, after reading your response elahrairrah.

dumbchemist: Thank you for the decoder info. I will look into myself if he does not go for my 406. Its a nice little player!

Chris

AC-3 isn't really an important feature in my opinion. It's nice to have, but it's only relevant for discs with AC-3 audio, which is not the majority.

How true. I am using an SDP-E600 as a video and optical switch so that 2 LD players can connect to 1 input on my amp. The AC-3 is just gravy.

Having optical for DTS (as well as Dolby Surround) is far more important, IMO.

I agree. It is kind of hard to get 5.1 sound out of baseband audio signals (lol).

Ok so he should just get the 600u and stick to optical out for sound?

Thanks all!

I wouldn't mind owning a panasonic ld player sooner or later. They are very hard to find in Europe and when one turns up it's mostly a player lacking the audio outputs that I want/need.

I read good things about the LX series...
Would like to get one for the sake of science.
A Pioneer fan for to the bone but I can imagine other brands (non cloned) did a fair job Ld wise
Not sure if any European Panasonic player was ever around with ac-3rf out en dts capability? Pal and ntsc compatible? autoreverse?

Anyone know such a model?

Hi Kris

I hear ya. I moved to the USA and really just been into this LD habit for around a month. I dont think I would have come across it in the UK.Its great. I love it all! Its like being a kid again. Although i always feel I dont know enough. I am always up for helping out. So if you ever fancy getting one from here let me know. Can discuss.

Pioneer is the king of LD but Panasonic really did a good job as well, even besting Pioneer in some PQ areas.

So we went to pick up the Panasonic LX600u. Got it forv$30 with remote, in box. Barely used as its been in storage. The lady who owns it said her late husband had it but early used.

Wow! Is it just me or does it have a superb picture? I also love the build quality. Its way heavier than the pioneer 604 and I prefer the loading mechanism. Flip down door etc. It also seems quieter in operation.

I am very impressed. So much so that I think I am betting on a Panasonic.

Only thing missing is AC3

Would it be easy to install?

Thanks everyone for the advice. We much appreciate it.

Chris

That is an excellent price for a LX-600. Most of the time they come with neither a remote or a box. Heck, you would be hard pressed to even get just the remote for that price. We'll done!

As for your impressions of the Panasonic player, have a look at my signature. I looked high and low until I found a Panasonic player with an AC-3 mod for all of the reasons you mention. Both my Panasonic players are much quieter than my Pioneers.

I was never impressed by any of the non-Pioneer offerings in the LD player field. Every LaserDisc player I own or have ever owned is a Pioneer. Including the Magnavox and Sylvania G2 offerings.

Pioneer has better analog section on the high end models but the digital is better on panasonic. Ld tech has analog front end but the rest is digital. So players like cld-97 and ld-s2, the digital circuitry is fed with the very clean and stable analog input. Lesser players have comperable analog sections to panasonic lx players but superior digital section in panasonics make up for the shortcomings. What panasonic doesn't get right ever is the cosmetics. Pioneer players always look cooler.

Don't really know about the high end players but as a newbie to LD I can see the difference between my pioneer 604 and the Panasonic lx 600. In terms of cosmetics, right now I don't have a complete system. I am sure once I start putting together a system I will start to boil down exactly what I want. Both in terms of audio and visual output and aesthetics.