I've been investigating the MUSE HDTV coding system, & after going through the literature, I am at the stage of needing to examine an actual MUSE signal. The trouble is, although I have a decoder & a couple of Hi-Vision LDs, I do not yet have a player to use those discs with. So, I would like to borrow the use of one for a few hours.

I am located in Fort Worth, Texas, & would be willing to drive as far as Houston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, or Tulsa. I would bring my own oscilloscope & other test equipment, as well as the discs & decoder. All I really need is the time on the machine.

Thank you for your consideration.

If I lived nearby you could use mine but unfortunately i'm in the UK.

I hopy your able to find an enthusiast nearby soon who will oblige.

Regards

I've resorted to desperate measures. A friend of mine in Japan has bought me some equipment from Yahoo Auctions, & will be checking it, sending it in for service if necessary, & then shipping it to me. Not that I didn't want to have a player of my own, but I'd hoped not to have to spring for one right away.

Should I say well done or not?

The HLD X models are a cut above the rest, with hand selected parts and not to mention the fact that they are very quiet in operation and I mean quiet......such refinement aaahh.

Keep in touch with how you get on.

Regards

We'll see, I guess. The Pioneer X-players are a bit too rich for my blood, so I went for a Sony HIL-C2EX & a Pioneer HLD-1000. I'm cautiously hopeful as to the results.

The Pioneer HLD-1000 is a fantastic machine!
I saw it in action once, and I wasn't disappointed at all.
But didn't it have a fan somewhere?
When I saw it there was a lot of noise, so can't actually say if the fan makes noise.
Good luck with your purchase!

Let me know how the HLD-1000 works as I have been looking for one of those.

Both the HLD-1000 & the HIL-C2EX have rear-panel fans. Photo shows the one I'm getting — it has a bit of an issue with the front display, but I don't much care. The NTSC section is supposed to be based on the CLD-959, which was Pioneer's top non-S/X class Japanese player at one time.

Honestly, since my main goal is to add MUSE capability, I would have found the HLD-V500 or HLD-V700 acceptable, but they are probably very rare. (I understand some of the NEC Virtual Aquarium cabinets contained a version of the HIL-C2EX with no NTSC section.)

Since it does NTSC, I'm thinking about an AC-3 modification, of course. With my collection of CDV/VSDs, though, a CLD-type player is never going to be absent from my setup, unless I somehow wind up with one of the obscure CD players with analog video capability — I think Philips marketed one circa 1988.

If I'm not mistaken, isn't the 959 the Japanese version of the CLD-97?