Sadly DVD recorders didn't exist in 1997 when I had my DVL-700 modified, so I have no way of showing a before and after picture from my particular player. One thing I did learn from a Pioneer tech was that the 700 was a better LaserDisc player than the Elite DVL-90... The 90 was designed first and the 700 done a bit later with some improvements. It's DVD performance isn't too good but even in its unmodded state, it's LD performance is better than the later DVL players... And there is a lot of player to player variation in quality, even within the same model, so one could be great and another of the same model looks like junk. I think I got a good basic model because other 700's I've seen look worse than mine did in its unmodded state.

Player to player variation was one of LaserDisc's big problems... Since the system was analog, it was totally dependent on everything being adjusted and performing perfectly. Only Pioneer and a few Panasonic models (LX-900, LX-600 and LX-H670) could produce players that were truly good, and both companies had their share of clunkers, like the Panasonic LX-1000u or the Pioneer CLD-95 and CLD-3090. Other companies players always looked like junk, even when working perfectly. And then there were the true junk players like the Zenith or Carver or Radio Shack. Oh, and Sony.

Ah, that makes sense, thought you had upgraded it recently =) I have a dvl 700 my self, but compared to my other players, it doesn't get the job done, check the laserdisc picture quality thread, i have posted some pictures.

What did you pay for the msb upgrades if you dont mind me asking. I went onto their webpage they ask a thousand to a few thousand for upgrades of current cd/bd players. Maybe they were more reasonable back then,given even a cheap player was a thousand or so. Now you can buy a already super good oppo bd player for $500. I dont know how many people would pay 2-3k on top of that to upgrade. Then I know lexicon bd playet is oppo rebadge with 2500 markup or theta rebadge with some mods with 2k markup. You never know

$400 is more than reasonable for a ld player since they are very complex. Analog machines the smallest touch can make difference. Today not much can be done on bd players other than adding quality analog audio out. Most of the new media playets have so many bugs on their fw. Sw tweaks could be more benefitial to todays bd players than adding larger heavier chasis.

The player I use most frequently is a Pioneer LD-S9. I had purchased the player from N.Santini in Japan in
September, 08. He had the player reconditioned at Pioneer as part of the sale agreement. I had been
using a CLD-79. which is now in another room. When I connected the LD-S9 to my Panasonic 46 inch Plasma
for the first time I had used an S-Type cable which I had been using for years. The picture was not what I
had expected. Changing to a composite cable made the difference. An excellent player both in performance,
and appearance (champagne Gold) I would like to have a demodulator in the same color.

Does anyone else think we should be able to change our vote?

Good point.



Julien

My Pioneer VSA-D8EX really doesn't want to die (it's 12 years old now, the reason why it had internal AC3RF) but it has the advantage to come from the same product line as the X9, making them neat brothers on a shelf:



Julien