I am picking up a LX-1000u tomorrow. I actually don't need the player but I am curious because of the good talk about 900u. I am assuming 1000u should be similar. Can someone give me some info?

thanks

I've had both, and prefer the 1000u, but not due to picture quality, which is really pretty equal on those players if they are in good operating condition, as I recall.

I prefer the 1000u because of it's rock solid build and very quiet operation, plus it has very good digital still and step frame. I haven't seen the 900u for a few years, so my memory of it may not do it justice. But I have one coming soon, and hopefully it will arrive intact so another comparison can be made. My 1000u players just keep on going and going with no problems yet.

The 900u is only about a year or two later than the 1000u, but the design is the 2cnd gen Panny design with the lighter build and more compact circuitry. The 1000u is the pinnacle of the 1st gen Panny dual-side players, which were all hefty. Either build has the superbly designed U-track side-turn assembly, where the track provides pretty solid mounting and protection for the laser assembly during shipping.

I may be mistaken, but doesn't the 900 have that AGC thing which would raise the brightness on dark images?

That's right, but it can be compensated for with proper calibration. But that's another reason to choose the 1000u.

how would it compare to Runco LJRII ? or the MSG unit ? beside the audio upgrades of course.

I've found this to be true as well and feel that the AGC issue is overstated. The Video Essentials Laserdisc has two patterns to help you set the black level, a high brightness and a low brightness pattern. Due to the ability (or inability) of a monitor to hold a constant black level, you normally have to find a compromise between the two.

The shift in black level between the two patterns in my experience with the LX-900 has been no more than 2-3 adjustment values, which is comparable to the difference between the two patterns when played back on the Video Essentials DVD.

That being said, the values you'd use for brightness with a Pioneer LD player will be different than with the LX-900.

The black level issue shows up if you are watching a really dark movie like the original Batman in a dark home theater. It is just annoying Panasonic did this. In most movies you will not notice it.

Seeing the insides of both units, I'd guess MSB did the video upgrade for Runco as the units look identical.

I picked up the Panasonic LX-1000u for $50 along with some 30 laserdiscs. The player is in good working condition but has 2 deep scratches on top casing. Remote control needs cleaning, looks like the owner kept the batteries in there for a long time. LD movies were in trash shape except a few. There was a 8/10 condition Pink Floyd The Wall, Blue Velvet WS, Salo Criterion, Robinson Crusoe on Mars and a few others. There was also Looney Tunes V1, Honeymooners V1 but the outer boxes of these are in poor shape. I think I can sell Salo and Robinson Crusoe for more than $50.

I have 5 LX1000u's at the moment, having just sold the newest one of the 6 I did have. All work well. Two of them have the scratches like you're talking about, but I'm considering a proper repainting of those like the wrecked CED player I got, seen here:

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=170

Another one has a tray hatch door that won't close but have yet to look into seeing what needs fixed on it since it may just become a parts machine. As long as I have it available for that, then the others won't break down per the Murphy's Law retrograde effect.

Does anyone have the instruction manual for the Panasonic LX-900 that I could get a copy of? I've looked everywhere online, even Panasonic's site and can't find a copy.

I'd really appreciate any help getting a copy or PDF of it.

Thanks,
Ty C.

Here ya go...
http://www.lddb.com/_misc/manuals/LD_Players/Panasonic/

Ok I plugged it in for the first time and watched parts of Conan The Barbarian and Ace Ventura Pet Detective. The picture is very sharp maybe a bit sharper than my CLD97 clone but definitely has higher noise. I dont know how this player beat CLD97 back in the day(Runco LJR version) I think that magazine was biased because of the THX cert on the Runco. It is also very light comparing to a high end LD player(older elites)

My 900 has a very quiet and noise free picture - even highly saturated colors on rotted discs come through cleanly. And the noise reduction does an amazing job of cleaning up substandard discs.

When TPV tested the Runco, it's was the non-THX certified version. TPV loved both the Pioneer 97 and the Runco LJR I, and both had great numbers. The only problem was with the 97's digital noise reduction on still frames and Pioneers quick fix of turning it off during CAV still frames. When TPV tested the 900 itself, it had great numbers too except for APL - a later issue gave better numbers- apparently not all 900's were affected by the APL problem. On A Video Standard, mine keeps black at black on all the test frames. The Runco and MSB version were quite a scam though, considering they only did audio mods and changed the case, removing the jog dial from the front panel and many buttons.

I agree with your results. The Runco/Panasonic players do have a little sharper picture than the CLD-97 but the 97 does have lower visual noise. Which player you prefers depends on if you prefer a sharper picture or lower background noise. The MSB/Runco units really just specialized in Audio mods and the video AGC. Other than video AGC the video signal is the same as the LX-900U.

I have seen the inside of both the 900U and 1000U. The 1000U is has a far better power supply, waiting to see a good working 1000U but after seeing the insides I'd rather own the 1000U.

Pioneer doesn't have any THX units as they never bother to submit a unit for cert.

The problem with the 1000 is its CLV tracking due to wrong parts values in the majority of the players. I returned 3 when it first was released trying to get one that tracked well... No such luck, then a trip to Panasonic didnt produce any results so I tweaked the pots myself for side 1 and 2 play till I got it tracking 90% of CLV discs well. Once I got it working better, the only thing I didn't like was the video processing greatly enhanced drop outs and speckling on discs, and the player has no noise reduction to help reduce video noise - Pioneers Elite CLD-92 had the same video noise enhancement if I remember correctly. The Perfect Vision also got a bad player that wouldn't track CLV when they tested the LX-1000. I recall from reading Compuserve posts back in the day that Panasonic did finally fix the problem and produce good tracking players, but then the 900 came out and Stereo Review gave it a glowing review, especially it's video processings ability to reduce disc noise. The 1000 was built like a tank though and my brother in law has mine now and it still is working perfectly. The 900 seems more fragile, but I really like its picture and its tracking is superb.

Runco lied to TPV about the LJR I and II, claiming both had a different comb filter and other additions compared to the stock 900. I've always wondered why they and MSB removed the jog dial and other buttons on the front panel. Probably to try and disguise the 900.

I still have my TPV issues that review and compare the 900 with other players such as the CLD-95, LD-S2, LD-V8000, Marantz, etc... as well as the issue that reviews the Runco and Pioneer 97... And the LX-1000 review issue. I should scan them and make PDF's of the reviews.

Ty C.

MSB did return the jog dial to the front of their player when they made the MSB LS-2X Silver.

Of course, I'm beginning to believe that the MSB Silver isn't an LX-900u at all after making this find . . .

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=272&p=5558&hilit=msb+silver#p5558

Properly tweaked and adjusted is very important. After comparing my mld7020 to kbahr tweaked cld97, I can tell the difference. Its sharper and lower crostalk noise(nearly none).
I am now using this cld97 into vp30 with abt102 deinterlacer via s-video.

The MSB LS-2X Silver is the LX-H670. The original MSB LS-I looks to be the LX-600 from the lack of a digital field noise reduction button on the front panel and the remote which has a shuttle dial only, no jog for digital FX, and matches the LX-600 remote exactly except for MSB's silver overlay to hide the Panasonic markings.

Joe Kane was also developing an LaserDisc player certification test for the ISF, but nothing ever came of it. According to Runco, the LJR I and LJR II THX player were identical in all respects except for the AC-3 RF output and slightly different styling on the THX version. Funny thing is, Runco charged a hefty fee for the model with the DA converter built in, but it was just the Panasonic MASH chip - the same as the stock LX-900 - except on a separate connection board.

I'd like to add an AC-3 RF output to my LX-900 but im afraid of bricking the unit... The Precision
Laserdisc site lists it as a difficult solidering job - a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Does the LX-H670 have as good a picture as the LX-900? Did MSB spruce up the picture at all for the LS-2X Silver?

Or did they just use that player because there was enough space inside to install an RF Demodulator?