They are saying something is good about this player? Analog time base correction? What is this?

That seems hugely unlikely, that an analog time base corrector would be better than a digital one.

I also think this guy is nuts to say that the 97 is less reliable than the 99.

As for JP players being better than the US version of the same thing…nonsense. They are made in the same factories out of the same parts.

My CLD-99 seems to be going strong. Had to take it apart like once or twice because of some issue. Might have been a side change issue but I've had that annoyance on most of the Pioneer Players I have and for some reason taking it apart sometimes fixes it even though I'm not doing much when I have it open. Haven't had any issues what so ever with my Panasonic LX-900 revision 1995 but we all know that suffers from some weird 5 percent cut off. I believe Panasonic doesn't really smear much either. I think clv smearing is usually a Pioneer problem and I can't speak about Sony because I don't own a Sony. I know people on here don't like the Sony Players but I don't remember why. Whether they are reliable at all or if their video quality is not up to standards.

That's not true. I love Sony players. In my experience (Over 15 years approx 6x Pioneer + 6x Sony owned, 5 x Pioneers failed so badly I had to throw them out or sell them for parts, 3 x Sonys are still fully operational) Sonys are more reliable in that once they spin up they WILL NEVER not get to the end of a side. Sony's mostly have trouble with their beautiful and complex door mechanisms but are very solid sound and video wise. My Pio LD-S9 gives a fine picture but my Sony MDP-999 beats it. On top of that the 999 is gorgeous and operating the remote makes me feel like I'm at the RC track - so much fun.

In fact, some of the elite members here prefer Sony at the high end as well. They have some of the Sony MUSE players which, although apparently very prone to breakage are worth restoring because of their superior performance to Pioneer.

Looks like the CLD-53 appears to have less of the CLV Smear issue and maybe that's what the guy was trying to say....

Pioneer Elite CLD-53 (your thoughts?)

I would think less processing is contributing to a more analog like picture as well since the 53 lacks the digital memory circuit used in the 703/704 models.

Come On Members, Let's not Reinvent the wheel! Elite-53 is a CLD-D503 with Digital Out, etc. Used to trade ins all the time, most in original box! Nothing special, just a good backup player while you send your other LD player for service!

Yea, 20 years of Shipping 97's online, You bet there are no working ones! (The Honest Truth) Otherwise, low maintenance! I have a Beautiful #2 MLD7020 Listed also! The Last I one sold went quick!

The 99' 704 703 Spindles and power supplies are a big demand last few months!

I was aware of that. However, the 53 would be expected to be tweaked a slight bit for better performance over its 503 brother.

Also, I would expect any post 1995 player with no digital field memory (which probably also lacks Digital Video Processing or maybe less of it compared to a 703) would have a picture advantage when connected to a modern fixed pixel display in respect to a less processed picture.

I agree that an Elite version of a 503 would be a nice machine. Not as nice as a 99 but probably longer lived. I like the 503.

I don’t know about the analog-only players being desirable though. The “raw” signal they produced is riddled with chassis vibration from the ultra cheap mechanism. They didn’t sell “analog elite” they sold Elite stuff for $2000 and analog stuff for $300 that was cheap all the way through. Video noise? The 201 or 104 will shake the floor so much it might mechanically produce noise in your display from how much the floor is shaking from the vibration it makes as it turns. I exaggerate but…those players tend to suck in several dimensions at once.

My CLD-99 is working great and I've probably captured close to hundreds of movies with it. I also have watched a lot of movie on it and it's my main player in the living room. My bedroom player is my CLD-3080. Both have good picture quality. I think the CLD-3080 has more of an analog look which is not bad at all while the CLD-99 model 1997 I feel like is trying to be like a DVD player. I'm not even sure which one I prefer overall because both are great at what they do.

The only complaint I have with the CLD-3080 is that it doesn't flip the laser as quickly. The CLD-99 I believe is considered the fastest laserdisc flipper in the North American market. It's 100 percent noticeable too. I feel like the CLD-99 flips it about 9-11 seconds while the CLD-3080 probably takes about 15-17 seconds. Shockingly this is very noticeable to me. I'm sitting here waiting for the CLD-3080 to flip the laser and wondering if it will actually go to side B and it does but that's how much 5-8 seconds can feel when you're used to it flipping faster on another player. I still recommend the CLD-3080 because I think it's a fantastic player and it also came out close to the late 80's so has more of a charm to it being older. I believe my CLD-3080 is from 1990.

The CLD-3080 was my top seller 12 to 15 years ago. Some on Audiogon used it as a CD transport only. It shares everything from the Elite 95 except Spindle Motor. I prefer the low noise on the 3080, 95, 97. Yes, Analog!

On Plasmas anyways the above 3 usually look nice composite out directly to TV. My Panasonic is opposite, as S-Video out using Audioquest cable looks best. Because Pioneer TVS had the best composite circuitry. It's all trial and error. As my 2013 LG Plasma was perfect with direct composite.

The 99,etc. I have to turn off the TV's Video Noise Reduction to get a cleaner picture. Each manufacturer has it's own settings.

3080's used to fetch around $500.00 serviced and AC-3 out.

The Optical out, I deleted, and just ran pure silver for coax out, in its place.