I assume you need either an AC3 RF demodulator or a receiver with one built in to watch AC3 encoded LaserDiscs, but AC3 RF demodulators seem to be uh...very very expensive now. Is there any alternative to spending over $200 for a single component besides trying to hunt down a receiver with AC3 demodulation built in? I do have an early 2000s Pioneer receiver that might have it but in the event I don't, it's looking like I won't be able to afford watching AC3 encoded discs.

If you don't want to buy a receiver with AC-3 RF, setup searches for the demodulators, processors, and maybe the preamps here:
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/list-o ... ar.652457/

Prices have spiked insanely high.

Yeah it's pretty much easier and cheaper to find a receiver, you just need a list of makes/models that have the demodulator when you're looking on ebay or whatever. The hardest part (for me anyway) with stuff this size/weight is pick up only, it limits realistic options.

Maybe in the US or Japan it isn't hard or expensive to get a demodulator, idk.
I have an uncle living in Japan but asking him to find something like this for me is too difficult (for him I mean), and even if he could easily understand what I want he wouldn't be able to test it.

Isn't the Forum's updated post more comprehensive (with links to manuals)?

Receivers and other equipments that support AC-3RF

Julien

Keep a search open on eBay for the following models....

Sony, SDP-EP9ES
Sony, SDP-E800
Denon, AVD-2000

There are currently none for sale @ this time but they do come up and can be reasonable if you are patient. I did a "buy now" on the SDP-E800 and AVD-2000 about two years back and ended up getting them for about $70 to $80 each. The reason they were reasonable @ the time (and possibly will continue to be) is because most sellers don't understand what they have (although buyers appear to be catching on regarding their value now).

In addition, do a search on Craigslist under "surround processor" and see if you can identify one of the models above. I found an SDP-E800 listed in Berkeley, CA just now for $100 but the seller did not even post the model number nor that it had AC3-RF. Thus, you might get lucky getting one for a lot less than ebay.

In any case, these models are a better option than a standalone Demodulator in respect to being both a Demodulator and Digital Switch box (run both the AC-3RF out and Digital out of the LD player so you can pass Dolby Digital and DTS through it to your current AV Receiver via optical input).

Good luck

AC3 on laserdisc rocks.
I found it expensive here in New Zealand to buy a demodulator.
After about a year of searching local using the list Cplusplus listed im using a old processor.
VSA-E07.
Some advice on this sound sytem?
Hell it even does DTS, works nicely for my LDs.
Dolby AC-3 is epic and a huge step up so keep searching

It was expensive back in the day, it’s expensive now, the title selection is small. If prices are climbing it means other Facebook noobs are group-thinking up the value, if you buy one you’ll be making it one step worse for the next guy.

Consider just not getting into AC-3. You don’t have to. It’s not really that big of a part of the LD experience. A quick glance at the LDDB shows that only about one in sixty discs has AC-3 and they are all post-1995 Hollywood junk for the vast majority. In most cases I prefer Dolby Surround. Less directional but overall massively better sounding from the front.

In period DTS was even more high end and expensive but these days DTS is the standard of everything so while the discs are $$ the playback is affordable. To get a kick out of 5.1 on LD consider buying one of the more affordable DTS discs. You won’t need any hardware beyond an LD player with digital out and any AVR from the past 15-20 years. Sound quality is vastly better than Dolby Digital AC-3 LDs, maybe that’ll get it out of your system.

If you are into Hollywood blockbusters then you need to have an AC3 decoder.
The only film I own that sounded great with AC3 is Pink Floyd: The Wall: Widescreen Collector's Edition (1982) [ML106344]
AC3 was amazing on this, but I no longer have a speaker setup for AC3 but am selling a decoder for Grasshopper.

The main reason why I feel these are still high priced is due to the fact that people know these stand alone units, what they are, what they cost originally
and why they won't let them go cheap.
Almost like the Lumagen, people aren't going to dump them cheap unless there is no family involved and they die then you may be lucky to get one in a local
pickup only estate auction or estate sale.

If you want to have the top end audio of what you could get with an LD then pony up the cash, or just don't have it in your system.

Pretty much! I got a demodulator from a kind user here and really it's nothing life changing. Stereo out of LD is just fine tbh.

You know what else has really nice audio? Blu ray. Players are also cheap.

In defense of AC-3, there is some method to Laserbite’s fixation with “the mix”. A low quality copy of a better mix (theatrical mix dumped straight onto an AC-3 LD) can be preferable to the thin compressed garbage mix on the DVD of the same title with a higher bit rate sound track.

You have to have a minimally decent home theater to feel it and it has to be the right disc (not 2001 or The Great Train Robbery or Roger Rabbit...). Once you got though a few good LDs in a night and then you pop in a early DVD and you think somethings wrong with your system for a minute because there is less dynamic range, less LFE, etc. Early DVD were designed to easily downmix to stereo or mono on old lady TVs. They didn’t have a 5.1 and a stereo usually so compromises were made to have one mix do everything and yeah, it’s not as good.

BRs have this issue much less, it’s a good place to go. It also has way more titles than there are AC-3 LDs because it’s been around longer.

DVD audio is rubbish.

Didn't know that existed.

I got wrecked on a Casa Nova because I did not realize the AC-3 RF was optional. They will still have AC-3 RF connectors either way, but the board won't be mounted on the inside.

Fffttt...what?

yep. I got got. I was smart enough to make sure there were no passwords set on the unit at least. In the photo you'll see the headers on which the board would sit. I reached out to Theta in the surprise event they would have one, but they do not.

Yeah, the main reason I'm even considering an AC3 demodulator is because I love me some Hollywood blockbusters and I don't want to accidentally buy a disc I can't play without extra equipment.

My receiver I have now is a Pioneer VSX-515 which I can see from that list doesn't have integrated AC3 demodulation, so I guess I would need to find another receiver that does.

In that case you don't have to worry. AC-3 tracks take the place of just one of the analog tracks; all the discs have normal digital tracks as well. The directionality won't be as precise, but it'll still sound just as good as other LDs even without AC-3 capability.

Oh! See, I didn't know that! I thought AC-3 discs completely replaced one of the audio tracks and thus would play static/some other unpleasant noise if you tried to watch them without a demodulator.

Though when you say analog and digital tracks, does that mean I'd have to route the audio through SPDIF instead of composite to get the digital audio?

well

Laserdisc can carry two audio tracks - an analog stereo track and a PCM digital track. This is from memory - but I believe most modern players always output the PCM track. TOSLink output the PCM data (as you would expect). Out from the RCA stereo jacks still came from the PCM signal (run through the onboard DA converter).

Since players were using the PCM track for both digital and analog output, the original analog tracks on the disc were, for the most part, not used for anything. When AC3 support came along, the decision was made to use the right analog channel (which was mostly unused) to carry the AC3 signal. It was actually a very clever solution.

Ah, okay. I mean, if I want to get good sound quality from my LD machines I probably should be using SPDIF/TOSLink anyway but it's nice to know I don't *have* to. My current main player is a CLD-D505 from 1996 which I'm sure is plenty modern enough.