Kevin C Brown
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2000
- Messages
- 5,726
I haven't read the 8300 review, but I did read his (old) 47a review, and for those of you who subscribe to the Audio Perfectionist (just got the 1st print copy today), he goes into a lot more detail. He talks about the 47a, Onkyo 800, and Marantz 8300, amont a lot of other players. (For Keith, he really liked the 3800.)
As far as the 47a goes, basically, he thinks DVD-A and CD are acceptable for the purchase price of the player. (I can deal with that.) He just doesn't like the SACD quality.
But earlier in the same article, he puts a large amount of credence on the DACs. He specifically pointed out he didn't like the Cirrus DACs in the 47a. But the interesting thing is that he also specifically mentioned liking Burr Browns. Pioneer swapped the Cirrus DACs for Burr Browns in the 45a/47ai. He did say at the end of the AP article, that he hasn't had a chance to audition the 45a or 47ai yet.
(Yeah, I know, the contradiction: if the original DACs sucked, then CD and DVD-A should have sucked too. But they didn't. Don't ask me!
)
Oh yeah, an example of how subjective reviewing is: he also specifically mentioned that the video quality of the 47a was just a hair under the best from Faroudja, Silicon Image, etc. And we all know how Pioneer players did in Secret's shootout.
As far as the 47a goes, basically, he thinks DVD-A and CD are acceptable for the purchase price of the player. (I can deal with that.) He just doesn't like the SACD quality.
But earlier in the same article, he puts a large amount of credence on the DACs. He specifically pointed out he didn't like the Cirrus DACs in the 47a. But the interesting thing is that he also specifically mentioned liking Burr Browns. Pioneer swapped the Cirrus DACs for Burr Browns in the 45a/47ai. He did say at the end of the AP article, that he hasn't had a chance to audition the 45a or 47ai yet.
(Yeah, I know, the contradiction: if the original DACs sucked, then CD and DVD-A should have sucked too. But they didn't. Don't ask me!
)Oh yeah, an example of how subjective reviewing is: he also specifically mentioned that the video quality of the 47a was just a hair under the best from Faroudja, Silicon Image, etc. And we all know how Pioneer players did in Secret's shootout.
