Pioneer CLD-E2000 laserdisc player (1 Viewer)

[David Norman]

Duncan and Kurtis are the folks to go to if your high end player breaks. I'm not sure anyone at Pioneer would really have much of a clue these days. Duncan I think does it for a living, Kurtis more of a serious hobby but both guys.


I have bought 4 or 5 LD players over the years off Ebay or other forums and I think the break rate is 75% -- either the machines broke in transit or the sellers lied a bit about the condition of the player. Kurtis has put each one back in working order, cleaned the clamp, adjusted the laser mechanism, etc and it came back probably better than new.

If the 99 falls through, shoot me a mail and you might talk me out of my 704.

 

[Rachael B]

John, I bought my LD-S9, new, for $1500, which included shipping from Hong Kong back in 2000. Josh Z's S9 sold for around $1300 recently. They seem to be holding their value rather well...which is bad news for you, presumaby? The S9 and X9 just produce better colour than the 99 can. It's a shame there aren't more Japanese models floating 'round the U.S.

It's hard for me to imagine your Denon player's S-video being worthwhile. I had the Denon LA-3100 and it's S-video was poor to the max. I stille have the LA-3500 (LX-900 clone) and it's 3-line digital comb seems meek these days and it's better than your Pie-auh-neer clone.

You sure have the worst TV possible, apparently, to exploit old analog formats! I hope you get yourself a 99...!

 

[John S]

Well, at least the display does seem to excel with svideo sources in general.

Hopefully I will score the 99....

 

[Philip Hamm]

Hey you guys should see the S-Video output from my CLD-M401. Dreadful!

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Is that a CD changer model? I've never seen one with S-Video outputs.

 

[John S]

So basically, any CLD-99 I get, can be made a top notch player by some of the people that service laserdisc players mentioned in this thread?


Hmmm, That is somewhat comforting to know...

 

[greg_t]

It can't be made to the level of the X9/X0 by any means as those are players with very different designs and better components. What guys like Duncan and Kurtis can do is make sure that it is properly aligned, adjusted, fit it with new laser heads, spindle motors, etc, to get every bit of performance possible out of it. But they can't make it any better than it's design is. The 99 is a very good player and you should be quite happy with it, but how good it can be is limited by it's design. Also buying one on ebay you don't know what it's been through, how much use it has, what condition the laser is in, etc. I would recommend once you get one to send it off to Duncan and have him service it, checking for alignment, crosstalk, laser output, etc.

When he had my X9, he found that when he put in a alignment disc it vibrated badly. He found that someone had had the clamper apart and replaced the ball retainer with an incorrect part. He replaced it with the correct part and vibration was gone. This was missed by a tech I had look at it previously and was likely affecting picture quality some.

What also could help is the use of an external scaler. I was using my X9 into my Pioneer Elite 53" HDTV direct and the picture was very good using the Elites aspect ratio modes and it's own deinterlacer. I now run it through an Iscan HD+ which converts it to 1080i and "scales" the image to 16x9 so I can leave the Elite in it's Full mode and get better resolution. Once thing I noticed is that the deinterlacing is better using the Iscans Silicon Image deinteracer and scan lines are far less apparent using the Iscan HD+.

 

[John S]

Yes, I am bound by finances.....


The CLD-99 is already I better player than I thought I would / could ever own in all honesty.


Crossing my fingers on this one....

 

[Rachael B]

John, the first repair you're most likely to have to make to a 99/79/704/59 is a spindle motor. I bought a used 99 about 6 years ago had to put one in about 2 years later. The spindle motors in this generation of players aren't as long-lasting as older generations. Worse things can go amuck but you should nearly expect the spindle motor to fizzle. My LD-S9, same spindle motor, is nearly 6 years old and I expect it to fail in the next 2 years.

I don't wanna bring you down too much but just give you a realistic outlook....Good luck on your quest!

 

[John S]

I like the idea of sending it to one of the guru's before putting it in service.


I'll post back, if I actually aquire the CLD-99......


Hard to believe how in demand these better LD players still are, basically the year 2006 here.

 

[greg_t]

You may want to email the seller as well and see if they have any paperwork from previous services. I would also try to find out the date of manufacturer as well. I bought my CLD79 off ebay still sealed and it was manufactured in 1997, so I would imagine the 99 was produced at least into 1997 as well.

If you get it and send it off for service to Duncan or Kurtis, you may just want to have a new spindle motor, laser, etc put on at that time if you have the extra money. The spindle motor lists at $46 on pioneers website, with the laser assembly at $198, which is about half of what the X9's laser goes for.

 

[John S]

All great advice... The Originator of this thread, probably got way more than they bargained for as far as raw info is concerned.


The one I am eye'n a a little bit of a risky deal. But, I now intend to send it for refurbish to somebody in the know.


Interesting, I plan to keep my collection, so if I can get a CLD-99 going strong, I can then sort of see if a deal comes up on one of the even better players down the road.

 

[Mark_Wilson]

My two cents on LD and Ebay. I've not had great luck recently. Sold an old player on ebay it, literally, arrived in pieces. I packed it well too! Luckily UPS paid quickly.

I also bought an S9 on Ebay from a guy in Japan. Price was right and he even obtained a power converter for me. However, he wrapped the player in Newspaper and shipped it. It was sliding around in the box. I asked for it to be packed well. Didn't work upon receiving it, drawer wouldn't eject. Had to take it appart in order to fix it.

Be wary and INSURE it.

 

[John S]

Thanks Mark... I am leary.....


But I think the time is now, or just live with the more run of the mill players, which are still pretty good in all honesty.


I'll just cross my fingers and go for it most likely.
One more question mark?

What do I insure it for? I mean like a dollar amount?
I don't ship a alot, and information on the insurance would be great.

 

[greg_t]

Basically make sure that the seller will send in insured for the dollar amount of the player. If you buy it for $500, make sure he will have it insured for $500 at time of shipping. This will likely cost you a little extra but would be worth it if there is a problem. I would also insist on it being double boxed.

To contrast Mark's experience, I've been very lucky having bought two ld players of ebay, both of which arrived well. My X9 was not bought of Ebay but was also well packaged. Even so, I made sure each one had shipping insurance.

I would ask all of these questions before the bidding on the item is over.

 

[John S]

Thanks greg_t.....


I think I got it all... Now to win the item.