Pioneer DV-563AS . . . or do I need an Elite? (1 Viewer)

I went to Sound Advice today to find out what the deal is with DVD players. I was interested in the 720p and 1080i upconverting players, but the rep said they're not going to become anything common and that until true HD DVD comes out, Progressive scan is going to always be the way to go, which I'll buy because most 480p has looked better to me than the HD Samsung player. First, any thoughts on this? On that note, he recommended a Pioneer Elite player, which I've always wanted to own, but they're a lot of cheese to part with. I started reading up on Pioneer's players and reading some reviews and I read a couple that said the video reproduction on the DV-563AS is almost as good as the Elite DV-45/47a. What I'm working with now is a Toshiba 4800. I don't have much of an interest in DVD Audio or SACD as I don't listen to music much in the house, so as a straight DVD player for video and sound, would this be much of a step up from the Toshiba? Would the video truly be as good as the Elite, a lot worse, a little worse, what? I'm honestly not looking for a whole lot of bells and whistles, just a great (and rather affordable) picture and sound. Is it worth buying the new player, or should I just stay with the Toshiba? I'm buying a Mitsubishi WS-65313 in December and I want to get the best from it, or at least close. Thanks.

Brandon

Check out the Secrets page (www.hometheaterhifi.com) and check the DVD Player Shootout. For a straight DVD player, you're probably better off looking at Denons or something of the like, the chroma bug laden Pioneers, while probably the most flexible players on the market, appear to leave something to be desired when it comes to video.

(There is a however the Denon 2900 that does it all, check the forum for threads about this player)

IMHO I don't think you would need and Elite, at least the last generation, the 563a seems to be a bit of a giant killer.

just wait for a couple more months for the introduction of DV-59. Not only a universal player, but also comes with a built-in scaler to 720p and 1080i.

What's the price going to be on the Dv-59? Hopefully the picture will be more impressive than Samsung's upscaling player. Not that that would take much.

Brandon

The MSRP for the unit is $1600. However, knowing Pioneer, you should be able to get it at around $1300 street, if not lower.

As far as Samsung scaling DVD player goes, virtually anything is better than that. The name Samsung itself makes me shudder.

Quote:
The MSRP for the unit is $1600. However, knowing Pioneer, you should be able to get it at around $1300 street, if not lower.

That's quite a jump from $140 to 170.00 for the 563a

I was kind of thinking the same thing . . .

Brandon,

You may also try to track down a Denon 1600 for around $350.00 or so which currently gives, quite arguably, the best image out there. It has excellent DVD-A playback as well. As others have already pointed out, if you are strictly interested in video alone, there is really no reason to spend over 1K for a player unless you're looking at one of the Universals for DVD-A/SACD/CD playback and DVI output. There is a plethora of players under $500.00 which will suit your needs quite fine in the video arena alone imho.

Reg

Yes, but the question was (and still is "... or do I need an Elite?")

Say you buy a 563 and buy a decent scaler that outputs 720p or 1080i, you'll need to spend more than $1300 just for the scaler.

So at that price, it's a steal.

Besides, the bass management will be much better than 563 where the x-over freq are 100Hz for DVD-A and 120Hz for SACD and regardless of the size of your centre channel, the 563 will assume that you have a small centre and route the LFE to your sub.

I'm leaning toward the Denon dvd-1600. Anybody know where I can get the best price on these? I understand they're being discontinued, anybody have them on clearance?

Brandon