Pioneer Kuro Elite vs current TV: how's it compare? (1 Viewer)

My BIL is thinking of buying a used 50" Kuro Elite for $500. Well loved, driven only on Sundays (used in a dedicated HT, only 700 hrs use, supposedly) Don't know the year, assuming its the last model. 2009.Is that a good price? How does a five year old Kuro Elite, previously the best consumer TV, compare five years later to current Panasonic plasmas?He prefers plasma to LCD, and has one of each at home.

Kuro is the best TV. Period.

Jump on that...or let me know where it is. And yes...I'd drive from Chicago for a $500 Kuro.

By the way, this guy wants $500 for a dead one...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PIONEER-ELITE-PRO-110FD-KURO-50-PLASMA-HDTV-/161011002732?pt=Televisions&hash=item257d00ed6c

Thanks, I'll let him know.

DaveF said:

My BIL is thinking of buying a used 50" Kuro Elite for $500. Well loved, driven only on Sundays (used in a dedicated HT, only 700 hrs use, supposedly) Don't know the year, assuming its the last model. 2009.Is that a good price? How does a five year old Kuro Elite, previously the best consumer TV, compare five years later to current Panasonic plasmas?He prefers plasma to LCD, and has one of each at home.

Click to expand...

Depends on which Kuro it is, not all were great and they actually produced a few models which were just average, the thing is that people remember the great models and lump them all in together, the latest Panasonics have now reached the Kuro level of black and also do 3D and are less noisy, that's less dither onscreen than the Kuro's produced, it could well be that this Kuro is one of the great ones but i couldn't tell you without knowing the model number, still if it only has 700 hours on it and is $500 then it seems a bargain, if you don't like it then i'm sure you would be able to sell it on and recoup the money spent on it.

The key here(cause I sold these things) is the Elite.

Yes, there are "crappy" Pioneer PureVision.

There are no crappy Elite Kuro.

Even if this is an older DVI set...it is still worth $400.

Everybody just assumes Kuro is what they are all called.

schan1269 said:

The key here(cause I sold these things) is the Elite.

Yes, there are "crappy" Pioneer PureVision.

There are no crappy Elite Kuro.

Even if this is an older DVI set...it is still worth $400.

Everybody just assumes Kuro is what they are all called.

Click to expand...

No, not everyone assumes they are all called Kuro, i certainly do not but i also know they are not all equal and they are not all great, we had an indepth discussion on this over at HDTV test and they use expert measuring equipment there, i appreciate you sold these sets but they were not all equal.

I wasn't, exactly, meaning "we" (as typically bearers of info on this forum) think all Pioneer/Elite are "Kuro".

His BIL might have heard...

"I know where a Pioneer plasma is for $500"...

And his "heard" morphed into...

"I know where an Elite Kuro is for $500"...

Edit:
Have that happen all the time...
I had to train my "eyes and ears" to self-filter where stuff is to buy, cause I got tired of hearing...

"I got this top-of-the-line Yamaha AVR and speaker package"...

The reality turns into a RX-V36X and some tiny crap speakers...

It's an Elite. My BIL was explicit about that. It was also brought up, as I have a regular Kuro.He didn't know what model year it is. I assume 2009 for the sake of the question. But it might be earlier since it's a 50", suggesting a model before 60" was made as the owner seems to afford the best.

Before the Kuros came out (150 and 151 models), the Panasonics had better black levels.

Gregg Loewen said:

Before the Kuros came out (150 and 151 models), the Panasonics had better black levels.

Click to expand...

The latest Panasonic flagship model beats the Kuro and the Samsung flagship model is to the naked eye as good as the last generation Kuro on black levels, indeed both beat the Kuro on many other levels.

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/panasonic-tx-p55vt65b-201304212862.htm

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/samsung-ps64f8500-201305012945.htm

The relevant parts of both links:

Samsung
Have a look at the overall contrast performance of one, and we think you’ll agree that this is really not a crazy remark. The PS-64F8500′s best black level, which we measured from a nearly-black screen at 0.006 cd/m2, is neck and neck with this year’s Panasonics.

Panasonic
Fortunately, we have repeatable, accurate scientific measurements to cut through the marketing and verify exactly what’s what. After 100+ hours of aging, we measured the TX-P55VT65B’s black level at just 0.003 cd/m2, which is minutely better than our reigning black level champion, the last-gen Pioneer KURO plasma TVs (such as the PDP-LX5090).

schan1269 said:

Kuro is the best TV. Period.

Jump on that...or let me know where it is. And yes...I'd drive from Chicago for a $500 Kuro.

Click to expand...

I still think the Kuro is the best plasma.

I've heard it's possible to have the logic board of a Kuro Elite installed in my regular Kuro, and then calibrated, for top-shelf image. I'm a few years late on such a thing. I should find out if its still doable and pricing.

hi Dave
Yes, it is doable.
Do a google search. Good luck!!

Cool. I'll look into it