Pioneer Elite DV37 vs Panasonic RP91 on a mits 55907 (1 Viewer)

[Fred DeGrandis]

I have narrowed it down to these 2 progressive scan players and have heard good things about the both of them, and I want your opinions on which unit would be a better purchase(I am a college student, and money doesn't really grow on trees for me yet). This forum has really helped me in the past, and I value you opinions very much. Please help me and thanks in advance,
Fred
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[Scott-C]

Fred,
While I can't speak for the Panasonic DVD player, I own a DV-37 and use it with my WS-65907. I think the results are fantastic. I upgraded to the DV-37 from a Sony DVP-S7000 because I wanted a progressive player, and very quickly with the new player I noticed a greater depth in picture quality (i.e. check out the opening "outer space" scene in Toy Story 2). I've been very pleased.
I have read lots of reviews on the DV-37, and some reviewers have complained that the progressive signal of the player is only as good as the flags that are fed to it (i.e. jaggies in some cases). I have only taken notice of this on a few very rare occasions and it hasn't bothered me.
Just my 2 cents. Good luck with your research!
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Scott

 

[Jason Caudill]

Have you considered the Denon 2800? It lists at the same price as the Pioneer DV37 and Panasonic but is getting alot of rave reviews from the people I have talked to. I was comparing those two dvd players myself when someone showed me the denon. I would give it some serious consideration.

 

[Max Leung]

I have both the DV-37 and the RP91.
I prefer the RP91, for its zooming of 4x3 material for my 16x9 TW40X81 RPTV. The RP91 also plays mp3s (with some caveats...look for the RP91 FAQ in this forum).
The RP91 does not have the chroma bug, unlike the DV-37. The RP91 also has DVD-Audio.
Hands down, the RP91 is the better player, feature-wise.
However, I like the build quality of the DV-37...nice shiny black finish. The audio quality is the same as the RP91. The RP91 seems to have a clearer and cleaner video, and fewer artifacts during DVD playback. I noticed wavy-lines on grey backgrounds on the DV-37...it seems it doesn't have as good video shielding internally.
On the DV-37, I've had problems with the audio on the Cosmos boxed set...squawks and screeches every 10 minutes or so, which at the time I assumed was invisible scratches on the DVDs, but my friend's Panny A310 didn't have any problems. I guess every DVD player handles DVD mastering imperfections differently...I'm sure there's a disc the Panny RP91 won't handle right, but the DV-37 can, and vice versa.
Seamless branching with T2:UE is flawless on the RP91, but I get audio drop-outs at branch points on the DV-37 (using digital out, haven't tried with the analog audio outputs).
I haven't gotten around to selling my DV-37. I'll probably just keep it...it's a GREAT CD player.

 

[Craig Robertson]

Seamless branching with T2:UE is flawless on the RP91, but I get audio drop-outs at branch points on the DV-37 (using digital out, haven't tried with the analog audio outputs).

i don't have any audio dropouts with T2:UE, perhaps it is related your preamp/rcvr. it may be possible that the 37 briefly interupts the datastream and your preamp/rcvr drops audio but this doesn't happen with the RP91.

 

[Max Leung]

Yeah, it probably is my Yammy DSP-A1. I suspect, if I had the analog outputs of the DV37 attached, the problem would not be there.
Also, I double-checked my Cosmos DVD (disc 1). On my copy, I get a bad squawk across all of the speakers at the 12:44 mark in the first episode (wll, the only episode, on the disc), but only if I use the digital output of the RP91. If I use the external decoder, the problem is gone. Must be a glitch in the mastering of the DVDs (every episode on every disc has a couple of squawks in them). I suspect the RP91 recovers gracefully from this. The DV-37 would probably do the same thing.
So, in terms of reading problem discs, both players are pretty much the same (aside from losing lock with T2:UE on the DV-37 and my DSP-A1).

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I experienced those same audio dropouts on the seamless branching version of T2:UE with my previous progressive player -- a Toshiba 6200. I did not have these problems with either my new RP-91 or my old interlaced player -- a Sony DVP-330. My receiver is a Sony 50ES.
While I have no experience with the Pioneer DV37, I think the RP-91 is an excellent progressive player. It's video quality with anamorphic discs is a slight improvement over the Toshiba, and its scaling/zooming of non-anamorphic letterboxed titles is a major improvement over the zoom feature on my Toshiba 56H80 TV. If you own a 16x9 HDTV, the Panasonic is a fine match.
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[Edited last by Scott Merryfield on August 19, 2001 at 09:43 PM]