Soon-to-be owner of a Pioneer 704 LD player (1 Viewer)

[alan halvorson]

Some players - I'll bet none mentioned above - locate the transit screw on the bottom.

Since I own an LD-S9, I'm interested in this streaking thing - I have yet to see anything like a white streak or any kind of not-supposed-to-be-there streak. Are there certain conditions/discs that display this?

 

[Grant B]

Lyle
I have a spare D504 which I use in the spare bedroom; it has the AC3 out but no optical or coaxial. Since I have it hooked straight into a TV the AC3 out is not used. I would trade it for a good basic player and a little cash or discs if you are interested. I noticed you are in the area....I have given up trying to ship LD players.

Just wondering can I be in the club with a 504 and a 79?

Rachael - Run lots of wire when the walls are down. My rule was "if you need 1; run 10" and it came in handy. I wired every room for surround (wife talked me out of the bathroom and it still pisses me off...it would sound awesome!)

 

[greg_t]

I've got a question for the laserdisc guru's while we have such a good thread going. My question is this: Is there any real advantage of the Elite 99 over the 79 other than the better comb filter and the twin DAC's? Here's my situation. I currently have an Elite 79 and an Elite 52. I'm not using the 79 right now so the 52 see's most of the duty. I plan on buying a widescreen set within the next few months, and am currently leaning towards the Pioneer SD533HD5. From what I've read, the Pioneer's are supposed to have the best line doublers and this set has a 3-D Y/C seperation circuit, which I am assuming is as good or better than the Elite 99's. the seperation filter on this set is also adjustable. My question is if I were to connect my 79 via composite to the TV and use it's comb filter, would having a 99 provide any better imaging? I have heard stories of people disappointed with laserdisc image on widescreen's and wondered if having a 99 would offer any real improvment over the 79 if using the TV's comb filter. Any thoughts on this are appreciated.

 

[Rachael B]

Greg, if you are definitely going to use composite output, you'd get a better pic with a CLD-97 or 95. The 99 stille cuts video noise better than the 79 even using composite but it gets closer. If you had a 99 you'd proably be better off using it's S-Video output. You lose the 3-D comb filter adjustments if you do composite with the 99. I've had my S9 hooked up to the Elite 510 & 610 and was favourably impressed. But, I used S-Video connections. I don't think it's random chance that the S9 looks better on Elite RP's than any other I've tried. That's just plugging the player into the sets. If you add an iscan V1/V2/Pro to process LD, other brands of sets could do much better with LD. The 99's results should shadow the S9's with reduced colour fidelity.

I regret selling my CLD-95. It did have righteous composite output. The 99 & 79 were geared for S-Video use. They skimped some on composite, seemingly? They skimped on the 99's build quality many say too, BTW. Maybe you should go for a CLD-97 and you'd get it's 2-D comb and it's superior composite?

Grant, is wiring for 6 surround speakers 'nuff? I'm getting an outlet on the ceiling that I hope will power a projector eventually when I can afford it. I'm trying to think ahead some. Best wishes cats!

 

[greg_t]

Thanks for the advice, Rachael

 

[Grant B]

Rachael
There's always the chance that you might change the orientation of the monitor /screen; if that changes would the speakers still be in the right place?

 

[Rachael B]

Grant, yes. I'm planning to keep my tube set and have a drop-down screen for the projector. The room is 21' x 13.5' so the speakers can't be moved too far. It's not huge.

You're welcome Greg! Best wishes cats!

 

[Grant B]

for our bedroom, I built the TV into the wall with the back of it going into the closet. I also made enclosures for the speakers in the wall so everythinh is hidden. Then my wife decided that the bed should be pointed 90 degree off from the way is was planned. @#$%^ everything up.
Dont forget to run coax and cat 5 up to where the projector might be.
quad shielded RG 6 can be used for just about anything
2 for audio
1 composite
2 s video
3 component

so 10 to be safe
cat 5 in case you can reed to I/F with a PC
Now it's cheap, later a real pain

Since it's a condo, do you share walls?
We have people above us so I put up 5 layers of drywall and sound board along with channeling.
Keeps the neighbors semi happy

 

[Jim Douglas]

Patrick,
When is your new player due? Let us know how it is once you get it.
Thanks
Jim

 

[Patrick Sun]

According to the Fedex tracking, the package is in my city so I should get it on Monday!

 

[Jim Douglas]

I always hate it when you are looking forward to getting something and it just misses getting to you for the weekend :frowning:
Good Luck...
Jim

 

[Rachael B]

Grant, I'm considering what type of video cable/s. That is definitely up in the air. Best wishes!

 

[David Head]

Patrick,
Congrats on the purchase. I just did the same thing as you after getting outbid on various players over the last couple of months. I bought a 604 today (my first player!) and am looking forward to playing the Stars Wars, Indiana Jones and Young Sherlock Holmes LDs I bought a few months ago.
Rachael,
Thanks for all the advice you gave me a while ago. I've finally put it to good use.
David

 

[Patrick Sun]

I now have possession the Pioneer 704 LD player! Woo hoo! I'm still at work, but I unpacked it to make sure it powered up and worked. I does play a CD I had lying around, but I can't listen to it because I don't have a 1/4" jack adapter for my 1/8" jack from my headphones at work (I can only judge by watching the track numbers, time elapsed, and the jog shuttle functionality).

But so far, it appears to have survived the shipping gauntlet...

 

[ColinM]

Funny - I just did the same thing with my lowly D406...feels like it weighs 5 lbs.
:frowning:

 

[Patrick Sun]

Okay, just a cursory comparison between my old DVL-909 and the CLD-D704:
I used the TPM LD for spot comparisons because I'm pretty familiar with the LD, and I know it's not the best LD, so it would prove to be a better test to bring out differences between the 2 LD players.
I have to wonder if the video output of my DVL-909 is dying, but on either the composite or the s-video output, the video was sort of dark, a bit on the murky side, and the blue-grey's would have a lot more video noise (like the underwater scenes when the Jedis and Jar Jar are being chased by the sea monsters), and the flesh tones were off.
When I watched the same scenes with the CLD-D704, the brightness was "normal" looking, a bit sharper, and the blue-grey's had less video noise to them, and the flesh tones were more pleasing to my eyes.
Switching between the 2 LD sources (I just used the composite video on 2 A/V inputs on my receiver), it was pretty evident that the CLD-D704 was the superior performer video-wise. I was listening to the analog 2-channel mix (I only have 1 RF AC-3 demod), but sonically, it was a draw.
For a few minutes of viewing with the CLD-D704, I forgot I was watching a LD (depends on the material I'm watching). So I consider this money well spent.

 

[Rachael B]

You're welcome David! I'd like to see that YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES. Hmnnn, I may start scanning for it.
Patrick, what's next an LD-S9? You should see SWPM on an S9 or X9. Due to it's slightly excessive noise, SWPM LD is a great disc to evaluate players. The better players cut out most of that noise. Have fun with your new toy! Happy spinning!

 

[Patrick Sun]

I saw an S9 on Ebay, it was already at $850 with a few days to go (from Hong Kong, no less).

 

[Rachael B]

Patrick, I know somebody who said they might bid on it. They were asking my advice about it. I told them to check with the seller about shipping options. You would not want to ship from there or anyplace else in Asia via surface. Too rough out thar on da Spacific Ocean! You have to bite the bullet and pay AIR RATES if you get a player from Asia. I've bought two LD players from Hong Kong and I wish I had pulled the trigger on the region-free Pioneer DV-AX10 last fall... anyway...Fedex Air is proably the best thing out of Hong Kong...? I think so, anyway. The S9's seller is offering $100 shipping. It must be surface...? Air should run 200-$300, aprox.

I'm suprised only one person has asked me about that S9. About a year and a half ago I had 4 people e-mail me about a Runco player on e-bay the eve that it closed. I'm not sure how many of them actually bid on it. Somebody on this forum had the good fortune to get it for a pittance. Best wishes!

 

[Patrick Sun]

With 3 hours to go, the S9 bid is up to $1000.
BTW, the other 704 up for bids this past week went for $55 more than the buy-it-now price I paid. Those last minute snipers really do jack up the prices at the end for the good stuff.