Pioneer DV-48AV - my 2 cents

ajanzalone
ajanzalone Posts: 128
edited September 2008 in Electronics
Pioneer Elite DV-48AV - Single-disc Elite DVD/DVD-Audio/SACD Player

My 2 cents
I know the audiophiles sometimes believe anything under $1000. as not worthy of mention .... but ....
That said, I have just revived my 30+ year old system ....

I tried to listen to CD music on a hand me down, CD Player and was horrified to hear the noise that passed as recorded music...
hmmm I thought digital meant clean...lol .... well yes if it is recorded correctly.

Thanks to the great members of this forum I got educated on the SACD- DVD-A audiophile recordings..... ahhhhh ....... there is hope!

I didn't want to spend a ton $$, just to find that maybe my system was just not clean sounding anymore.
So after some searching I decided on The Pioneer Elite DV-48AV at
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/related/486974189/pioneer-dv-48av

To make a long story short:
I 1st tested a CD of SANTANA - ABRAXAS - REMASTERED, and was pleased with the clean sound and
musical depth that started pumping out of my old Polk 10's again ....

Then, (my 1st SACD), BILLY JOEL - THE STRANGER - SACD arrived in the mail box.....
So like a kid on Christmas morning, I unwrapped it and put in the player...

Instantly it came to life as I bumped the volume higher and higher as the Crisp Piano notes started to fill the room.
Billy's voice was clear, smooth and very musical. Presence and stage dept returned to my system .....
I bumped the volume to near 40% as I got lost in the sounds that I have longed to hear for over 10 years ... again

Then to my embarrassment, I realized .. sorry to admit this, I had a tear in my eye ....
Yep a grown man with tears ..and his music!

I am positive there are much better players in the audiophile world and recordings .....
But if your an old dog like me not ready to step up to the big $$$$ Blue Ray players .... this is a real value for $99.00

my 2 cents
Tony
Audio Research SP5 Preamp
Quad 405 Amp
Pioneer Elite DV-48AV -
Outlaw 950 preamp/processor
Polk Monitor 10's
Velodyne VRP 1200 Sub Woofer

Success is having what you want ... but Happiness is wanting what you have!
Post edited by ajanzalone on
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Comments

  • concealer404
    concealer404 Posts: 7,440
    edited September 2008
    I have the DV-563A. Sounds great through the SPDIF.... doesn't sound so great through the interconnects.

    Overall, though, a nice little unit. :)
    I don't read the newsssspaperssss because dey aaaallllllllll...... have ugly print.

    Living Room: B&K Reference 5 S2 / Parasound HCA-1000A / Emotiva XDA-2 / Pioneer BDP-51FD / Paradigm 11se MKiii

    Desk: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / ISK HD9999

    Office: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / Dynaco SCA-80Q / Paradigm Legend V.3

    HT: Denon AVR-X3400H / Sony UBP-X700 / RT16 / CS350LS / RT7 / SVS PB1000
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  • ajanzalone
    ajanzalone Posts: 128
    edited September 2008
    concealer404 wrote: »
    I have the DV-563A. Sounds great through the SPDIF.... doesn't sound so great through the interconnects.

    Overall, though, a nice little unit. :)

    Yes I am very happy with this Pioneer product,
    who knew? :)
    Audio Research SP5 Preamp
    Quad 405 Amp
    Pioneer Elite DV-48AV -
    Outlaw 950 preamp/processor
    Polk Monitor 10's
    Velodyne VRP 1200 Sub Woofer

    Success is having what you want ... but Happiness is wanting what you have!
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  • lakesailor
    lakesailor Posts: 319
    edited September 2008
    At that price I say jump on it. That is just a stupid good deal. I paid over $ 300 for mine. On the whole it is a nice unit. Has a decent onboard DAC for audio. My only complaint is that it is fairly slow to read a disc when you first power it up. Other than that for that kind of money I say jump on it.
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  • olilugo
    olilugo Posts: 405
    edited September 2008
    Ajanzalone, congrats on your new cd/dvd.
    I am expecting mine this comming Monday.
    How did you connect connect your CD/DVD to your receiver? did you use multi-channel, stereo or digital?
    Current HT setup
    Mains: B&W 804s
    Center: Polk CSi5
    Surround: Polk FXi3
    Sub: Velodyne DLS-3750R
    Receiver: Pioneer SC-07
    Amplifier: Sunfire TGA5200
    TV: Sony KDS60A2020
    DBP: Sony DBP-S350
    CDP: Pioneer DV-48AV
    Interconnect cables: SignalCable analog II
    speaker cables: SignalCable Ultra Speaker Cables Bi-wire
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  • ajanzalone
    ajanzalone Posts: 128
    edited September 2008
    olilugo wrote: »
    Ajanzalone, congrats on your new cd/dvd.
    I am expecting mine this comming Monday.
    How did you connect connect your CD/DVD to your receiver? did you use multi-channel, stereo or digital?

    I am running a 2 channel system ......
    I hooked up the mixed stereo out, (L&R) to my pre-amp ...
    and a yellow RCA to my TV for video feed...
    works great.....

    Now if you needs 5.1 surround sound, you will have to read the manual ...
    But it appears pretty simple on the back markings.

    your gonna love it! Enjoy
    Tony
    Audio Research SP5 Preamp
    Quad 405 Amp
    Pioneer Elite DV-48AV -
    Outlaw 950 preamp/processor
    Polk Monitor 10's
    Velodyne VRP 1200 Sub Woofer

    Success is having what you want ... but Happiness is wanting what you have!
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  • Danny Tse
    Danny Tse Posts: 5,206
    edited September 2008
    ajanzalone wrote: »
    BILLY JOEL - THE STRANGER - SACD arrived in the mail box.....

    Many considered this to be the definitive digital version of this album.

    Congrats, Tony. Now you have me thinking about this player again.
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  • WilliamM2
    WilliamM2 Posts: 4,806
    edited September 2008
    lakesailor wrote: »
    At that price I say jump on it. That is just a stupid good deal. I paid over $ 300 for mine. On the whole it is a nice unit. Has a decent onboard DAC for audio. My only complaint is that it is fairly slow to read a disc when you first power it up. Other than that for that kind of money I say jump on it.

    Slow? It's faster than any other universal player I have tried, which includes Marantz 6001, Yamaha DVD-S1700 and 1800, Denon 1940ci, and the Oppo 983HD. And it's better at playing DVD-+r's and damaged discs than any of the other players.

    It's also one of only three players that can send DSD over HDMI with SACD's.
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  • Danny Tse
    Danny Tse Posts: 5,206
    edited September 2008
    WilliamM2 wrote: »
    It may be slow, but it's faster than any universal playerI have tried, which includes Marantz 6001, Yamaha DVD-S1700 and 1800, Denon 1940ci, and the Oppo 983HD.

    Really? My Sony SCD-CE595 SACD/CD changer takes a lifetime to recognize a disc as well.
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  • lakesailor
    lakesailor Posts: 319
    edited September 2008
    WilliamM2 wrote: »
    Slow? It's faster than any other universal player I have tried, which includes Marantz 6001, Yamaha DVD-S1700 and 1800, Denon 1940ci, and the Oppo 983HD. And it's better at playing DVD-+r's and damaged discs than any of the other players.

    It's also one of only three players that can send DSD over HDMI with SACD's.


    Weird. I have a Denon 5900 series that is much faster reading discs. I even have an older 2900 series Denon that is also quicker.
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  • WilliamM2
    WilliamM2 Posts: 4,806
    edited September 2008
    Danny Tse wrote: »
    Really? My Sony SCD-CE595 SACD/CD changer takes a lifetime to recognize a disc as well.

    Most universal players are slow, I believe it's because they have to first determine what kind of disc it is, before even looking for a table of contents. Apparently the old Denon's were quicker though.
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  • WilliamM2
    WilliamM2 Posts: 4,806
    edited September 2008
    lakesailor wrote: »
    Weird. I have a Denon 5900 series that is much faster reading discs. I even have an older 2900 series Denon that is also quicker.

    I didn't say it was the fastest, just faster than all those I listed. Out of curiousity, I decided to go see how long it took to load each disc type. Times are from the time the tray closes, until the first note, or video in the case of DVD.

    CD 12 seconds.
    DVD-A 12 seconds.
    DVD-Video 14 seconds.
    CD 12 seconds.

    My regular CD player (CDR-HD1500) takes about 8 seconds for a CD, 4 seconds longer for a universal player doesn't seem too bad to me.

    All of the other players I tried were more like 25-30 seconds, except the Oppo, which was a little faster at about 20 seconds.
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  • lakesailor
    lakesailor Posts: 319
    edited September 2008
    WilliamM2 wrote: »
    I didn't say it was the fastest, just faster than all those I listed. Out of curiousity, I decided to go see how long it took to load each disc type. Times are from the time the tray closes, until the first note, or video in the case of DVD.

    CD 12 seconds.
    DVD-A 12 seconds.
    DVD-Video 14 seconds.
    CD 12 seconds.

    My regular CD player (CDR-HD1500) takes about 8 seconds for a CD, 4 seconds longer for a universal player doesn't seem too bad to me.

    All of the other players I tried were more like 25-30 seconds, except the Oppo, which was a little faster at about 20 seconds.


    I just did the same thing with the Denon Universal Player - started the timer with the door open when I pressed play. Time for the door to close and music to play was 9 seconds.

    My Pioneer Elite took 14 seconds using the same CD. I suppose 14 seconds is not slow, I just got really used to my Denon’s as I had both of them long before I got my Pioneer Elite.
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  • Hawkeye
    Hawkeye Posts: 1,313
    edited September 2008
    Tony, Glad you found audio nirvana! Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with getting an emotional response from listening to music. Your probably one of few people who listen to the music and not the gear.

    I must be getting old. Reading a debate on whether 4, 5, 8 or 12 seconds is slow is beyond me. I wasn't raised in the "gotta have it now" generation;) Geez, it takes longer than that to get the first wizz of the morning going.

    Gordon
    2 Channel -
    Martin Logan Spire, 2 JL Audio F112 subs
    McIntosh C1000 Controller with Tube pre amp, 2 MC501 amplifiers, MD1K Transport & DAC, MR-88 Tuner
    WireWorld Eclipse 6.0 speaker wire and jumpers, Eclipse 5^2 Squared Balanced IC's. Silver Eclipse PCs (5)
    Symposium Rollerblocks 2+ (16)Black Diamond Racing Mk 3 pits (8)
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  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,326
    edited September 2008
    Hawkeye wrote: »
    Tony, Glad you found audio nirvana! Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with getting an emotional response from listening to music. Your probably one of few people who listen to the music and not the gear.

    I must be getting old. Reading a debate on whether 4, 5, 8 or 12 seconds is slow is beyond me. I wasn't raised in the "gotta have it now" generation;) Geez, it takes longer than that to get the first wizz of the morning going.

    Gordon


    I love it...

    Anyway the Pioneer Elite players are fantastic. Pulling quad duty as well. I have owned the Pioneer Elite dv47a since the day it's been released. I have used it for all 4 functions. And I feel it does them all very well.

    I really like the Pioneer Elite dv48 , It's a very fine player, enjoy it.

    Dan
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
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  • lakesailor
    lakesailor Posts: 319
    edited September 2008
    I completely agree it is a great player for the money and I didn’t mean to start an instant gratification direction to this thread by commenting on the load time. I should have also mentioned that both of my Denon’s were nearly $ 1 K when new over 3x what I paid for my Pioneer Elite.

    Getting back to the OP; for the link he provided and the amazing deal that “Vanns” was offering for the ‘Elite I think that is currently a best buy in my books
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  • xandra
    xandra Posts: 291
    edited September 2008
    WilliamM2 wrote: »
    It's also one of only three players that can send DSD over HDMI with SACD's.

    Hmm... what are the other 2?
    I have this unit and should note that there are some limitations and awkwardnesses re sending DSD via HDMI:
    You can only send 2 channel SACD via HDMI.
    If you choose "Auto (DSD)" setting it downsamples DSD to 44.1
    If you choose "Auto" setting it outputs PCM at 88.1
    if you opt to give up on DSD but want multichannel and set it to output "LPCM 5.1" it outputs 2 channel PCM.

    the upshot: the only way to get full quality DSD is via the mulitchannel or analog outputs. (I'll assume that it doesn't downsample, but naturally no way to check)

    One other note, you need to eject/reload disk for these settings to take effect.
    One nice thing: by default this unit doesn't display anything onscreen when playing music (this seems pretty logical to me). - pressing display button, does allow you to view stats. However, this display is very minimal compared with most units I've tried -- no track listing, text etc. (I assume more info avail for MP3's, but haven't tested).

    just my 2 cents.
    LR Setup:
    Polk RTi10's, RTi6's, CSiA6 (5 ch setup)
    Onkyo 705 & Denon 3808ci Receiver, Onk 875
    Parasound 2250 Amp
    Sony 26" KDL series Bravia LCD
    Panny DMR-EH75 Recorder
    Panny DVD-F87 (5 disk DVD player)
    NAD T585 (DVD/SACD)
    Yamaha DVD-C961 (5 disk SACD/DVD)
    SciAnt Explorer 8500HD Cable Box
    Orig & 5Gen iPods, , Wii
    Plans/Fantasies:
    • 400 disk player that handles ALL formats, sounds as good as NAD with Panasonic interface & compatability.
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  • Systems
    Systems Posts: 14,873
    edited September 2008
    Great deal,thats a lot of player for a $100.
    Testing
    Testing
    Testing
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  • WilliamM2
    WilliamM2 Posts: 4,806
    edited September 2008
    xandra wrote: »
    Hmm... what are the other 2?
    I have this unit and should note that there are some limitations and awkwardnesses re sending DSD via HDMI:
    You can only send 2 channel SACD via HDMI.
    If you choose "Auto (DSD)" setting it downsamples DSD to 44.1
    If you choose "Auto" setting it outputs PCM at 88.1
    if you opt to give up on DSD but want multichannel and set it to output "LPCM 5.1" it outputs 2 channel PCM.

    The other two players are the Pioneer DV-58AV and the Oppo 980.

    The DV-48AV will output 5.1 DSD over HDMI. You have to set the video resolution to 720p or higher for this to work. It not a limitation of the player, but part of the HDMI spec.
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  • ajanzalone
    ajanzalone Posts: 128
    edited September 2008
    Funny
    When I placed my order with Vanns, they sent 3 tracking numbers?
    I immediately called, and was told not to worry, just a bug in the system.

    Well 3 units showed up at my house......lol

    To make a Long story short:
    I had to convince them that I really got 3 units....:confused:

    After 5 days and 4 calls... they were picked up by UPS,
    1 package at a time .... and sent back ... 1st one ... then the other ....

    Thats one heck of a bug! :eek:
    Tony
    Audio Research SP5 Preamp
    Quad 405 Amp
    Pioneer Elite DV-48AV -
    Outlaw 950 preamp/processor
    Polk Monitor 10's
    Velodyne VRP 1200 Sub Woofer

    Success is having what you want ... but Happiness is wanting what you have!
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