"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"ric" wrote in message

Arny Krueger wrote:

You can easily get one that is just as good new, for the
price of the laser assembly.

A player as good as the XA7ES for $160 USD? Which one,
praytell?

I have a Pioneer DV-563A which is I believe the predecessor
of Stewart's Pioneer DV-575A which is approximated by the
Pioneer DV-578A outside the UK.

Harry Lavo recommended the DV-563 to RAHE readers, so how
bad can it be? Of course, later on Harry dis-recommended it
for questioanble reasons, but consistency isn't one of
Harry's primary traits.

Sound and Vision gave the DV-563A a good review, and that
appears to be about the time the golden ears turned against
it.

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/ass...2003135639.pdf


Actually, no, Arny. I never owned or auditioned the 563a. But I did
recommend the 578 immediately after it came out. I think for it's price it
is head and shoulders above it's similarly priced competition in sound
quality. Interesting that the editors of The Perfect Vision just picked it
for their lowest priced recommended system as the one to buy "if sound
quality is your primary emphasis".

However, it's value varies by format. It is a very decent CD player. It is
an exceptional DVD-A player at it's price point. And it is a mediocre SACD
player. It's main shortcoming is that it doesn't reveal ambience the way
better players do. In other words, it lacks the ultimate transparency that
better players have.

But is it as good, say as a Sony XA9000ES? No way. Even my C222ES reveals
a more natural sound and ambience on CD and SACD, and when output through my
DTI Pro/Proceed DAC combo, both stand-alone units come up short on CD.

And BTW Arny, I don't recall ever changing my opinion on this in RAHE. I
did however change my opinion on the cheapy Panasonic I had previously
brought to the group's attention. And that was in part based on poor video
performance. Perhaps you are confusing the two.

And for what it is worth, my recommendation to the group pre-dated any
written review of the 578. I bought it when shopping for a good DVD-A
player, and decided that there wasn't enought sound difference given the
uncertainty about DVD-A's future to justify the Arcam DV79, which is a
superb DVD-A machine. I bought it based on my ears. And I continue to
recommend it as a low-cost unit, no matter what mag or online review agrees
or disagrees with me (although it is always nice when a consensus builds
behind you).