Pioneer Elite DV-79AVi DVD Player

I bought Pioneer Elite DV-79AVi DVD Player 1 month ago and I was impressed of picture quality when disk plays thru this device.
When I live in Europe I had the simular device Pioneer DV-868AVi but Pioneer Elite DV-79AVi shows me really amazing picture and sound quality.
If you want to see all of this device features you need to connect it to Audio/Video equipment with the simular class of it.
I'm using 52" LCD TV and Pioneer VSX-84TSX receiver and quality is real exciting
Especially I want to notice a crystal clear sound of DVD-Audio ans SACD disks if those played on this device.

Perfect DVD player
Perfect SACD player
Perfect CD audio player
Perfect DVD-Audio player

A++++++++

I recommend this device to everyone who can spend money for expensive audio/video outputs for this player.

I like this dvd player because it plays all formats,therefore you do not have to try to purchase different dvd players to play different formats of discs or cd's. I dicided to buy it because it offers the best in quality and pioneer has a reputation for good long lasting products. I really like shopping on ebay and where else could i have found a deal as good as this in other retailers. Ebay not only offer a wide variety of products to choose from but most of the time low,low prices. The only thing i do not like about shopping on ebay is sometimes the sellers overprice the shipping. For example there has been times where the item i was buying cost less than the shipping and most times the item did not weigh that much. Otherwise i do enjoy shopping on ebay and it is my most favorable place to shop than other retailers. Only the shipping on some items on ebay is just too expensive. Believe it or not where on the planet could i have gotten a Pioneer top of the line dvd player as low than ebay.

Now is a good time to buy a higher end universal player if you are interested in the sound of SACD and DVD-A. Many people are selling their lightly used players to buy a blue ray or high def player. When reading the reviews of these players the emphasis seems to be on the picture quality. In this case I am interested in the sound quality. I have an Oppo 981. the Pioneer DV-79 is a full notch up in terms of sound quality. Things that can't be measured like reverb decay, image size, and bass slam were all an improvement. What surprised me was that the sound from red book CDs (the Pioneer has legato link and upsampling) was superior through the analogue outputs than through the digital output to my Sherwood Newcastle reciever. This is a solidly built player that will last for many years. The one achilles heel of this player is that it only upsamples the video to 1080 i. I will use the Oppo for video, the Pioneer for sound.

After having my extremely fine Onkyo DV CP1000 universal player develop a problem and getting it overhauled and fine tuned, I decided I didn't want to go without a higher-end player in the meantime, so found a Pioneer Elite DV-79AVi for a really good price on eBay and snatched it, since it is a same-year match for my Elite reciever anyway (don't kid youself, cosmetics do count, and it is a sharp-looking piece of equipment). What surprised me is that at half the MSRP of the Onkyo (and considering the Onkyo's legendary status) how well the DV-79AVi fills its shoes and, in some ways, outdoes it. This player is extremely easy to set up and use and the sound quality is right up there on a par with the Onkyo, sometimes surpassing it in certain subtle ways that are extremely pleasing. For instance, there is a more intimate feeling with SACDs, especially those of the 5.1 channel variety. I'm hearing things I had not heard before! (I know, everybody says that, but this is a comparison among relative equals, and it is pretty surprising). Detail is exquisite, and the picture it passes, at 1080i, looks pretty near HD if not Blu Ray quality. It's certainly enough to make these old eyes very happy, that "Looking through a windodw" quality one used to hear about when HD first arrived.

With iLink this machine mates up well with the receiver and as I have a lot invested in SACDs, this makes a significant difference. But even with Redbook CDs, especially Japanese DSD remasters, the sound is just outstanding. I'm a happy camper.

To say the Pioneer is at least even with the Onkyo,which retailed for twice the pice new, is to damn with faint praise. Either machine is fantastic, but the ease of setup and operation of the Pioneer certainly makes it a contender for Best Buy in the mid-to-high price range, and beyond this you've likely reached the point of diminishing returns anyway. I could hardly be more pleased. Plus, as I said, it looks really nice -- and matches the Kuro finish of my Elite reciever. Life is good. :)