Rob, What do you think of your DV-45A?

bubba966 · « **on:** 27 Dec 2002, 07:08 am »

Wondering what you think of it overall. Playback quality, build quality, etc.

A friend of mine had me looking for a CD/SACD/DVD-A player with built-in DTS & DD decoders that doesn't cost a fortune. And the DV-45A is the best fitting player I could find.

I've not looked at them much at my local shop (I'm usually looking at either the DV-38A or DV-AX10) and you're the only one I know that's got one.

And what've you used in the past as far as CD & DVD players go?

Mathew_M · « **Reply #1 on:** 27 Dec 2002, 04:15 pm »

This player is at the top of my list too. I really just want it for the DVD-A/SACD abilitys. Didn't they just upgrade it to the 45Ai or something with improved SACD output. Another cool thing is the firewire output. Unfortunately there are very few pres/recievers that accept this. This would be the perfect opportunity to actually go to circuit city to demo. But I be a million bucks that they wouldn't have it setup properly.

bubba966 · « **Reply #2 on:** 27 Dec 2002, 07:08 pm »

Mathew,

It was the DV-47A that got upgraded to the 47Ai. THe DV-45A was released about the same time as the 47Ai was. And from what I can tell it's close to the same unit with a few exceptions.

The 45A has no digital SACD/DVD-A out, the 47Ai does. The 47Ai also supposedly has better video processing than the 45A does. THere might be another small difference or two, but those are the two main ones that I'm aware of.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #3 on:** 28 Dec 2002, 03:24 am »

As you probably know, Brian, the Plus Piano has a Sil 503 double/deinterlacer built in, so I really can't speak as to the quality of the prog scan output, but the regular interlaced output via the component outs is outstanding.

I must reluctantly qualify my opinion on the SACD playback by saying I just don't have a lot of software to compare. It certainly holds it's own against any Sony I've heard (drop the flamethrowers, everyone, I haven't heard the top ES models so I'm not including them). Certainly the DVD-A playback is superb, as good as I've heard. One caveat, though: the volume of the analog outs is a tad low, meaning a passive preamp probably wouldn't work too well. Of course, in mathematical terms this means there are players w/better SN ratios, but even at high gain levels I can't hear any noise whater, so this "flaw" may be very theoretical.

I'll add more of my subjective opinions as more decent software becomes available. I've seen Satriani's "Strange Beautiful Music" advertised for SACD, but it's spec order and I haven't had the patience to track it down.

It's supposed to play MP3, too, but I've never downloaded any stuff in my life and I've never actually had a disc w/MP3 on it. The X-Box, of course, encodes MP3 for storage on the hard drive, but it's the only real use I've had for the format. I do think it would be cool for parties or in the car, but I don't forsee much use for that ability at home.

I've never played a CD thru it yet (

), but playback of DTS CDs is excellent.

I posted on the Modwright 'circle' about the odds of getting the Elite modded, but I haven't checked yet to see if there's a reply.

All in all I'm really delighted with mine.

Jay S · « **Reply #4 on:** 28 Dec 2002, 11:04 am »

Thanks for the initial impressions! I'm sure we'll look forward to your views on cd playback down the road.

I am very interested in buying a universal player so that I can reduce the number of components that I have. That being said, my targets are high -- it should equal (or very nearly equal) my Cary 303/100 as a standalone player OR as a transport when mated to my MENSA DI/O. I would be open to having the player modded.

Others that I am considering (besides the Pio 47Ai and 45) are the new Yamaha and Onkyo universal players. At this point, with very few impressions posted, the Yamaha seems to have the edge over the Onkyo; not sure how it stacks vs the Pioneer. If I am willing to give up DVD-A, then the Philips 963SA seems to be a strong contender.

bubba966 · « **Reply #5 on:** 28 Dec 2002, 08:33 pm »

I seriously doubt that the doubler in the 45A is as good as the one in your Plus. For some reason Pioneer hasn't really gotten that down very well yet.

Good to hear that you are liking it. But you didn't mention the build of it. Is it fairly sturdy? I know it's not like Pioneer's heavy duty machines (DV-09, DV-38A, DV-AX10), but I'm more interested to know if it's done much better than their entry level units. But I guess I've had my DV-333 (bottom of the line at the time) for 2 1/2 years now & it still runs fine. And I think Pioneer only ever really had build problems on two units, the replacement for the DV-333 which I think was the DV-343, and the progressive version which should've been the DV-444. They put bad transports in those, which was solved in the next model player (DV-440).

As far as having DanW mod your 45A, I don't see why he couldn't do his transport & Bybee mods. As well as a few video circutry mods. I'd asked about him modding my 333 for HT use and he'd suggested Level 1 transport mods, 3 Bybee's, video circuit mods, and could change the component jacks to Cardas GRFA's.

Jay S · « **Reply #6 on:** 29 Dec 2002, 11:14 am »

Ric Shultz (of EVS) has released his mods for the 45A/47Ai!! Here's what he says on his website (www.tweakaudio.com):

"The Pioneer 45A and 47Ai can be modded to sound quite wonderful. In fact, they are so transparent, that I have decided not to mod several other players because they do not give as good as sound and are not as reliable as these Pioneers. The transport mechanism on these machines seems bulletproof. Have not heard of a single person saying they have had trouble with reading any disc with these machines or have not seen a post where one has had a problem."

You can find this, plus the list of mods performed, at: http://www.tweakaudio.com/Pioneer%2045A-47Ai.html

This is great news! I'm sure that others will offer their own mods as well if the Pioneer is as good as Ric says it is.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #7 on:** 30 Dec 2002, 04:10 am »

The build quality is pretty good at the price. I will certainly post more impressions when I get a chance to listen to music more with it. Certainly it would make a good transport.

I am pretty interested in getting it modded, maybe a little ways down the road. The holidays have me a little strapped, and I've got a few projects ahead of this.

Brian, I don't have any way to bypass the internal processor of the Plus, but I can't really complain about the performance. It does exhibit a little flakiness on regular cable if the signal is bad; the process sometimes can't tell what to make of it and you get some strange things. However, with a decent signal the picture is fantastic.

Jay S · « **Reply #8 on:** 30 Dec 2002, 09:36 am »

Glad to hear that it seems like it will be a good transport. If you are able to do some comparisons, let us know.

Most of Ric Shultz' mods (5 out of 7 steps) relate to cleaning up the power supply. Does this indicate that the 45A/47Ai would benefit greatly from a good power filter (e.g. the DeZoral)? While the power filter may be a good substitute for the PS mods (to some extent), they admittedly won't replace upgrading/simplifying the output stage and dampening the transport.

Rob, is your 45A multivolt, e.g. can it be plugged into 220v (either by flipping a switch or through autovolt).