I hooked up the Bel Canto PL-1A to a TV in order to reset its defaults. I then disconnected the TV for the measurements, relying on the front-panel display. The maximum output level at 1kHz was the same for CD and DVD playback, at 2.13V from both the balanced and unbalanced output jacks. It was 1.5dB lower for SACD playback, however, which will be very audible in direct comparisons. Absolute polarity was preserved for all three media, and the source impedance was a low 20.5 ohms from the unbalanced jacks and twice that from the balanced XLRs, as expected. Error…
search
When we reviewed Pioneer's flagship Elite DV-09 DVD player in our September 1998 issue, it blew us away so much that it garnered an Editors' Choice award (see the February 1999 issue) as the best DVD player we had reviewed up to that time. This opinion has not changed in the intervening months, but at $2000, the DV-09 is more than many home-theater fans can afford (or justify) for a DVD player. The Elite DV-05, introduced earlier this year, provides many of the features and most of performance capabilities of the DV-09 at a more affordable price.
As of this writing, the DV-05 is…
Setup of the DV-05 is straightforward, with one exception: To access all parts of the setup menu, you must first insert a disc, start it playing, press Stop, then enter the menu with the DVD still in the player. This puzzling procedure is standard on all current and past Pioneer DVD players. It's briefly addressed in the manual but easy to miss.
In Action
The Pioneer Elite DV-09, with its massive 35-pound chassis, feels as if it could survive a killer asteroid strike, and maybe even whip that sucker around and send it back where it came from. On the other hand, the DV-05 weighs in…
In its downconversion of anamorphic DVDs to a standard letterbox for playback on a conventional 4:3 set, the DV-05 is about average in performance. It neither softens the image so much that it completely eliminates downconversion artifacts nor sharpens it enough to make them glaringly apparent. Its performance in this respect is good but not particularly amazing. (For more on this, see the "Comparisons" sidebar.)
The DV-05's S-video performance (also briefly discussed in the sidebar) is first-rate on a good television. However, its quality depends more on the television with which it is…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Elite DV-05: DVD/CD/Video CD player
Digital frequency response: 4Hz-44kHz (DVD, 96kHz sampling rate)
Digital audio S/N: 115dB
Digital audio dynamic range: 103dB
Digital total harmonic distortion: 0.002%
Digital audio outputs: TosLink optical, coaxial (both: PCM, Dolby Digital, DTS)
Analog audio outputs: L/R stereo (2 pairs)
Video outputs: composite (2), S-video (2), component: Y, Cr (R-Y), Cb (B-Y)
Dimensions: 16.6" by 4" by 11.3" (W by H by D)
Weight: 6.1 lbs.
Price: $1000
Manufacturer: Pioneer Electronics (USA), 2265 East 220th…
Sidebar 2: Comparisons
We aren't always able to directly compare competing products, which requires having the units on hand and the time to do it. However, along with the Pioneer Elite DV-05, I also had the Toshiba SD-9000 (see review elsewhere in this issue) and the Sony DVP-S7700 (reviewed in June 1999). These are three great machines. The one you choose should be based on your own individual weighting of their strengths and weaknesses. Here's a summary of what I found.
Image Quality: (DVDs played with full native resolution, including anamorphic DVDs properly unsqueezed on a…
Sidebar 3: Review System
Home Theater
Display: Toshiba TW40H80 40" RPTV, Runco DTV-1100 video projector, Stewart StudioTek 130 projection screen (78" wide, 16:9, 1.3 gain)
Preamps/Processors: Proceed AVP surround processor, Meridian 861 surround processor, Faroudja VP400A video processor/quadrupler
Power Amps: Proceed AMP 5, Parasound HCA-3500 (for subwoofer)
Speakers: Snell surround system: XA 90ps, XA 55cr, SR30mp, Whise Profunder 624 subwoofer
Cables: Madrigal CZ-Gel, XLO VDO audio interconnects, speaker cables, Kimber AGDL digital cables, AudioQuest component, RGB…
BOB DYLAN: The Bootleg Series, Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased, 1961-1991) Columbia C3K 47382 (3 CDs only). Jeff Rosen, prod.; Mark Wilder, Tim Geelan, Josh Abbey, Jim Ball, engs. AAD. TT: 3:50:52
You keep hoping. You buy his albums, even if you feel more like a sucker after each one. You read the occasional interview and marvel at his hermetic self-involvement, clench your fists at his maddening determination to never give a straight answer---one of the very things you once loved most about him. Every once in a few years you see him on TV, and in his eyes is nothing but pain that's…
Inside the museums, the jury has finally returned its verdict, infinity has been found guilty, and you begin to suspect yourself of reducing what was the most dangerously exciting, inspired time of your life to mere nostalgia. Sometimes it's just too painful to listen to the music anymore; besides, no one else seems to care. "Oh, yeah, I was all idealistic and everything back in the '60s. I liked Dylan's early stuff...hey, is he still a Jesus freak?" But you knew these people back then. You remember how important Dylan was to them. You remember 20 people sitting in total silence on someone's…
Well, Dylan seems to have saved most of his for the '70s and '80s---throughout the '60s, he was inevitably on. The Bootleg Series bears this out: 36 of the 58 tracks cover a mere six years, 1961-67; Vol.1 covers only 1961-63. It's indicative of Dylan's incredible creativity during this time that, during his three-year publishing contract with Witmark (1962-65), he logged 237 compositions. Nor were these endless revisions of the same three basic folk songs. What The Bootleg Series overwhelmingly showcases is Dylan's incredible variety---of vocal styles, song structure, lyric style, melodies,…