Pioneer Elite DV-79AVi

I hope they don't gouge prices on the silver edition. I might get one of those.

Does anyone know what is different between the 79AVI and the existing 59AVi?

I'm curious if there is any reason to sell the 59 and move to the 79, at this point it doesn't look like it.

fray, in general, there are pretty marginal differences between one year's model and the next when it comes to electronics. IMO, it's not worth upgrading unless there is a huge difference (such as fixing a known problem or adding a significant feature, such as upscaling, none of which apply in this case).

AlieniceT, having read many of your excellent posts, just how many DVD players do you have??

Count me in as excited, especially about cutting the MSRP almost in half. The 59 is ridiculous at $1,600 MSRP, the 79 is a more palatable $1,000. I'm betting street pricing will be very close between the 2. I am interested in seeing what the blowout pricing will be on the 59 , might have to snag another one.

"Market price." I take market price as being the street price. MSRP might be higher. We'll see I guess!

To me it looks like a step down. The DV-59AVi has better Video DACs.

Thanks for the compliment, BillP. At the moment, I have 14. Half of them are in use in three rooms (One R1 and one region-free per room). I genuinely enjoy comparing players and I am always searching for the model that has "everything", which means everything I want in a machine. At the moment, the 59AVi is the closest to my ideal, being the primary player in my main HT.

I watch a lot of movies, and honestly unless we are talking about players built like tanks, I don't have a lot of faith in current player longevity under constant use. None of my players have a lot of hours on them. I have a Panny XP-30 with less than 30 hours on it. Outstanding machine, but I was using a Denon DVD-1600 as my main player for its' DVD-Audio when I got the XP-30. Now it's in storage. I have two RP-62's I got off eBay from people who needed cash. They were silly cheap. With the latest firmware, their PQ is better than ever, and they now support DVD+R and DVD+R DL, which is very nice. I was going to sell them, but now I don't know. I hook up my friends with some good machines when I run out of room, but more frequently they solicit my advice based on my findings. If you haven't had first hand experience with a machine, you're just spreading propaganda in my opinion.

I'm thinking of building a DVD Player Hall of Fame, and the 79AVi 20th Anniversary Limited Edition Silver model would make a nice addition.


I agree, Kevin. I'm thinking Pioneer will have no problem moving the 79AVi at the "market" price. $1,000.00 from an authorized dealer is still an attractive price compared to the Denon 5910 or the Onkyo SP1000. Look at the new Sony DVP-NS9100ES at $1,299.00 MSRP, which does not do 480i over HDMI or support DVD-Audio.

It's so funny seeing people speculating on the net...

I have the 79avi since 2 weeks already, and it's simply better then my 59avi in all aspects, on both the video and audio sides.

480i over HDMI "direct", faster layer change, no more CUE bug, better audio, better build quality...

A step down.. Come on! You have to compare them both side-by-side to really appreciate the differences. The 79avi is a better machine.

You can speculate all you want, but I have both...

LEVESQUE,
Agreed. You know where I stand.

I'm not speculating about the DV-79Avi Video DACs. The DV-59AVi are 216Mhz/14bit opposed to the DV-79AVi 108Mhz/14bit. Of course, this is important for those who will use the analog video outputs. It's totally irrelevant for the HDMI users.

The truth is its performance as you correctly stated. And the DV-59AVi was a good player for under the $2,000 range. It's one of the few players capable of bringing real detail from hi res disc when I compared with the Marantz SA8260 SACD dedicated player (which I own) and the Denon 5900 (which I borrowed). I know the DV-79AVi audio was fine tuned at Air Studios. But the difference is that dramatic?

How come did you get one if it's suppose to be released on November? It's not even listed in the Pioneer Canadian Website?

Pioneer is already providing "demo" units for reviewers...

Well, since it's official now, could someone post a pic of the thing? I'm surprised they didn't include one with the press release. Or did I miss something?

Woohoo, silver!

Pix, and some more info in this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post5892613

One thing Levesque left out that potentially shows the difference between the 59AVi and the new machine:

59AVi: 12 lbs
79AVi: 20 lbs

Weight isn't everything, but I personally expect the new machine to have an upgrade in sound quality through it's DACs.

I think those duel transformers will give a good jump in audio and video performance to the 79Avi. I also like the pure digital bypass, that will send an unprocessed video single out of the player (like SDI), perfect for an external scalar.

I'll bet you good money that with all else equal, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the 2 sets of video DACs at 480i/p into any display of your choice.

larry

Larry,
I agree. For component 480i/p out, there have been few players out there that could match the Panasonic RP82/XP30/50 for a few years now. And that player uses 10-bit/54Mhz DAC's to get the job done. The mpeg decoder and deinterlacing processor are every bit as important as the video DAC's.

Yes. My main point to HiRes was that specs aren't everthing. They use the newer DACs because that's what's commonly available now and they probably know that some people obsess over specs.

larry

PooperScooper,

I agree with you that specs aren't everything. However, Pioneer Elite always replace their products with something "better" from the previous efforts. The Analog Devices AD7314 it's still at the top of the line and their most expensive consumer Video DAC ($57.42 for quantities over 1000 units). And as I said before, if you go with HDMI, the internal Video DAC won't be used so it won't be an issue.

Bringing the price point of the top of the line universal player from $1,600 to a mere $1,000 doesn't sound logical to me. Nevertheless, I'll wait for a serious & competent review before I decide to get one to replace or just complement my DV-59AVi.

Why not?

HiDef-DVD is right around the corner, how many people are going to want a flagship DVD player this late in the game? I think it's smart, it's time to update the 59Avi but offer it at a respectable price for those that are going to hold off a little bit for Hidef-DVD. Offering an $2000.00+ DVD player now could be like shooting your self in the foot.

I'm not too worried about DAC's for legacy outputs. I'm HDMI all the way and at that street price I'm going jump on it for my HD+.

It's good to hear audio is better than the 59avi.

Lev,
How does the deinterlacing compare to Si504 in the HD+? I love to see it improve video deinterlacing to compete with Faroudja.
Does it have TA for SACD?
Is there an adjustable crossover for BM?

That's exactly what Denon did as well, coming out with the 3910, which is as good as the 5900 for video, at a much lower price. With HD coming out next year, it is a wise strategy.

How does the 480i over HDMI "direct" compare to 480i over HDMI of the 59AVi?

I have very interested in this feature to feed a DVDO iSCAN VP30...

The japanese version is named DV-AX5AVi and the MSRP is only a hair more than 969AVi ... seems to suggest another flagship ...

De-interlacing is not alot better then the 59avi, but CUE bug seems to be eliminate, or at least filtered (I can't have a definitive answer from Pioneer on that). They say "no CUE bug anymore", but we can't find the MPEG decoder name and number precisely for now. PQ seems a bit better when direct (480p, 720p) to my projector (w/o the IScan). Sharper, popping colors.

I did try some Disney titles (Monster Inc, Toy Story) and CUE seems to be a thing of the past now.

No TA for SACD and no adjustable crossover. Just like the 59avi.

480i HDMI "Direct" to the IScan HD+ is better then when using the 59avi. But we are splitting hair here... I have a 110" screen and you have to be looking for ringing to really see it with the 59avi... 79avi is better on that part.

But if you don't want to spend $$$ on SDI, you need HDMI 1.1, or a better analog audio, then the 79avi is the way to go over the 59avi. Or else, there is no need to "upgrade".

If build quality is important to you, then the 79avi is way better in that regard. Bigger, sturdy, heavier.

79avi: http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501...20_Medium_.JPG

So the layer change is "improved", but still evident? This is my main complaint with my 59.

Could you please explain what those 2 things mean? Thank you!

It's "improved", but it's still there. It's not the Denon 2900...

Hello Welly Wu

Saw you over at Audiocircles. How does your modwright sound since you
got it back from Dan. What mods did you get?

Thanks

Jim