I owned a Meridian $4300.00 CD player that was a decent enough player , but broke down after moderate hours of usage. I sent it for repair and it came back and worked fine.An audiophile engineer came by for a visit and we turned the unit off to move equipment , and the Meridian would not power back on...at all. Luckily it was able to be fixed under warranty, and I quickly sold the piece.It was then that I began my search for another CD player.
I belonged to a very exclusive audio club, and one member said that he always liked the warm, analog sound of the Elite PD65. I was able to find a mint used one on Ebay for $350.00. I had an IEC outlet installed , dampening material put under the top of the player... and at that time someone was selling an inexpensive mod for for the PD65.It was some caps and other little wires that came in the kit for $12.00 on Ebay(I am not a technical guy,sorry).
This player is by far the best CD player I have heard.You can play it all day and never tire of the sound.It is like an LP, warm , with the right amount of natural detail.I run it through Fritz Carbon 7 speakers, Conrad J. PV11 pre, Conrad SS amp 2300, Marlin Logan Grotto sub and Gutwire speaker cables and interconnects. My system tends to lean on the warm side, how I like it. I could care less about all the detail, that in the end starts to get rather bright and causes one to turn off their system.
The Pioneer Elite PD65 is by far the best STEAL on the market.They pop up on Ebay once in a while and are awesome! They are more pleasing than any $2000.00 - $4000.00 player out there.Grab one when you can, you will love it!!!!!

- Very well built and sensibly engineered by people who knew what they were doing.
- Great channel separation wich produces a well defined soundstage.
- Tonally evenly balanced and musically engaging. Has a 'see through' quality.
- Great transport, two separate DAC's for each channel, everything copper shielded
and two dedicated power supplies, great looks and construction.
- Legato Link is actually a very well thought out system of controlling that 'digital'
sound. I think it works, though probably not in every other Pioneer player...

Bass is a tad lean, but very honest and very controlled, never overblown. It's there when it's there...
And it really helps to upgrade the standard powercord and to use good interconnects. Both silver based makes the PD-65 really sing.
Of course not everythings 'works', depending on your system. Always try before you buy...even if it comes cheap(er).

II've been using my HK DVD-25 as a CD player for a number of years, because it sounded so much better than all my budget CD-players that preceded it. So when I saw an add of the local hifi shop of the Rotel RCD-971 for only 249 Euro, I decided to go back to dedicated two channel hifi and to purchase this gloriously reviewed CD-player.

The salesman and owner of the shop however, recommended this 2nd hand Pioneer PD-S901 (European PD-65 without sidepanels), he had laying about wich was modified with a silver powercord and a few minor silver-solder touch-ups as well. So I tried it at home and was completely blown away by the sound of wich it produced.

A few days later I tried the Rotel RCD 971 and just couldn't listen to it for more than 5 minutes. I've had trouble believing the difference of these two players. I didn't even knew it was possible...

I think the HK DVD-25 to be a wonderful CD-player and regard it as a truly secret hifi gem, but the Pioneer really eclipsed it by some margin and is uncomparible with any other dedicated CDP I've ever had. I don't believe in Black hifi Magic, but I do believe in solid engineering. As a producer/sound engineer with 13 years of experience, I know true sound when I hear it and the PD-S901/PD-65 really delivers.

It's now 2006 and this player's been produced in 1992. This confirms my belief that companies (in general, as a whole, not just hifi) don't produce goods to make things better, but how to produce it more cheaply and still keep it acceptablly good in order to keep making profits). This product however excells and is definitely produced and engineered by people who knew - and listened(!) to - what they were doing. Buy without hesitation when you see one. They're dead cheap now. (But really become harder and harder to get) You'll never be wanting for anything else. I can even see prices going up again as years go by...as it's so special.

I use it in the following configuration:
- Luxman LV-107u int. amp.
- Harbeth speakers and two Harbeth subs
- Ocos LS-cable
- handmade silver interconnects (by the shop I bought the CDP from)

Relaxed sounding no listner will get the tired listing to this player. A true topmodel player you can hear that compared to other lower platters. The build is as tough as it gets like a leopard tank.Copper inside casing great lookt 12kg heavy just marvelous.

you will laugh...................................................No standby rofl

This is a review about the brother,The Pioneer pd-75 reference (in america the use ELITE) same player. I had before a sphinx project nine, and after that a much cheaper pioneer pds507 high bit legatolink. This is my second platter i bought and it will be the last unless i can buy de XTREME rare pds95. What a great player this is people, the looks are fantastic. In my country the are very rare on the secondhand market so the soon i saw one i had to have it. The sound is very relaxed and very dynamic. Ubelieveable you will not hear any notes that will crack your skull open. Like the man above said it sounds like a record without de dust and speckels lol. Iff you see one BUY it...just buy it and even iff you have a high-end player. The sphinx i had cost about 3000euro back then. The pd75 plays the crap out of that one!!

Similar Products Used:

My current setup Pioneer vsx1011d 7.1 receiver Pioneer Pd-75 elite Denon dv2800mkII dvdplayer Vincent Hybrid poweramp sp331 Scanspeak eVe final II fronts Magnepans smg modified filters

Warm sound not bright or abrasive, can listen to for hours.Pioneer needs to start making them agin.

none in this price range

I purchased this player on ebay,after reading several reviews on it.If you find one grab it as they are hard to come by.Very warm sound, excellent range and a good match to my jamo 707i speakers.

Stable Platter Mechanism (of course) Warmth Detail etc!

I want my Stable Platter Mechanism!

Each review is a personal opinion and should not be considered absolute in its declarations. My review is no different. These are my observations of the Pioneer Elite PD-65 CD Player. When the '65 first came out I noticed that it was the CD player of choice in many High End Auditioning Rooms. I was always impressed with how it sounded in every system. Finally, I bought a demo (1yr old) in perfect condition and full warranty from a dealer. The unit was fully broken in. Similar to many other reviews I found the player warm, detailed, with above average soundstaging. Now the really good part. This player plays every CD I own. Including my most defective disks. I own more than 500 CDs and everyone of them plays perfectly. No other player I have owned (Denon, Philips, Sony, Marantz) can do this. There is always one or two discs that are unplayable for one reason or another. Not on the PD-65. Hello...Stable Platter Mechanism! The big answer: The disk is fully supported on the Platter (Just like a Record!). Other transports "Float" the disk using a disk clamp. With Floating Disks you will ALWAYS have some WOBBLE. NO WOBBLE with SPM! So my question is; Since they figured out the best transport for CD's (why not DVD's), WHY DID THEY DISCONTINUE THE STABLE PLATTER MECHANISM. Maybe Pioneer will read this and tell us All the reason!

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer PD-59 (with, you guessed it, SPM)

Smooth, no digital hardness or glare. Liquid presentation. Great sound!

Being a vinyl oriented listener I can't listen to CDs for long before getting fatigued by the brittleness of CD sound. Well, in search of a more analog sound I sold my Classe CDP .5 to finance the "upgrade" to an MSB Link DAC III Full Nelson with upsampling and HDCD, Monarchy DIP and transport. Sounds weird, huh? Adding MORE digital stuff in search of more analog? Looking around for an inexpensive transport I found and couple of Rega Planets for around $400 and a Pioneer PD-65 for $340 and read these reviews about how great it is. I bought the Pioneer because I was curious about the legato link. Well, tonight I took out the Classe and hooked up the Pioneer. My DAC and DIP won't get here for another 3-4 days and now I'm actually wondering if I will need them. In all honesty, the Pioneer is a clear upgrade from the Classe. The music is so warm, smooth and much closer to the liquidity of analog than the Classe. I don't think that it's imaging is on par with the Classe, which imaged with razor sharp edges, but I really don't care. In fact this sounds more like music and less like a bunch of clearly dilineated instruments and a voice floating center stage. The MSB DAC and Monarchy DIP are going to have to really wow me to stay in my system. The Pioneer sounds so good in my system that I could easily sell the DAC and DIP for what I paid and used the money for more CDs - which I actually feel like I can listen to again.

Similar Products Used:

Classe CDP .5 Rega Planet 2000 NAD C540 + MSB Link DAC I

Musical,never tiring,not sensitive to equipment matching.

CONTROLLER ..better use a all in one controller since the supply one is going into the garbage can..useless

Paid $300us for a mint condition PD 65 and its truly the "best value" for any front end I've ever bought.

Great in every area of the musical spectrum. Very well built.

None!

Wow! The Pioneer Elite PD 65 is an awesome cd player/transport. The stable platter design almost makes jitter and vibrations vanish. The soung stage is huge, imaging is fantastic, warm sweet clear highs, smooth mids, solid bass. This is a very nice unit. Much better sound than any sub $2,000 player on the market. You must have other high-end equipment with this player.

Similar Products Used:

Denon 1650, Sony ES, Theta Pearl

warm signature,great presence,wide and deep soundstaging,imaging.

sensitive to equipment matching,cheap,cheapo controller

What more can you say about a "mainstream" audio manufacture that designs a unique intergrated CD player that even impresses the jaded audiophiles and even now after many,many years this CD player can be seen and heard in many audio listeners sound room as a reference player.I won't go into technical explanations regarding the excpetional parts quality of this player but provide a subjective opinion about the soundstaging strengths and weakness of this unit. :negative..controller is very low end,from the feel of the controller it self to the design of the unit,its apparent that the controller was an afterthought,the PD 65 is very sensitive to equipment matching,try not to use equipment that is overly bright and rolls the highs too early or you will get a congested upper half with this player.CD menus on this player needs a more visible readings,its hard to tell which settings your on. Positives:I matched this player with my Quads ESL II,Audio Research classic 60 and the SP 14 pre amp.All connected with the fab Nordost cables conditioned by the PS Audio 600 conditioner.I use to own the merdian 509 player until it malfunction and was sent to audio heaven,at that time the Meridian was my reference player,always musical,very smooth,great soundstage,voices were silky,instruments were "real"..I came across the PD 65 by accident,its was playing in a Martin Logan sound room at the local audio store,its was runned without a dedicated D/A converter thru some very expensive equipment and sounded incredible.When I saw it was a PIONEER driving these "audiophile" equipment I was stunned.The sound was precise,detailed images,artist placements was correct,expansive width and depth soundstage,could had a little better extension but I think it had to do with the ML Quest rather than the player.I bought the unit ASAP since it was an consignment piece and dropped it into my "British set up".The sound even opened up even more with my QuadsII,the sound was laid-back but was fleshed out more than any sub $2000 players I've heard.Considering the price I paid and the quality of the unit this is my best audio purchase I've ever made,the PD 65 still is my reference player,I experimented with the Sonic Frontiers,and low end Krells,and the Linn's but the Pioneer still is in my system.Hell of a player!!!

Similar Products Used:

Krell,Sonic Frontier,Linn,Meridian

Warmth Warmth Non-Fatiguing Live "there" sound Quality build an weight

Soundstage not as good much more expensive models

I was first "turned on" to this unit in the early 1990''s when looking for a warm CD player - I audiotioned it but did not buy due to coming into contact with a Musical Concepts Epoch I which had equal dynamics but less warmth, I also was able to pay half the price! 5 years later after struggling with brightness in my system and blaming the preamp, cabling I auditioned other Pre-Amps with less betterment in sound compared to my Threshold - Thus I decided to purchase the PD-65 used from audiogon since it was now older and very affordable (from an Audiophile standpoint) - Well to my surprise the brightness subsided and I was able to listen to CD''s that were to bright before - The soundstage seemed narrow slightly but the overall "live feel" was mutch more realistec - I have listned to many other players under 2k and still find the PD-65 to offer the best sound for the under 2K price point - This player is the best bet before going SACD or DVD-A - I''ve compared notes with another using the PD-65 player who have gone with the SACD (Sony) and they still found those to be bright (they were still burning it it however) - Even when the 65 has been used with tubed DAC''s (i.e. CAL) it has was still warmest when used as a standalone - I can''t recommended this player more - It has great LP like sound with good dynamics and sound stage - My good review however rests in it''s ability to make me feel like I am in the studio or at the Live Performance - The previus reviews in 2002 I feel are inaccurate and not representative of those who have been aware of this player for many years - My system: HK Citation Sixteen Amp Threshold Fet Two Preamp Totem Model 1 and Theil CS 2.2 Speaker Audioquest type 1 Speaker Cable PBJ interconnect

Similar Products Used:

Proceed Musical Concepts Other "value" "high end" CD-Players