Superb video performance with THX certification, above average CD playback(great for a DVD player) with it's glass lens, easy to use and nice looking as well. Good DAC's with Legato Link can smooth out the highs in bright systems.

Crappy remote, no zoom, light-weight, no HDCD, and a noisy transport can bother some people.

The Pioneer DV-05 is an excellent DVD player if you can find one for under $700. It is definitely NOT worth $1000; however, it beats many DVD players out there that are under $800. I figure that Pioneer added on about $200 for the THX certification. Using the component video outputs, the picture quality is excellent with the DV-05. It has a sharpness control that works well, and the light and dark features are also above average. I'd have to say that this player is top-of-the-line for video unless you are using the new "Progressive Scan Component video."

The transport is noisy but not bad enough for me to worry, yet the remote is cheap and cheesey minus the jog shuttle, which I find to be quite useful.

If you are wanting your DVD player to double as a CD player, and you have a moderate-to-bright sounding system, then the DV-05 will work well. Becase of it's glass lens, it will also work as a transport(most DVD players have a plastic lens.) I'd say that the Pioneer DV-05's analog section sounds better than most DVD players on the market, including the Sony 7700. However, if you are very concerned about flawless CD quality; either buy another machine or do what I have planned and purchase a seperate DAC with HDCD. For about $1000, you could have a Pioneer DV-05 paired with an AMC DAC 8 including the HDCD upgrade.

5 stars ONLY if you find one under $700 shipped from an authorized Pioneer DEALER!

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic A120U, NAD T550, Denon 2500, 3700.

Color reproduction, outputs, CD playback

Remote, should be backlit

Tried both the Denon and the Pioneer, there was absolutely no comparison between them when it came to playing CD music on these two players. Picture and sound on DVDs was wonderful, although similar to the Denon. One noticeable difference is the black level, an area that Pioneer has the edge in.

If you'll never play a CD on your DVD player - I'd recommend the Denon 1500 for the sake of saving some extra money (the DV-05 is a little pricey around $900 comparatively).

Otherwise, if CD playback has any importance to you, I can't recommend the DV-05 any higher in this price range, not enough can be said about the improved CD audio quality from other similar models.

As is often the case with most audio and HT equipment, the remote is a weak point. My solution to this is to recommend the Philips Pronto (http://www.pronto.philips.com) as an all-encompassing remote solution with a reasonable pricetag.

Similar Products Used:

Denon DVD1500

Fantastic picture, excellent sound, easy to use. Remote is very good

Feels incredibly cheap - this unit is lighter than a no-frills cd player

I spent a lot of time narrowing my choice of DVD players by reviewing professional reviews and those of "reliable" users before settling on this unit. It boiled down, essentially to the DV-05, while I considered the DV-09, the Denon 5000 and the Sony 7700. I settled on the Pioneer model over the Sony primarly due to the sense from reviewers that the Sony was yesterday's news. The Denon nearly wooed me, particularly because I was interested in "reference" quality audio as well as video, thus my interest also in the DV-09. However, the following swayed me:

- The DV-09 is a $2000 player, and the only real difference between it and the DV-05 is the amount of shielding and a purported ability to play audio CDs at "near" reference quality. However, critical reviews of its audio characteristics point out that it still didn't outperform or even equal dedicated audio CD players. Since a reference-quality CD player can be had for $1000 - $1200, I couldn't justify spending $1200 more than the $800 price of my DV-05, when I could just go out and buy a dedicated CD player. As far as the reviews were concerned, the DV-05 performed its role as a video player as well as the DV-09.

- The Denon was tempting, too, primarily because of it's CD audio qualities. However, the same bang-for-the-buck argument persisted as far as just going out and buying a dedicated CD player.

I love this player. It's got a great picture, and excellent sound. Until I buy my reference CD player, I am using the Pioneer over my pedestrian 5-disc CD player whenever I want to "listen" to music, and it doesn't dissapoint.

I do have a major gripe, though. When you spend $800 on a piece of serious audio or video gear, especially something as critically acclaimed as this unit, it's deflating and dissapointing to pull it out of the box. I was amazed at how light it is. It was so light, I wasn't sure it had any innards - no kidding. This thing plays like a million bucks, but feels CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP! Shame on you Pioneer! Even some rudimentary shielding and mass would be appreciated, just so we don't feel as though we through our money down the drain in a blind leap of faith.

Beyond that gripe, however, I strongly recommend this player. Unless you've got money to burn, it'd be very hard to justify the cost of a DV-09 or the Denon 5000 over this player and it's THX certified greatness. This is a fantastic player in it's class.

Great video and good cd transport

spinning dvd noise

I am very happy with this unit. The dnr for video can make a huge difference on certain dvds. I would have liked to see dvd audio but that will be on the next purchase. My only problem is the transport noise. It only occures on dvds and is really annoying. I have lined the inside of case with dynamat and it helped and pioneer says there is nothing they can do. Has anyone fixed this problem? e-mail me direct, thanx crusher74@hotmail.com

Similar Products Used:

toshiba, panasonic

Excellent Video; THX Certification; Audio Section is Exceptional; Passes PLUGE

Not built like other Elite components

I have owned this wonderful piece of equipment for 2 months now and I have to say that I am more than satisfied with its performance. The audio section is really what sold me on this unit, as I am more of an audiophile than a videophile. This unit easily sounds better than my Sony CDP-XA20ES CD Player (a $700 unit)!

The video section is oustanding as well. The picture surpasses that of both the Sony and Toshiba mentioned above. Plus, it passes PLUGE to make calibrating your TV or projector's picture easier(using VE or AVIA).

The only dissapointed (and this is very picky) is that the unit in no way feels like it retails for $1000. It weighs a mere 7 pounds and feels very "thin". This is not an indicator of its build quality however. The dealer had a display unit that had a clear cover and this thing is packed full of goodies - 10 bit video, 24/96 audio, and plenty of outputs (2 S-video, 2 Composite, 1 Component).

Again, using a DTS 5.1 Audio CD (Sting's Ten Summoner's Tales) the audio section is simply amazing. It wouldn't surprise me if this unit uses the same audio section as the Elite DV-09 (Can anyone confirm this?).

I highly recommend this player to anyone in the market for a "reference" quality DVD Player around $1000.

5 stars performance/value

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVP-S7700; Toshiba SD9100; Pioneer Elite DV-09

Good Audio/video quality

No Headphone out

Picked up a Pioneer DV-05 @ $610.00 from micshin@hotmail.com, Canada
(look posting @ marketplace) for pioneer DV-05/09
Audio Video. Great DVD Player
Very good sound in DTS and Audio analog only.

No lipsync problems found !!!!!

Thank`s Chi for the very good & friendly customer support!

Wonderful picture quality, ample outputs to suit anyone's home theater setup, THX ultra- it really does make a difference.

Remote is well organized, but not backlit. It's interesting because the player display has a dimmer, but if you turn down the lights you can't see the remote control. Menu system takes a bit of getting used to.

While, I have only had this player for a short time, I am impressed so far. Great color matching.

THX Ultra, Audio DAC, Lifelike & natural picture.

LOUD transport mechanism, remote, LOUD transport mechanism.

I'll make it short and sweet...

Had the player for about a month now and, having paid just $299 for it, I'm thrilled with the peformance. I bought it to replace a Toshiba SD3109, which lacked a lot when it came to regular CD playback (even with HDCD decoding). The DAC on the Pioneer may not be Audiophile, but it can definitley hold it's own against the majority of sub $1,000 CD players out there.

As far as movies go - the picture is incredible. Natural colors and crisp lines. I saw the DV-09 matched against it and could not tell the difference.

The only downsides, and these are genuine, not becuase someone else has written them ;

Remote - Buttons are too small and it is not backlit. Also, in order to use the jog dial, you have to first press the 'jog dial button'. Why?. Waste of time...

Noise - The player's mechanism is LOUD. Annoyingly loud. I could put the player behind a glass door cabinet, but why should I? My CD Walkman is quieter - honest!

When all is said and done - for $300 - It's a no-brainer. But I hope that Pioneer address the noisey transport on future models as it has now been discontinued.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD3109

Extraordinary picture and sound. Control over black levels. Plays DVD, CD, CDR, CDRW, and VCD. True 96/24 digital audio output via coaxial or optical cable. THX Ultra certified.

None.

This DVD player is a remarkable value for the performance it provides. Since Pioneer updated the DV 05 with the DV 37, the DV 05's price has come down precipitously from its original retail price of $1000.

Aside from the strengths mentioned above, I would like to calm the waters a bit about this player. Yes, the player is a bit noisy when inserting or ejecting a DVD, but you have to be about a foot away from the DVD player to hear it. I don't know about you, but I tend to watch DVDs from my couch. I don't hear anything but the movie from there.

I considered the DV 37 largely for the progressive scan capabilities since I am not impressed by faster loading times nor chassis shielding, which apparently the DV 37 offers. With sufficient line conditioning, a DVD player does not need armor plating to correct problems related to jitter.

Ultimately, I wasn't sold on progressive scan. Contrary to what a lot of people say, progressive scan only helps TVs without line doubling technology. If your TV already has line doubling, in most cases, you don't need progressive scan. Even then, there aren't many software titles that really take advantage of progressive scan technology. I have a Pioneer Elite PRO 64" TV with built in line doubling technology and I do not have DVDs that have been created in the 24 frame per second requirement.

I was looking forward to listening to the up sampled Legato Link Hi-Bit DACs on the DV 05. It produced a much softer rounder sound as opposed to the DACs on my receiver (Marantz SR-14EX). Both sounds had merit, but I preferred my receivers DACs a tickle better.

As to poor Kevin, who seems a bit alarmed about the "fraud" that takes place here. Relax. This is a public forum. Nobody promised you the truth here. It is merely a collection of observations.

By your actions you have torpedoed the rating for an otherwise exceptional product. People really interested in getting great value out of a product will really miss out on the greatest closeout of the year, the DV 05! Who's really defrauding audioreview?

Furthermore a keen buyer of a product won't rely on audioreview.com. You have to read up on all the stuff before you buy. Caveat Emptor!

Similar Products Used:

Infamous SONY DVP 530D (lipsynch issue serial no.)

Great picture, nice blacks, and good range of color

drawer opens abit on the wobbly side

I really enjoy this player. Every movie looks good. I have no complaints about the picture whatsoever. I have a 1999 RCA 32" with a S-VHS input, and it even makes the RCA look great. The DA converters using analog RCAs are really good sounding (not with the RCA cables provided - must upgrade, I upgraded to the Monster M series RCA cables) but then I upgraded to digital fiber optic; I then trade that in for a digital coaxial because the digital fiber optic cable added brightness to the sound. Using a digital cable allows for dolby digital 5.1, and my Denon 3300 reciever does a great job of processing the digital data. The remote is as good as any stock remote. The DV-05 could have a little better build to it. The Pioneer DV-09 is really nice build qaulity, but was no where near my budget. So I bought the DV-05. If you look at the Pioneer brochure listing the specs; its really close to the same as the DV-09. If you have a good reciever and television, do yourself a favor and spend a little extra on the Digital coaxial cable (JPS LABS ultra is nice), and a little extra on the S-VHS cable (you won't beleive the picture and sound qaulity with better cables). I highly recommend this player.

Similar Products Used:

rca DVD player