Great picture & sound
Haven't experienced any glitches, even with known trouble discs

Physically lightweight
Noisy disc transport

I've had this player nearly a year (it's my first player) and I've been more than pleased with its performance. Picture quality is really spectacular (it shares video circuitry with the very expensive DV-09). I can't comment on its sound quality as I run the digital out to my Yamaha 995 receiver, which sounds great. (I wonder whether some of the other reviewers realized that the player itself doesn't actually generate the sound if you use the digital output.) To be honest, I have not really seen the lip-synch problems often associated with Pioneer players, even with known problem discs like Austin Powers. Other discs which have given people trouble, for instance The Matrix, play as smooth as silk.

The only problem I've had with this player is the noisy transport, another issue common to Pioneer players. During quiet passages of movies, I can hear the disc spinning. Then again, my theater room is very small (10'x13') and I am only sitting about 6 feet from the player. This is not bad enough to be more than a minor nuisance, anyway.

I only give this unit 4 stars instead of 5 because I haven't used any higher-end players with which to compare it. I notice that a lot of the negative reviews here are due to getting defective units- I'm glad I didn't have that problem, and I recommend to people to give this player a try- if you get a bad one, you can always exchange it! It's worth the extra money over lower-end players if you don't want to deal with some of the issues that those players have.

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Denon D3000

I am sorry that this is not a review. I am looking to buy this unit and I was wondering if anyone can tell me where to find the best price on the web. The best I have found so far is 759 dollars.If anyone knows where I can beat this email me at CRambo2200@aol.com Thanks

Great audio and Video - THX Ultra Certification

none so far

Just wanted to put my 2 cents in.....

I agree with the performance ratings in the other reviews - very pleased.

I'm using a Marantz SR7000, and Paradigm Reference 40's, P. R. C.C., P.R. 20's for surrounds, and PR 15" sub.

HOWEVER......I'm willing to bet that half of the reviews that mentioned the loud mechanism of the player only did so because you read it in a previous review, and went home to see if you could hear it on your own. O.K., yes, it's there, but sheesh....you people have waaaaay too much time on your hands to bother with such minor details.
Anyway...
I could not hear it unless I was less than two feet from the player, and to check my own sanity, I asked several friends to listen for it...and they could not.

Picture, Sound

No Internet Manufacturers Warranty

The unit failed on the second use. The menu could not be accessed and the player would not recognize any DVD. I watched "The Fifth Element" the first nite and through my Vacuum tube preamp and high end system the sound was good and the picture on my Sony XBR Rear Projection TV was good also. The performance was what you should expect at this price. On the second nite it was another story. The DV-05 failed to work 10 mins. into play while trying to access the menu to fast forward or skip to other scenes while previewing a DVD. I tried all the recommended fixes in the manual and called Pioneer. Thinking it was a Glitch in the processor, they recommended unplugging the unit for two days and retrying. This did not work. After being transferred to Pioneer Warranty I was advised that the player was not under Manufacturers warranty because I bought it on the Internet at LetsGoDigital. Needless to say I had a long conversation with the supervisor expressing my displeasure at this policy. When one considers Pioneers presence on the "Net" and the many places one can purchase such a product, its disturbing to see such a lack of regard for the purchaser. Someone's making the availability of Pioneer products accessible to these merchants. Pioneer makes $ either way and can refuse to stand behind their product. Get with the new emerging market economy model.....Pioneer! After several emails and 4 phone calls to a slightly unresponsive LetsGoDigital I obtained my RA authorization number and returned the DV 05. I will also include that the unit came to me in its original box unopened wrapped in a slightly schredded thin foam wrap which covered the top and partially the sides of the DVD player and was taped to the bottom of the unit leaving the bottom and part of the sides exposed to the humidity. There was no clear sealed bag enclosure as is characteristic of most new audio gear. No warranty card was furnished either. From all other indications though this was a new unopened unit. At this point I am waiting for the cancellation of the appropriate charges to my Visa Account.
It will be my last Pioneer Product due to the lack of support. I would rather not place a review but leave it to the reader to make a decision. The unit did well for one nite and it might have just been bad luck. The warranty support Sucks though......

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Sony

2x in shop

I've had a mixed experience with my dv-05 player.
I've had it in the shop once for a tracking problem on dual layered DVDs. Turns out the mechanism was flawed so it was replaced. It was fine until just recently. Now the problem is in the picture quality. When the unit is 'cold' it works flawlessly. After a while, however, the picture quality begins to degrade. The trouble is the colour level - it rises to appalling levels, then it gets dark, then back again to normal. Rinse/repeat. I'll be taking it into the shop again this week to get it repaired. In the meantime I've been using my old DVL700 when my DV-05 acts up. The DVL700 which has *never* given me *any* trouble - but, of course is DTS-handicapped ;-)
Perhaps when my DV-05 is working for an extended period of time I will give it a higher rating - but, for now, I can't.

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dvl700

Just received the Pioneer Elite DV-05 yesterday. I was expecting this to be a pretty good mid priced unit from reading the reviews and the supposedly Elite reputation for quality products. Unfortunatley, my dv05 was dead right out of the box. No video, no access to the on screen menu, only thing that would work is playing audio dvds. I managed to listen to the dts music sampler dvd disk and it does sound pretty good. But very disappointed to not see any video at all or even to access the on screen menu. I called Pioneer to make sure that all my connections were correct, and they stepped me through everything to no avail. I was trying to use component video outputs, but also tried the composite rca outputs to no avail. This is very disappointing especially with the Elite line. I wonder what kind of quality control the regular Pioneer products have if this is what the Elite products go through. I was also planning to purchase one of their CD megachangers, but not anymore. I'll be looking for something else. Maybe I just got a bad unit, but to me, spending a product worth $1000 this is uncalled for. Outside of this, the build quality seems very flimsy especially with the unit costing $1000. I just may buy the DV414 or DV525 since its build quality is about the same for less than half the price. I wanted to avoid all these type of problems by purchasing a mid/high level dvd player, but that just didn't happen. This is totally unacceptable. I give this product 1 star.

I looked at this unit, but ended up buying a pioneer 414. To me the DV-05 is just an expensive version of the 414. They look very similar, have the same dimensions and even weigh the same, so I'm fairly skeptical that there are any major internal differences between the two units. I have a problem with a $1000 DVD player that only weighs 6 pounds. To be fair, Pioneer really inflates their list prices. You should be able to find the DV-05 for $750. The $599 MSRP 414 has a street price of $340 or less.
The DV-05 is THX certified, but who's to say that the 414 couldn't pass THX certification as well. The DV-05 has a nicer finish, better remote, extra
S-Video and composite, gold plated output connectors. Not worth paying twice as much, in my opinion, especially if you don't need the extra video/audio outputs.

Purchased Pioneer Elite DV-05 a month ago, Had in my home the Toshiba piece,friends Sony piece. do not come close.After many movies and adjustments still think it looks its finest with no adjustments to filters, sharpness or anithing, just right out of the box.
Colors are VERY! real, there is a touch of reality that the other gear cannot quite match.
The Sony has a little better (in my opinion) color saturation not by much.
but in minor details shading and also out of the analog output in sound it is a tough match, the bass will rival a Krell CD Player that i had the blessing of having in my home for a short while.
Tremendous value for money at $599 which is what I paid for. at $1,000 it needs a better remote, a more beefier construction, more mass will help de-coupling sonically from the airborne vibrations etc. and a smoother REW< special effects.
Other than that, the best DVD Player ever under $600, the comparaison is not even funny..
As before 5 stars only for the real finest in gear, value for money is however tryly awesome!

Good luck ya'll

Very light weight. Too much noise from the spinnig disc. Great Picture. Great Sound. Good Remote. I bought this unit to play 24/96K discs and DTS DVDs. It does both very will. It also sounds good as a CD player. Some of my 24/94K discs will not send a signal to the digital port. This is a feature of the disc and not the player. Can we find a way to use an external process with high bit rates that will make both the customer and the software industry happy?