stunning picture, solid built

none

I have an A/B compared with both the Denon and Sony flagship
and I like the DV-09 the most. The picture is sharp and stunning. It is very well built. I bought this at an unbeatable price of 1250USD from Chi at MicShin Trading.

Similar Products Used:

Sony 7700, Denon dvd 5000

Superb video and audio quality. Reference quality CD playback. Very cool looking dual air lock transport system.

Cumbersome remote (not backlit), expensive, doesn't pass Pluge signal (makes setup slightly more difficult with test patterns).

Outside of the stratospherically priced units, I consider this a reference standard player. Extremely dependable, superb video and audio quality. Rivals or exceeds every audiophile stand-alone CD unit I have ever owned.

It's costly, and the DV-05 may present a better value, but the quality of this unit is extremely impressive.

I auditioined the DV-09 against the Sony-7700 and the Denon-2500. SO far as picture is concerned,there is no choice. The picture is just beautiful. Far and away above the others. The Pioneer is not as good as the best CD players, but for DVD it is fine. There have been a few nonsynced DVD's, but I suspect that is the source material. If it is picture that you want, you will not do better than the DV-09. It is just smoother and more "filmlike" than the others. Even the Sony is "digital" compared to this. Just look at subtitles to see the differences. I suggest this as a critical test when you audition the players. Not the best for CD reproduction , but as a DVD, a great player.

I will keep this short: best picture available (almost 3-D), best color, best sound, doesn't just decode 24/96, it puts it out on digital if you have the new equipment. Sound out of analogue is very good, cannot detect a difference on the digital out from a CD only transport costing more than this whole unit. But there is a downside: the remote is poorly laid out, too many small buttons that are hard to find and press, the up/down/left/right/enter are all tiny and the center of other buttons, poor range - must be aimed dead at player to work, and lastly the player itself while very beautiful in finish is incredibly slow in disc loading, then takes 10 to 15 seconds to see what kind of disc, then seconds more to find title, then more to advance to play. Once it's working this is the best pix and sound, but it certainly takes it's time to figure out what you have fed it! I think this is going to be increasingly true of all brands, since it has to find out is this is a DVD or CD, is it Dolby or DTS or none of the above, is it stereo, then is it 44.1khz or 96khz, 16,18,20,22,24 bits? Is the disc audio only or video too. You can read all this happening by watching the display. However, unless you are blowing up the picture for a huge screen, this cannot be surpassed by anything out there at the moment. Did I mention there are about 8 corrections you can make improve less than perfect discs from a separate screen? And it's built like a tank.

The best picture and sound of any DVD player

Poorly designed button layout for remote control, slow title/track access time.

I have had this DVD player since 1998 and have not regretted it for a moment. For the absolute best audio and video from any DVD player, the Pioneer Elite DV-09 is the one to have. I play CD-R's I've burned from my PC on it all the time, so there is no problem there. I first purchased a Sony DVD player but I found the Sony would choke on the Criterion DVD's. Apparently, Criterion was doing some extra encoding the Sony could not handle. No problem with the Pioneer! Since I last checked the Sonys three years ago, they might have fixed this problem since then.

The only big complaint I have is the terrible layout of the buttons on the remote. I have never seen anything so counter-intuitive in my life! Yeesh! The title/track search times are very slow compared the Sony players. I don’t know why, maybe they use a different transport mechanism.

I bought mine three years ago when NO discounts were being offered on the price, so I envy those who claim they bought one for $850 new--In all honesty, I am still a wee bit skeptical they were new and not factory refurbished for that price. However, I have better things to do than get in flame war with someone. Regardless of what you pay for it, the Pioneer Elite DV-09 is still *the* reference DVD player to date. Enjoy!

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVD players (can't recall the model numbers).

I replaced a Sony S559D with the DV-09. What a diffrence. This unit is excelent. I am however still wondering if for half the price, the Sony-S7700 would be just as good. I have an all Sony setup, including the new TA-N9000S, & the TA-E9000ES. Both pieces are excelent, and coupled with the DV-09..... Well words can't explain the sound. I am viewing on a 36" proscan via S=Video. I also purchased some Paradigm Monitors, which are awsom as well. Let me know if anyine has any feedback on the 7700 -vs- DV-09

Solid Construction, Beautifull Styling, Great Sound Quality, Excelent Picture, Great Features

Pioneer could have put more thought into the remote. No backlight combined with buttons that are to close = difficult usage in the dark.

This usnit is great. I got mine for $1,500.00 and think it was worth every penny. I have had no problems thus far. the remote is a bit difficult to use, but if your spending this type of money on a DVD player, you can probably afford a high end remote, like the Madrigal IRIQ. I was able to program all the 09's functions with no problem.

Similar Products Used:

Upgraded from Sony -330 & 550d.

I HAVE OWNED THE PIONEER DV-09 FOR 6 MOUNTHS NOW. AND I MUST SAY THAT THIS PRODUCT IS THE BEST IN THE MARKED FOR NOW. I HAVE HAD AT LEAST 10 OTHER DVDPLAYERS BUT NON OF THEM ARE CLOSE TO THIS ONE. THE PIONEER DV-09 IS A AMAZING
CD PLAYER AS WELL.

HAVING SEEN THE GREAT REVIEWS AND VIEWING THIS UNIT SIDE BY SIDE WITH THE NEW SONY 7700, IT CLEARLY HAS THE BEST PICTURE. IT IS HEAVY AND WELL BUILT BUT THERE ARE A FEW VERY NASTY FLIES IN THE OINTMENT! IT RESPONDS EXTREMELY SLOWLY TO ANY COMMAND (IN COMPARISON TO MY PREVIOUS SONY 7000) THE REMOTE HAS TOO MANY SMALL BUTTONS AND THE MOST FREQUENTLY USED ARE BURIED IN THE CENTER. THE GUI INTERFACE IS TERRIBLY AWKWARD AND UNCLEAR. THE BUTTONS ON THE FRONT ARE TINY AND HARD TO SEE, ESPECIALLY OPEN/CLOSE/STOP. USING THE COMPONENT VIDEO OUTS ELIMINATES USING THE ENTIRE SCREEN THAT ALLOWS CUSTOM ADJUSTMENTS FOR BRIGHTNESS, COLOR, SHARPNESS, ETC. SO YOU ARE PROBABLY BETTER OFF WITH THE COMPOSITE OR S-VIDEO OUTPUTS WHICH YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER! SO WHILE IT IS A GREAT PICTURE, USING IT IS NOT NEARLY AS EASY AS A SONY WHICH HAS MENUES THAT YOU CAN CALL UP WHILE WATCHING AND MAKING ADJUSTMENTS/CHANGES. YOU CAN DO NOTHING IN THE MENUES OF THE PIONEER WITHOUT STOPING THE DISC! THIS IS A VERY SAD EXECUTION OF SOME GREAT TECHNOLOGY.

Picture/transport/build

Remote ctrl

This is my second review after having owned the unit for more than 6 mths and this review has strengthened too. The DV-09 has never stopped impressing me everytime whether I play a dvd movie or a cd music disc. The picture quality is among the best if not the best from any dvd players ever made with film like quality, especially when it plays quality dvd movies (my display is Sony KP-61V75 RPTV). The audio section is not to be outdone by its video quality. The analog output (96/24) is outstanding when connected to my Denon AVP8000 using direct or by-pass mode (signal source's integrity is not digitized by most pre/pros). Its AC3 or Dolby Digital output is also among the best due to its outstanding transport. By far, this is the no doubt a reference dvd player by many videophiles, definitely mine. If you get to spend over $1k for a dvd player, this one is a no brainer.

Similar Products Used:

DV-91/DVL-909/Sony7700