Sound and vision.

Bass management but this is pretty much true for every SACD and DVD A player until those clowns give us a digital input

Very good universal player. The audio quality is excellent in DVD-A & SACD. Bass management is still not up to par so I use an Outlaw ICBM. Video quality is about as good as you can get. Don't believe some of the video rag reviews of the sound of this player. The 47ai has the newest Burr-Brown dacs and the sound shows it. Great user interface too.

Similar Products Used:

Denon 2800, Philips 963

Picture Upgraded sonics, Digital Interface & design

None, other than price if that's an issue for you.

This upgraded DV-47A is worth the effort with new dacs & better overall dynamics. It has been highly touted in the UK as the 757Ai. The PCM 1738 dac has a better S/N ratio & more Resolved Dynamics. It now has the Equivalent DVD-Audio playback of their DV-38A machine. The SACD & redbook have also been improved but a longer break-in period is necessary to test these attributes. The machine also now has the direct digital Interface to link with the Elite receiver. After testing SACD still sounded better w/o this hookup than with. Vast improvements were noted on the home theater front. Much great space was heard between the ususal congested fare of sonics with DVD Action sequences.The Elite receiver will for cost ya big $'s until like all technology it becomes a mainstay Picture quality on a Proton Monitor was stunning.... The DV-47Ai is a major sonic & visual & digital improvement on an already excellent Universal Machine.

Similar Products Used:

DV-45A DV-38A DV-09.. RT-10 lexcion...Yamaha DVS-2300

Build quality Pioneer ElitE reputation

NONE

Absolutely fantastic picture quality. Makes my 10 year old JVC TV seem brand new. Detail is visible in dark areas. Can't wait to get a progressive scan TV Set

Similar Products Used:

Elite DV05

Video looks good, but thats not what i'm commenting on. Audio quality is better than you may think if you've just unpacked it. Make a real effort to burn it in properly.

Do NOT buy this player and expect it to perform well out of the box. Casual listening from time to time and DVD playback didnt cut the mustard in burning it in. You need to put her on disc repeat for at least 2-3 days and you'll hear a huge change in the sound.

Excllent sound quality from all formats: CD, DVD-A, SACD. Got to love those Burr Browns! The config menus are really easy to use (for example, to switch back and forth between DVD-V and DVD-A tracks on the same disc).

Chroma bug. DVD-A bass management. SACD time alignment (of course, no one does this right yet, even Sony).

I like this player. I really like it. I had the 45a, and really liked that one too, aside from the 6 lb weight. I have absolutely no complaints with this player. Good video, good audio, and includes SACD and DVD-A too. I am giving it a 5, just because of what you get for the price, but they should fix the chroma bug (I have a 32" direct view set and have never seen it though), and bass management for DVD-A (doesn't work for DVD-A 4.0 discs, and mains "large" sub "off" doesn't reroute the LFE to the mains like it's supposed to).

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DV-45a, DV-05, DV-333, DV-414

Video performance-FIRST RATE.SACD-excellent.Much better than DV-47A!Comparable to Sony DVP-999ES.Better than Sonys lower priced DVD/SACD players. DVD-Audio-Excellent.Crisp,detailed,dynamic,and immediate. CD-Excellent.Better than any CD player I've owned or heard. Excellent Burr-Brown PCM 1738 DAC for front channels.

Long break-in period for best sound, especially on SACD side.There is still room for sonic improvements as excellent as this unit already sounds. I plan to have mine modded by Ric Shultz at EVS in the future.No other weaknesses that I can identify.

This is a great sounding universal dvd/dvd-audio/sacd player! I previously owned the original Pioneer Elite DV-47A universal player.My Pioneer Elite DV-47Ai shows great improvement in all areas except maybe DVD-Audio. I have already "broke-it-in" for at least 100 hours.Regardless of what you may have heard from Pioneer or others, the DV-47Ai has almost a 100% circuit lay-out redesign over the original DV-47A. The DV-47Ai also uses the excellent Burr-Brown PCM 1738 DAC chip for the front channels as opposed to the mediocre Crystal CS4392 DAC chip in the original 47A.The chassis is also slightly heavier and better built. My original DV-47A had great video performance, good CD performance, excellent DVD-Audio performance, and mediocre SACD performance. SACD was its biggest weakness. It sounded slightly compressed, muted, thin, bass was lacking,and the highs sounded slightly rolled off.Here are my impressions of my new DV-47Ai: CD: Great. Quite a bit better than the DV-47A. Crisp,clear,open,detailed,with great imaging.DV-47A sounded darker and thinner,and lacked body. Video: Excellent! Improved somewhat over the DV-47A which was also great.Crisp,detailed, and clean images.The best performing DVD-video player I've ever saw or used! DVD-Audio: Excellent! Very open, detailed,dynamic, and immediate.Close to the DV-47A which was outstanding.The DV-47A MAY have been slightly more open and immediate, but its close! SACD: Now this is much improved over the DV-47A! Much more open,detailed,clean,dynamic,and better and deeper bass than the DV-47A.Highs are much better!Highs are more extended, detailed,and have lots more "air".More immediate,more impact,and more dynamic overall top-to-bottom on SACD as compared to the original DV-47A. I also ued to own a Sony DVP-NS900v DVD/SACD player. I think the Pioneer has much better DVD-Video,CD, and SACD performance.Yes,SACD PERFORMANCE! Overall I am VERY PLEASED with my purchase,and would recommend it very highly for those of you looking for a "universal" player.You can also have it modified for even better sound by Ric Shultz at EVS.Ric loves to modify these machines!If interested go to www.tweakaudio.com. for some interesting information and the tweaks that EVS performs.

Similar Products Used:

Original Pioneer Elite DV-47A,Sony DVP-NS900v.Have also heard and/or auditioned:Sony DVP-S999ES, Marantz DV8300 universal player, and Onkyo DV-SP800 universal.