Incredible value...off the chart. Easy setup Intuitive remote Manual is nicely-written

This unit obviously has some compromises but I'm not about to complain after only shelling out $180.

I was in the market for a new DVD player(my trusty four year old Toshiba still works great but it's a second generation unit which isn't able to play CD-R's) and the strong reviews for this unit in Home Theater and Sound and Vision magazines intrigued me. For around $180(I've seen it for around $150 recently) I figured that it was a no-brainer. Let me say this...if a DVD-A or SACD disc is properly done(there's a wide disparity in sound quality among releases) then this little unit has the ability to please around 80-90% of the people looking to get into the high-resolution formats for the first time. Fleetwood Mac's "Say You Will" DVD-A sounds stunning on this unit as does Pink Floyd's "Dark Side" SACD and Steely Dan's "Everything Must Go" DVD-A. On the other hand, I wasn't particularily blown away by Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me" SACD or Heart's "Alive in Seattle" SACD. The mix on the Heart disc was very disappointing as it doesn't sound any better than the CD layer. This isn't the DV-563A's fault though...it's the discs themselves. It's the classic case of garbage in/garbage out. If a hi-resolution disc is done well then this Pioneer has the ability to make them sound much better than any CD player that I've ever auditioned...it's not even close. The transparency and detail can be stunning and you'll definitely hear subtle things which were mixed out on some of your beloved CD's. Throw in the high-quality video image from this unit and it becomes painfully clear that it's a stone-cold bargain. Setup was a breeze and the remote is very intuitive....it doesn't get much easier than this. I'll probably upgrade down the road when the prices for the better universal disc players come down a little more but I'm really enjoying the 563A right now. I don't know why anyone would buy another entry-level DVD player when this player is much more versatile and it only costs around $150.

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Toshiba SD3109 DVD player

picture quality is awesome in progressive SACD is great,

Wow! All I can say is wow! This player is great in both DVD audio and SACD. Just like every reviewer here, I tried Pink Floyd's Dark side of the moon. It was awesome, SACD really sounds good. The video is amazing too. I hooked this up to Pioneer Elite and the picture is perfect, no chroma bugs and really shows the true color. It is a little player that does not break the bank and compete with higher end elite products. I can't complain with the price. Highly recommended for those looking for a good DVD/SACD player.

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sony DVPNS755V, DVPNS700

Universal Player - supports essentially all major formats except HDCD. Multi-channel sound is excellent good definition and channel separation.

You can get better sound and video if you pay a lot more.

Unbelievable value for SACD and DVD-Audio. Sound in both SACD and DVD-A is very, very good. CD's also sound very good. DVD-Video is also quite good but not great. It was a step up from my Toshiba which is about 4 years old. I was not in the market for a new DVD until I saw this player advertised at $179. I then did some shopping and CompUSA had the best price - and is on the way home. I use this in a modest Home Theatre - Panasonic 36" Tube TV, Outlaw Audio Reciever, Kef Q1 front, Q9C Center, Q8S surrounds, with a KLH 100 Watt Sub-woofer. As part of a very good but relatively modestly price Home Theatre this Pioneer Universal Player is terrific. I can now play my SACD's in the Den and have the wider choice of multi-channel material with both SACD and DVD-Audio. The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" remastered DVD-A sound terrific on this system as does Diana Krall on both SACD and the DVD-Video she put out. My audiophile system is straight stereo in another room.

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Sony SACD player (used in a straight steros setup). Toshiba, Aiwa and Panasonic DVD-V players. My first DVD-Audio player.

sounds "bigger" than cd, not as bright, lower noise, margianally better top end

wheres the sacd smoothness ive heard in earlier generation players, i just remember it sounding better

i had heard sacd on a sony that cost around four-hundred dollars where i used to work a few years back. so i was thrilled when the pioneer came out. woo. not even close. the sony, from what i remember, had alot more top end air, it was far more transparent and instruments occupied a three dimensional space seperate from one another. the pioneer on the other hand sounds only margianlly better than my cd player. yes, the bass is more defined and the dynamics are somewhat better, but overall, at least with sacd, this was a disapointing purchase. i dont know why other reviewers are blown away by this player. while i understand this is a bargain basement player i expected a little more excitement. ill put it this way, my girlfriend couldnt tell the difference. save your two-hundred dollars and get a better cd player.

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denon,sony

Smooth and rich video, no chroma bug. Impressive quality on CD Audio through Analog. Not as refined and precize as through Digital to high-class receiver, but there's much more life in it.

HDCD plays wrong through digital on my HK 520, the receiver shows no HDCD signal, just plain PCM. DTS soundtracks on DVDs distorted (clicks and pauses) when changing chapters. Pioneer tech support is aware of both problems, they say it only appears with H/K receivers. They have no solution for that.

With Burr Browns inside it plays CDs through analog much better than through digital on my HK520 receiver. I'm shocked!

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Toshiba SD-4900 Philips 727 H/K 520 (receiver)

Awesome SACD and DVD-A sound /Onkyo recv. and Cambridge Soundworks spkrs and surrounds and Sub.

Picture view

I have been waiting like many others for a "universal" player that did not cost an arm and a leg, so it is with great interest that I watched others review this product. I almost gave in to buying just a SACD player thinking, "Hey DVD-A has got to be similar to DTS or regular 5.1 DVD"...buuut, that is not the case. I grabbed this guy up and have found the sound quality in both SACD and DVD-A to be phenominal!!! SACD "Darkside of the Moon" is great. For pipe organ fans...You have to here E. Power Biggs recording of the 4 "great" toccatas and fugues by Bach. I have had this music on LP, cassette and even 8-track...but the SACD versions is the most uncanny, realistic version I have ever hear(and I am big into Bach!). People, for the money this machine is a "no brainer"...yes, the DVD video is very good, no the picture viewer(jpeg) is mediocre...but you gain a whole new appreciation for MUSIC, esp. SACD. CD's great,too.I dont'know why people think the digital info or laser somehow affects the "bits" and makes CD's sound funky...check you amp! Anyway, enough of this...I need to get out there and start buying as many SACD's as my meager allowance can get me!

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Panasonic

Value. Very good audio performance and respectable DVD performance as well

CD sounds bright. Not the best in any department. Lacking details in music but it will do. NAD equipment sound more musical

I felt silly looking at this at Best Buy. I have spent thousands on my home theater and felt that I should spend more on DVD, SACD, and CD sources but as I read about this player on many magazines I became intrigued. For $139, it decodes SACD, DVD-A, DVD-Video, and CD ohh it does JPEGs pictures too. I was intrigued so I bought one with one eye looking out for my audiophile buddies (to avoide embarassment) but once I got home and tried the SACD on this player my jaw dropped. How could they have built such nice sounding equipment for silly money! Surely, it could not keep up with the Denon DV2900 universal player but for $139 what do you expect. The video performance is good to very good. I happen to have Samsung HD931 DVD player. The Samsung HD931 player is better in DVD movies but this player excels in the audio department. My Hitachi s500 65" HDTV clearly shows the grain on the DVD side on this player when connected with the monster composite (YPR, YPB, YPG) video cable. The SACD from Nora Jones just sound fabulous and the CD is okay in the bright side (could not compete with dedicated players out there such as NAD 541i and Rotels) and DVD-Audio is very nice indeed. The high resolution formats provides more dimensionality and reverberation to the music. I matched this player to my Musical Fidelity A324 upsampling DAC and the cd sound quality has improved tremendously. Now the brightness is toned town and it is not listenable. This is an all around player that plays most 5" disc. It is not the best in any department (such as SACD, DVD-A, DVD-V, and CD) but for people who want convenience to play everything in one player you are looking at a beer-budget player with very good performance here. A great bargain indeed!!

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Pioneer Elite, Sony, NAD, Rotel, Rega, Samsung

Features, SACD/DVD-A, I must admit though with the SUB cranked up Buena Vista Social Club DVD-A sounded awesome

Disc Load, Bass Management, Inconsistent DVD performance

I am quite disappointed with the performance of this unit. After the rave reviews in Sound and Vision Mag, Home Theater Mag etc. I finally decided to give it a try. First thing I noticed was the disc load time, I had read about this in previous reviews so I did not bother. The second issue was with Bass Management, like one reviewer mentioned, I had to crank up my subwoofer to really get any bass. Once the sub was cranked up the DVD-A and SACD discs sounded good. More problems were to surface as I decided to check some fave DVD movies. On the Matrix Reloaded DVD it would not play after Chapter 20 (it plays perfectly well on my Sony), it would freeze and come back to intro screen. Also the Disc seek noise is quite audible and was not to my linking, sounded like I was playing discs on a CD ROM on a PC. I went to the delaer thinking it was this particular unit that was defective, we tested 4 brand new units and the dealer has asked me to return the unit for a full refund. I hope Pioneer Canada is reading this as their customer support was not at all helpful. They gave me 2 options #1 Exchange it #2 Return it. I also checked some audio forums and found out that Pioneer DV-45A also has bass management issues. Well tommorrow I am returning it back to the Dealer and maybe wait till I can get my hands on a Denon 2200 (my original choice) I just fell for the low price on the 563A.

plays all formats beautifully. price. ease of use.

wish it was a muli-disc changer, isnt this used mostly for music?

i wanted a player that played both dvd-audio and sacd with a 5 or 6 disc changer, since we dont which format will win out. since i've already bought 4 dvd players, i was going to wait til that type of unit came down in price. i saw this unit at circuit city and w/their 30 day return policy, i thought if it stinks, i can return it. well, this baby aint goin' back!! i think it sounds fantastic in all the formats i've listened to so far(dvd-a, sacd, dvd-v and std cd) it's alot easier to use than my toshiba 9200, which i had to go thru a 10 minute ritual to set up w/my pre amp and tv and to get it to start playing a dvd-a disc. maybe my toshiba sd-9200 was defective, but it is a pain in the butt to use for dvd-a. this unit i can play any format so far, and not have to change anything. someone earlier said that this dvd doesnt decode in true sacd. i'd like to know what publication he read that in. if that is true, i'd be upset if i paid $1000+ for it, but for the price, i dont care, it sounds great(std cd's too)!! my system consists of marantz mm9000 amp, and av9000 preamp, klipsch reference 5.1 speakers, pioneer sd53hd tv, toshiba sd-9200 and better cables wires.

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toshiba sd-9200 / toshiba 4000 series 5 disc dvd chgr / pioneer elite dv-c36 / sony first generation dvd player.

Price plays all formats great video

none so far

Purchased as open box buy at Best Buy. I've been using a non-progressive scan dvd player. I wanted a progressive scan plus dvd-a and sacd player, so this unit fit the bill. I've not tested the audio other than standard cd, so I can't say much about that. What I can say is that the video on this unit really, really looks good. I'm running a Pioneer Elite 41A receiver and Mitsubishi 65" Platimum series big screen tv. I could not believe how well the picture looks. My first test was the movie Ice Age. The computer animated characters really came to life and the 3D scenes popped out from the tv. Even my wife noticed the difference, so that's saying something. I also played the Matrix Reloaded and the newest StarWars movies and all looked impressive. Throw in Dolby Digital 6.1 and WOW! I could not be happier.

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n/a