Talk about mixed reviews! After reading the reviews of those who wrote before me it seems that one either loves or hates this machine. Could Pioneer be having problems keeping a consistant build quality??
My particular impression is a mix of the others above. I agree completely with Cliff about the mechanical inconveniences of this product. It _is_ noisy. Fast Forward and Reverse _are_ slow. The ergonomics are dismal. So much for the bad news.

I found the picture quality _very_ acceptable My Audio Essentials test disk showed no major flaws in picture quality. I have not yet found a DVD it could not play, but I have not tried the Fleetwood Mac disk mentioned above.

On the plus side, I found that as a CD player, it out performed my ADCOM very nicely. I found it very musical and natural. It's performance on Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' Laser Disk was flawless, both visually and musically. 'Amadeus' on DVD was also exceptional. When you consider the fact that this machine plays CDs DVDs and LDs I can easily accept the units noise. The trick is to play the sound loud enough, and put the player somewhere it does not resonate. (it will still be somewhat noisey but positioning does help).

If I payed that kind of money for only a DVD, I will admit I would be slightly disapointed. But considering the fact that it opened up a the whole world of laser disks (I never considered a Laser Disk player before) I think it is a good investment.

It is possible I dont know enough about video to know what a 'good' picture should look like, but I currently consider the Video Essentials laser disk as good a test of video performance as I am likely to actually understand.

Musically however, I found the output of both AC3 and THX disks to be excellent.

With such very diverse opinions on this product I wonder if there was (or still are) problems with the manufacture of this product. The one I have suits me just fine, and I consider myself to be both cheep and picky.

Well, since this is January 22, 1999, the chances of this posting being followed up is pretty slim. Still, I gotta try...
Reading through these articles, I get a common point: The DVL-91 sucks, go out and buy a CLD-99 and a separate DVD player. I find this somewhat funny, since I own the CLD-99 (since April '97), and quite frankly, it sucks. Oh, it doesn't suck all that much as an LD player (despite the LOUD mechanical noise), but as a CD player, it really bites. The sound quality (when it works) is fine, but there are just so many damn mechanical problems that come up when I'm trying to play a CD. First of all, there must be something wrong with the stabilizer because sometimes the first few tracks of a CD sound like they're bumping against something and the sound cuts in and out at 1/10th second intervals. Second, (and boy, is this a doozie), sometimes the sensor won't realize there's a CD in the machine, and when I open the drawer (which is supposed to be using the Direct CD tray), the whole damn LD tray opens up! Now, since the laser is in a DIFFERENT position than what it would be when playing something when Direct CD is OFF, when I close the door, the laser head tries to go back on its tracks too far, jams and gives me an "E3" error! I've had to take the machine in THREE times for that, and I know that on the fourth time I can get a replacement. Of course the question is, what to get? I certainly DON'T want anything else from Pioneer, so I hope that they'll give me in-store credit instead of a "closest thing to what your model was" type of replacement, which would unfortunately be the DVL-91.

So tell me, has anybody else had these types of problems with their CLD-99? (or any other Pioneer LD player, for that matter)

Thanks, guys!

Oh yeah, the rating below is what I give for the CLD-99:

People are confussing the DVL-90 & DVL-91 as the same product.The primary reason to buy a DVL-90 is to Watch LD & DVD movies. Using it as a
CD player is a waste of money. For movie watching nothing comes close to it
picture quality. Surround sound is Awesome. This unit was designed for VIDEOphiles primarily. As a CD transport is Top notch. Forget about all that
Legato Link bussines. Use a Quality DAC and you are ready to rock & roll.

Enter DVD into the world of audio/video systems. Pioneer has created a greatproduct! The DVL 90 Elite is a Cd/Dvd/Ld player, this player handles all very
well. Cds are clear and crisp. Dvds and Lds are wonderful, the picture is beyond
belief. With AC-3 (Dolby Digital) the sound tracks thunder. The only draw back
is this does not come with Video Connect output (RGB) as the Sony DVD does.
Over all this is a must have unit.

Best video player in the market

some noise when changing laser discs

The big boy as usual deserves 5 stars.