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Need advice on choosing new LD machine

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Okay folks, my Pioneer DVL-90 suffered a horrible death at the hands of a falling speaker.  The cost of labor to fix it is far more than I paid for it.  I need to replace it.  These are my purchase parameters ....

I'm in NTSC-Land, $200.00 budget, don't need a combo unit, and I really want something that has a nice enough picture quality for captures within this range.

Thanks,

Shawn

 

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If you can find a Pioneer CLD-97 for under $200, go for it!

Try to avoid Sony and other non-Pioneer brand, except Panasonic that is pretty good; any hi-end company produced usually Pioneer clones with better audio hardware, but I don't think you are so lucky to find one at that price...

Take a look around, find three-four models at the right price you think could be OK, and post them here; I'll try to give you some further tips.

Sadly my projects are lost due to an HDD crash… 😦 | [Fundamental Collection] thread | blog.spoRv.com | fan preservation forum: fanres.com

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I've never owned one, but from what I understand, the cld-s104 offers a clean composite signal and they are rather cheap.

It was kind of a base model back then but nowadays less filtering is desirable if you are going to capture with a device that has better filtering capabilities anyway.

 

Luke threw twice…maybe.

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Panasonic LX-900 :-)

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

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 (Edited)

Ant,

Between the CLD-97, the Panasonic LX-900, or the Pioneer CLD-D704?

Which one?  And should I consider a Line Doubler at some point?

 

 

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 (Edited)

Jetrell Fo said:

Ant,

Between the Panasonic LX-900 and the Pioneer CLD-D704?

Which one?  And should I consider a Line Doubler at some point?

I prefer the Panasonic LX-900. It displays no CLV smear whereas the Pioneer CLD-D704 is well-known for being one of the worst for CLV smear, despite being an overall good machine.

If you need AC-3 RF, Duncan Hunter of laserdiscservice.com does an amazingly-professional-looking AC-3 RF mod for the Panasonic LX-900.

If you get your hands on a Panasonic DMR-ES25, then you won't need a dedicated line doubler and you'll have an amazing 3D comb filter on your hands as well. It also has HDMI output.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

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I have any of those players, but it's a general consensus that the CLD-97 is one of the best non-MUSE laserdisc players ever built!

A line doubler could be useful, but if you have a PC with a capture card, try DScaler first: it's good, and free!

Sadly my projects are lost due to an HDD crash… 😦 | [Fundamental Collection] thread | blog.spoRv.com | fan preservation forum: fanres.com

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I also agree with Andrea. If the Panasonic LX-900 isn't an option, then try to grab a Pioneer CLD-97.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

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AntcuFaalb said:

Jetrell Fo said:

Ant,

Between the Panasonic LX-900 and the Pioneer CLD-D704?

Which one?  And should I consider a Line Doubler at some point?

I prefer the Panasonic LX-900. It displays no CLV smear whereas the Pioneer CLD-D704 is well-known for being one of the worst for CLV smear, despite being an overall good machine.

If you need AC-3 RF, Duncan Hunter of laserdiscservice.com does an amazingly-professional-looking AC-3 RF mod for the Panasonic LX-900.

If you get your hands on a Panasonic DMR-ES25, then you won't need a dedicated line doubler and you'll have an amazing 3D comb filter on your hands as well. It also has HDMI output.

What about the Panasonic DMR-EA18?  I have one of those.

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Jetrell Fo said:

AntcuFaalb said:

Jetrell Fo said:

Ant,

Between the Panasonic LX-900 and the Pioneer CLD-D704?

Which one?  And should I consider a Line Doubler at some point?

I prefer the Panasonic LX-900. It displays no CLV smear whereas the Pioneer CLD-D704 is well-known for being one of the worst for CLV smear, despite being an overall good machine.

If you need AC-3 RF, Duncan Hunter of laserdiscservice.com does an amazingly-professional-looking AC-3 RF mod for the Panasonic LX-900.

If you get your hands on a Panasonic DMR-ES25, then you won't need a dedicated line doubler and you'll have an amazing 3D comb filter on your hands as well. It also has HDMI output.

What about the Panasonic DMR-EA18?  I have one of those.

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about that machine and I can't find the service manual online. :-/

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

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 (Edited)

I recently purchased a Panasonic LX-600. I wanted a machine with digital audio out and without CLV smear. I was considering the LX-900, but read there was an agc bug on some of them. Since I wasn't sure how to go about finding one confirmed to not suffer from the issue, I went with an LX-600. I haven't played around with it much, but it looks good and I can confirm no CLV smear.

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rnranimal said:

I recently purchased a Panasonic LX-600. I wanted a machine with digital audio out and without CLV smear. I was considering the LX-900, but read there was an agc bug on some of them.

Thanks for reminding me!

Jetrell Fo: If you choose to get a Panasonic LX-900, make sure to get one that was manufactured in 1995. Panasonic didn't fix the AGC issue until late 1994.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

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Time
 (Edited)

AntcuFaalb said:

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about that machine and I can't find the service manual online. :-/

Dunno if it helps, but there is a parts list. If it follows the convention of the rest of their players of referring to the video processor as IC3001, it's C1AB00002748 which Encompass Parts says is also in EA38V, EZ28, and EZ48V.

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Jetrell Fo said:

How about a CLD-D703?

It has the same CLV smear problems as the 704.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Post 102 is worth more.

I’m late to the party, but I think this is the best song. Enjoy!

—Teams Jetrell Fo 1, Jetrell Fo 2, and Jetrell Fo 3

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AntcuFaalb said:

rnranimal said:

I recently purchased a Panasonic LX-600. I wanted a machine with digital audio out and without CLV smear. I was considering the LX-900, but read there was an agc bug on some of them.

Thanks for reminding me!

Jetrell Fo: If you choose to get a Panasonic LX-900, make sure to get one that was manufactured in 1995. Panasonic didn't fix the AGC issue until late 1994.

None seen on eBay so far.  Know any place I might be able to score one?

Thanks

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I just put down a $130.00 offer on a Panasonic Prism LX-1000U.  His buy it now is $150.00.

We shall see if I can score.  I was going to offer lower but I didn't want to lose the opportunity.

Keeping fingers crossed.