Price Paid:  $529.00 from JB Hi Fi

Summary:
I've had my DV-535 for over a year now. The picture quality really is amazing, and there is a noticable improvement between composite and s-video. I only use 2-channel stereo using the RCA outputs. It sounds better than a friend's Panasonic, however audio CDs never sound as detailed as they would in a mid-range CD player.

Strengths:
Picture quality, ease of use, understated looks, remote

Weaknesses:
Lightweight construction, audio cd quality, annoying 'ticking' noise when playing DVDs, flimsy tray, one of the legs wasn't as long as the others (so it wobbled a bit), occaisionally spits out discs for no reason.

Similar Products Used:
Rotel RX850 amp
KEF Q15.2
Sony Trinitron 25"

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Jakarta

Summary:
Actually this is the Review for Pioneer DV 533K because I could not find the product.
This is the great DVD player. Slim with gold finish (match with my Yamaha RX V430) It can read DVD, CD audio, SVCD, VCD and even MP3 CD.
I connected it to my receiver with optical cable. The sound is great, the picture is perfect. Good menu layout.

Strengths:
Optical and Digital out, Dolby Digital and DTS ready, MP3 player, s-Video out, comp Video out. All region.

Weaknesses:
No SCART output, No SACD support

Price Paid:  $250.00 from Ruad, Amsterdam, Net

Summary:
I bought this player in the sale, after I had bought the slimline DV/545 for $ 370 (no reviews!?). Both deliver exellent picture quality and Dolby 5.1 & DTS surround sound. The extra's on the DV/545 is that it's Mp3 compatible, and it has got Legato Pro for CD playback (useful).

Mr Sonic Grooves, review: 22/12/01, complains about not being able to play Mp3 on the DV/535, and that it hasn't got a digital decoder. Well Mr Grooves, you either have a decoder in your Amp./Receiver, or in the DVD player; but than you have to pay a little bit more money for such a player! And don't you inform yourself about the facilities of a player BEFORE you buy one? It's no use complaining afterwards, or talking the player down if it's your own fault...

To get back to the players. The tray's are very wobbly and from plastic, but apart from that, they are good value for money. The DV/545 is better with CD playback, due to the Legato Pro; but doesn't come close to the Sony SCD-555ES. The CD-sound of the DV/545 is good, o.k. for budget to midprice systems. On the Sony the sound is stunning, and that's already with 'plain' (wel recorded) CD's. But there's a 'little' price difference!

So I use the DV/535 in my midpriced home-cinema system in the livingroom; the DV/545 in my better system in my music / homecinema room, which consists of:
Amp. Yamaha DSP A1; the SACD player Sony SCD-555ES; Philips 36" TV; Speakers Klipsch RF-7 (fantastic!), RC-7 & RS-3 MK II.
Speakercables: Van Den Hul CS-122 in By-wire mode. Between the Sony and my Amp. audio interconnects v.d. Hul The First Ultimate. Tv and Amp. v.d. Hul Thunderline. DV/545 and Amp. audio v.d. Hul Thunderline and QED Qunex P75 digital interconnect, to the Tv a QED RGB-scart (no sound).
The musicroom is quite small, 13,3x17,8 feet (3x4 mtrs.); with a pointed roof. The ceiling and walls are carpeted, but not the wall behind the main & centre speakers for reflections. So because of it's size I don't feel the need of a subwoofer.

Footnote:
I'm a happy man with this system, and my wife enjoys it too!

Strengths:
Picture and Surround sound.

Weaknesses:
Cd playback and wobbly cheap tray.

Similar Products Used:
Philips 775.

Price Paid:  $220.00 from Asia

Summary:
This little player plays everything I put in it, except of course, DVD-R and MP3. Auto convert voltage selector and all DVD regardless of region. It's also light which is a plus since I move around a lot. It doesn't have component out but SVHS is good enough. Picture quality is excellent as seen from a Wega 36XBR350. Seriously remembering my audio freak days, this is the most satisfying, all accomplishing component I've ever bought.

Strengths:
Plays all region and all burned CD. Cheap!

Weaknesses:
I was very skeptical with Pioneer given the lifetime of their laser in the LD players. I don't know how long this one is going to last but it's good enough for my applications Can't imagine why anyone would pay more for a non-mp3 dvd player.

Similar Products Used:
Sony. Forgot which model but newer. Can't play burned stuff at all. Unstable fast forward.

Yamaha top of the line. Good but I don't see much benefit that users with established HT system wo

Price Paid:  $220.00

Summary:
I had seen some excellent reviews of this product from many places and gave it one audition and decided to get it. I have always been partial to the Pioneer brands since their products are usually of a high standard at a decent price. On the way to purchasing this I was sidetracked by a rather good special on Samsung’s DVD-511. Brought it home – connected up and then returned it just 2 days later – then bought the Pioneer like I should have done and have not looked back since.

While the Samsung was reasonable enough with the picture quality I was very disappointed by the sound quality. The Samsung dropped a few frames on the Matrix DVD at the end/beginning of some chapters and this is totally unforgivable, however none of this occurred on the Pioneer, which impressed from the moment I pressed play.

The colours took on natural feel with contrasts between light and dark superb. I cannot fault the picture quality even in the slightest as it can compares with other much more expensive DVD players, many of them over twice the price of the Pioneer! Try comparing the pictures of other players together with the Pioneer and see what I mean.

What takes this player from good to outstanding is the audio quality and this is for both the 5.1 surround and stereo music. All the decoding is done on a Nakamichi AV-10 (see my review of this receiver on this site), which I found has very high quality DACs. The combination makes the Pioneer sound very good indeed, about as good as a decent budget CD player. All round the sound from Mission’s 773e (my review of these is in the speaker section) shows good clean treble, very good mid-range that does vocals justice and reasonable bass although this may be weakest of the lot.


The player itself is, well, maybe not the best looker when it comes to DVD players but it is functional at least with a very basic look. The equipment specification is impressive, offering digital out on both co-axial and optical and then the standard analogue outputs. The visual outputs are video, s-video, and for highest quality, a composite output – a feature usually found on the higher-end players. This is definitely not wasted on the Pioneer as it certainly does display an impressive picture. Sadly I don’t have the television to use this output (yet) so I cannot compare it the video and s-video outputs.

Trying the player’s internal decoding for sound showed that the internal DACs were quite good sonically but I prefer the greater detail of the Nakamichi. The player is able to use CD-R, CD-RW, and Video CD. Setting up the player is really simple with the use of an on screen ‘Navigator’ that goes through all the core requirements to get setup very quickly and easily.

The rest of my system consists of
Mission 701 (rear)
Mission 77C1 (center)
Mission 773e (main stereo)
REL Storm III (sub-bass)
Pioneer DV-535 (DVD/CD source)
Nakamichi AV-10 (receiver
and each are reviewed in their sections

Now for what could be improved – Pioneer, please work on the remote ergonomics a little. I have normal size fingers and these tiny buttons are, well, tiny. But this is more of an inconvenience rather than an issue. What is an issue sometimes though is that sometimes on a DVD (does not occur for CDs though) there is a rather strange clicking noise. This is only on some sections of only a few DVDs and is rather soft but it can be heard in the quiet parts. What is that? (Anyone). I would hate to see such an overall excellent product be spoilt by this little problem but it is there. Luckily it is a rather rare occurrence so I don’t notice it much besides I’m about to try some damping, which should help.

What else can I say? A player that has stunning visual quality that can compare to much more expensive player and works as well as a decent dedicated budget CD player (with some help from the Nakamichi). And all this at in one box at a fraction of the price of getting 2 boxes to do the same! What more do you want?

Strengths:
Sound/Picture

Weaknesses:
Remote. Occasional transport noise on selected DVDs but is quite soft

Similar Products Used:
Samsung, Sony