Price Paid:  $440.00 from world-import.com

Summary:
At 440.00 USD for a multiplayer with such decent characteristics and features is a bargain. Nice and solid audio and video performance. Hooked (digital) to a mid/high-end audio receiver it shines. SACD and DVD audio is also very good. You can buy it with multizone capabilities which adds versatility to a very good package. In progressive (component) video output to my Optoma H30 projector gives a really impressive picture quality.

Strengths:
Solid audio and video capabilities.
Versatility.
Decent quality and construction for the price.

Weaknesses:
At the price nothing.

Similar Products Used:
Denon 2800. Pioneer 656.

Price Paid:  $450.00 from OneCall

Summary:
The 45a most certainly *DOES* apply bass management to DVD-A *and* to SACD sources.
Setting the speakers to LARGE or SMALL absolutely does make a difference to bass routing.

I ran fairly elaborate tests on the multicahnnel analog outputs of this unit back in '03, using a variety of DVD-A and SACD discs. For the results, see
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?postid=1458749#post1458749

One thing to note is that setting SUB to OFF does *not* route .1 channel output to other speakers -- a drawback for people running 5 full-range speakers with no sub.
This is poor bass management practice, and Pioneer should make sure it doesn't happen on subsequent models.

Note, too, that the 45a applies different high-pass filter slope settings to SACD vs DVD-A when BM is in effect. This was documented in the review of the 45A conducted by Sound & Vision
(Dec 2002) as follows:

subwoofer low-pass frequency response:
-12 dB/octave rolloff above -3-dB point of 100 Hz.

Main-channel high-pass frequency response:
-12 dB octave rolloff below -3-dB point of 100 Hz
(EXCEPT for SACD, where the slope changes to -6dB/octave)

Finally, time alignment (delay) works for DVD-A and DVD-V, but *not* for SACD.

Together, these differences could result in different sound for SACD vs other formats, with this unit.

Strengths:
- 'universal' audio playback (best for CD, DVD, and DVD-A)
- good picture

Weaknesses:
- different playback characteristics for SACD versus other formats
- no digital (ilink) output for hi-rez playback

Similar Products Used:
Toshiba universal player, 2001 vintage

Price Paid:  $500.00 from Audio/Video System

Summary:
I wanted a player that did everything. And it does, just not very good. That being said, the video portion is decent, handles movies ok. I read that certain manufactures are in either DVD-A camp or SACD. They might build a player that does both, but favor the format that they back. And Pioneer backs DVD-A, which I can say sounds great. The guy who said that this player does not have bass management in the DVD-A section is wrong, it does. Just not in sacd. Over all not a bad entry into a universal player, as long as you don't pay over 250.00 for it.In another review someone said it has good soundstaging and seperation. I don't think it does. It's ok but not better than my Rotel cd player. I will keep this player till I can afford a highend universal player. I can't complain as it got me in the door to multi-channel music.

Strengths:
Video, DVD-A

Weaknesses:
SACD, CD play back.

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha, Marantz, Rotel

Price Paid:  $470.00 from 220-electronics.com

Summary:
Expensive, but I wanted a player able to read everything : CD, SACD, DVD-V, DVD-A, from all over the world (region free).
Decent sound with CDs ; Very good image ; but I am disappointed by the build quality. In fact, this player is at 99% similar to the DV-653A, but cost the double !

Strengths:
Universal, look

Weaknesses:
Overpriced

Similar Products Used:
Denon DV-2800, Pioneer DV-653A,

Price Paid:  $350.00 from Showcase Electronics

Summary:
The Elite DV-45A seemed the ideal compromise for me; a universal player for a moderate cost. However, it disappointed me mightily. More later.

I found watching DVD Video using this player a joy; I found the picture quality after calibration outstanding on my Elite rear projection HD set, viewing video and movie sources. The sound through the digital outputs to my Elite receiver and 5 full-range Bose 901's blew me away and I looked forward to listening to DVD Audio and SACD disks.

But alas, the audio produced by this player through the 5.1 analog outputs playing any disk (audio or video) lacked any frequencies below 80 Hz in the main speaker channels. After troubleshooting my setup for many hours and trying another player with the same result, my dealer informed me that Pioneer admitted the "bass management" feature did not work on this model. This meant that setting speakers to "large" and/or turning the subwoofer "off" made no difference to the audio provided to the 5 channels. All speakers are permanently set to "small" and subwoofer "on" regardless of what the operator does in the setup menu. The resulting sound of SACD and DVD Audio is thin and without low frequency foundation, even though the high and mid frequencies are clean and gorgeous. This problem affects only those listeners who persist not using a subwoofer, or who may wish to combine their large speakers with a subwoofer.

This is a light component, but a good-looking one. I liked the auto-progressive video feature, which preserved the integrity of 4:3 images on my widescreen set and versatility of the video adjustments (which, unlike the audio adjustments, seemed to have an effect).

Strengths:
Excellent audio and video; a great all-in-one player if your system is made up of small speakers with a subwoofer, or if you don't care about hearing any frequencies below 80 Hz.

Weaknesses:
In spite of catalogs, specifications and setup menus touting bass management, there is none on this unit (through the 5.1 analog outputs)

Similar Products Used:
JVC XVD-723
Pioneer DV-563A (bass management works on this one! But the audio doesn't compete.)