TONYENDERS1

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Second Hand

Summary:
I have been a laserdisk enthusiast since the introduction of the format. During that time I have owned several different laserdisk players. All of which were Pioneers. Over the past 10 years I have owned, in the following order, a Pioneer CLD-D704, Elite CLD-79, and most recently, a DVL-919. All were very good players, but not spectacular. Last month I decided to give up on the format and sell the DVL-919. The picture was good, but not great. Additionally, it was one of the noisiest players I had owned. After a couple of weeks I was having laserdisk withdrawl. I found a LD-S2 in a second hand audio store that looked as new, never used. I went home and did some research and went back the next day to take it home for a tryout. It weighs almost as much as my Pioneer Elite VSX49TXI! I have run a couple of movies through it and was astonished at just how good the picture was. Very near DVD progressive scan output on a HD TV. Sound is not a factor as I use the dacs from the receiver, which brings up another thought. The LD-S2 is pre AC-3 RF. I used Dolby Prologic II for surround output and again was amazed at how close it was, if not better than AC-3 RF output! Since AC-3 RF is a decade old technology, it has been surpassed by todays decoding/processing chips. I found the bass output to be substantially better in Dolgy Prologic II. After reading all of the reviews here,I have to side with the members that found the LD-S2 to have a superior video output. When you do away with the immense amount of vibration that is caused by the turning mechanism, the multiple trays for different video formats, you eliminate distortion. The construction of the LD-S2 eliminates any vibration that would otherwise effect video quality. Construction is second to none. If you are looking for a fine laserdisk player and have the opportunity to purchase this rare model, it is wrth the price. If you have to have AC-3 RF, this can be upgraded for a nominal cost.

Strengths:
Superb video quality. Dead quiet operation. The fastest try I have ever seen on a lasrdisk player.

Weaknesses:
12 years old and could be costly to repair. Was $3500 when new!

Similar Products Used:
CLD-D704, ELITE CLD-79, DVL-919

Price Paid:  $400.00 from ken kranes

Summary:
evolution of a home theater system:
35 inch Mitsubishi TV
CLD 59 LD player
Mitsubishi VCR
one month later at good guys Boston Acoustics home theater system with the kenwood amp and pre amp and the surround sound speakers including the smaller dipoles in the back wow this is fun but why is it not like the demos i have heard at the different home theater stores? well pop the lid off the amp and low and behold the anemic cirgarett pack torodial is the culprit i am learning and now its time to get serious.
Adcom 5 channel amp better at 130 amps but not the greatest
Parasound 2 channel 135 amps for the subwoffers wow this is ok but i still like the bob carver but may be i will go with the ATI amp and really kick some butt
then the Sony ac-3 pre amp processor but it does not have DTS well just add it at a cost of 395.00 it is ok but it does not have muting and is or every time i go to change from DTS to AC-3 it pops every time but turning the volume down remedys this well sony comes out with a pre amp processor and i jump on it it is the TA E9000Es i am very pleased and am reaching home theater nervarna i like it because most or all processors have built in amps this one does not i am learning and i know that i am headed in the right direction. Speed forword to 1998 i am lucky Ken Kranes warehouse in Lawndale is having a big sale and the manager calls me and informs me that they have about 60 LD-S2-B's these have been refurbished and he personally hand picks out the best one for me wait the price is to good to be true and these are beauties so i buy two of these bad boys well now i can use the THX wow disc and make a big difference in my viewing of Laser Disc's but wait most of my LD are AC-3 what do i do take it over to Atlantic Stereo and have the MSB upgrade i do and it is incredible i use an optical cable for DTS well it has shaped up into a nice system then the DV-09 comes out and i buy it no hesitation and i am suprised that the booklet that came with the LD-S2 with the specs and the booklet that comes with the DV-09 with the specs well i compare them and i could not beleive my eyes the are so close that i thought that guy in Honey I Shrunk the Kid's movie got his hands on the LD-S2 and just shrunk it down and out comes the DV-09 really 99% of the technology has been transfered to the DV-09 player from the LD-S2 check it out .I will add the HD converter to the LD-S2's and the DV-09 when i buy the High definition TV but that can wait it is still not up to par yet so the next phase is the amps the ATI's are the choice for me why because they are a no frills work horse mack truck of the amplifiers that are available today and for the bang for the buck you get your money's worth. i have learned that you could spend 10,000 of dollars for high end stuff and only gain 5-10% in performance on to the speakers the B&W's are on the list also towers that is but how many the room that is 14x18 is where the system is played and it is very comfortable a minimum of 6 surrounds + the center channel for a total of 7 speakers but wait what about the amps do i get the 5 channel and two two channels one two channel for the subwoffers and one two channel for the rear speakers well some thought needs to go into this any way good listening and to all the doubters about the LD-S2 it wil be around for a long time to come and i just live 5 minutes away from DVD planet formerly ken kranes and the laser discs are hard to pass up for 4.99 especially the boxed sets at 10.00 and i have heard people say at the store "Well gee why did i get rid of my Laser Disc player" lasers will be around for at least for another 100 years well have fun and any suggestions are welcome and critisims also almost forgot i have been on the internet since last october and i just out of curiosity typed in at google my Sony TA E9000Es and found out that it is up gradeable what luck it can now have the most current upgrades at a minimum of cost it just keeps getting better good listening to all and thank youy for reading my review.
John

Strengths:
the best laser disc player ever built bar none

Weaknesses:
but it is so heavy but that is ok it keeps the vibrations down to a minimum

Similar Products Used:
cld 59

Summary:
Rich - From NAPA -

Can you please tell me who retrofitted your LD-S2 for DTS and AC-3 - Im considering having LD-S2 done as well.

What did it cost you - any other suggestions appreciated.

-Scott

Summary:
Could someone please give an analysis of the pioneer elite cld-95? I own both a cld-95 and an elite 59. IF anyone out there reads this, I was wondering how the 95 compares to the cld-97 in terms of picture quality as well as comparisons to the cld-59 and 99. thank you

Summary:
LD-S2 WAS THE BEST PIONNER'S LD PLAYER, IF CLD704 OR ANY OTHER LOOKS BETTER THAN LD-S2 FOR YOU, THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG.