kevin75

after looking through a few articles on the subject, i am considering getting a LD player so that i can get some of the movies that aren't on dvd yet and will never be properly (Star Wars). anyway, can anyone suggest a place to get a decent LD player for not too much cash and what models are decent?

gcribbs

pioneer is a great brand of laser disc player. I personally like the Pioneer elite line.

not sure where you get one now. i guess some members might have them for trade in the exchange forum. Ebay is always a possibility. pawn shops?

Rand

I'd also recommend Pioneer, I've owned four and never had a problem with one. They're a little noisy but you get used to it pretty cquickly and then don't notice it. I'll also suggest ebay or a pawn shop.

kevin75

can you explain the thinking behing the model numbers. i know that the cld and elites are good but are there any particular ones that are better then others?

a local pawn shop has the pioneer cld-d701 for $129 but i am wondering if that is a very good deal or not. it seems to be comparable to what i would pay on ebay.

Hollow Man

A good site to look at specifications:

http://www.laserdiscarchive.co.uk/

-HM

Keyser Soze

Great site!

I can't believe that they have my player listed there, after all these years. (I picked it up over ten years ago for over $1200!)
http://www.laserdiscarchive.co.uk/la...c_lx-1000u.htm

-k
###

aardvarkmi

I happened across this site - says they have some new LD players in stock:

http://www.lasertown.com/browse.asp?...path=2000,2066

Good luck!

RandyC

Either get an Elite, or a CLD-703 or CLD-704. The 704 is the same as the 703 but it can do AC-3 (Dolby Digital). Both models do DTS and analog (PCM) sound. You can add AC-3 with a $75 mod to the 703 (if the company is still around).

These models autoflip, have a separate CD tray, and they have great video quality.

Spiderbite

Randy...I was curious is you knew anything about the Pioneer CLD-E2000? I recently got it off ebay with remote, manual, etc for approx $50 plus shipping. I hate to ask but was this a decent deal?

I am new to the laserdisc arena & know nothing about them. I really just got it so I could have the Star Wars Definitive collection. Thanks for any opinions from you or others.

TheKobra

You may want to check out this co. www.msbtech.com years ago they could add ac-3 to any laserdisc player. But again that was years ago.

I looked at MSB's site. They still do it for $385.00. Ahhhhh

Josh Z

Never heard of that model. For $50 I wouldn't expect too much from it. With laserdisc players, you get what you pay for. The low-end models can have really terrible picture quality. A high-end model like a CLD-D704 (available for $350) will look much closer to DVD playback quality.

See my site at the link below for more details.

Chrisedge

Keep in mind that with any unit that has AC-3, you still need a Demodulator to get the sound properly to your Dolby Digital receiver (unless something has changed that I don't know about) and that runs $$$$ ($150?)

Josh Z

True, but any disc that has Dolby Digital will also have a standard Dolby Surround mix on the PCM digital tracks that does not require any special decoding (except a player with digital audio capabilities, which should be any model manufactured from the late 80s onward).

DVD_O_Rama

What Josh said is correct, and I'll go a step further and say that before you disregard the Dolby Surround tracks in favor of 5.1 mixes, the uncompressed tracks on LD sound phenomenal and some of my Dolby Surround tracks on LD sound better then 5.1 tracks on DVD.
Also, you do not need a demodulator for dts playback, just a player with a digital output (not RF) and a capable receiver/processor.