Denon based their video processors on Pioneer parts from what I recall. Not sure what the equivalent Pioneer is for the 3100 you mention. but I'm not sure Denon produced any players that did AC-3, etc. I think they may have gotten out of the LD biz by then or maybe produced one unit based off of the Pioneer 704.

Got Criterion -- go to the alt.video.laserdiscs usenet newsgroup to look for used players. Look around for posts by Kurtis Bahr. He is the guru of Pioneer players and may have some that he has fixed up for sale. I'd highly recommend the 704 (the best machine for the money) as well as the Elite 79, 97 (only if you don't need AC-3/Dolby Digital as it does not have an AC-3 outout), and the "ultimate" 99. I have a B-stock 99 that I got back in 1998 for $500, and it is a great machine. But it does have intermittent issues with the spindle clamp (the mechanism that grabs the LD and locks it into place when it spins up) as do most Pioneer players. Not a huge problem though as you can clean it as needed. Kurtis posted detailed cleaning instructions in several posts to that newsgroup.

Hope this is helpful. i have a 704 that needs work (power mechanism needs replacing or resoldering i think) that i would part with if you wanted a fixer upper.

Dave

If you're in the Bay Area, I've got a 702 which I'm looking to part with. It's got intermittent disc-turn issues (as indicated in previous posts re: Pioneer players this age), but otherwise works great.

The disc turn issue could just be that you need to clean the spindle. Oil and dirt from your fingers collects on the inner ring of the disc, and then is transferred to the spindle, preventing it from gripping properly.

I tried that already, didn't help. There's an armature that slides the spindle mechanism back and forth. It seems that this is "sticking" once in a while for some reason - even after I've cleaned and re-lubed the slide-path. Thanks for the tip though - any other ideas?

I would recommend anything by Pioneer.

I've had 3 since 1986 and the one I still have is the DVL-700.

Very large unit, about the size of a audio/video receiver.

Bought it back in 1987 when DVDs first came out and it still works great. Never needed any repairs at all.

Won't play DVD+Rs though and it won't play the Work in Progress version on the Beauty and the Beast disc, but I have another player and BATB works fine on that so its the Pioneer.

Remote kind of looks like a Star Trek phaser and does fit in my hand very well. The only thing I don't like about the remote is the slide down panel that hides some buttons.

How is the Pioneer CLD-605?

Mediocre.

Josh, thanks for the response. I made the rounds of the local pawn shops this weekend and didn't find anything good. The only Pioneer I saw was a LD-870 that looked pretty ancient. I'll keep checking Ebay and take a look at that newsgroup you posted.

I ended up getting a Pioneer CLD-D703 off of ebay for $140 shipped. I decided that I didn't really need AC-3 so I went for the 703 instead of the 704. I can't wait to get it.

Well, my player arrived yesterday and works! Very excited. One thing that impressed me was the sound quality of even the dolby stereo track. It is very rich and has a lot of range between the very quiet moments and the loud booms. I used the Pro Logic II setting on my receiver and it sounded great.

One thing that I didn't consider was that the widescreen movies would be letterboxed. I'm so spoiled by anamorphic transfers. My widescreen Sony TV has a Zoom mode but the picture quality suffered a bit when I used it. I also had a problem with losing the bottom line of the subtitles in a few areas. I was watching Last of the Mohicans so there were very little subtitles.

My player came with a remote but not with a manual. Does anyone know where I can download a copy of the Pioneer CLD-D703 manual? The 704 manual would work too right, since the only difference is the AC-3?

Another quick question. Is the player supposed to switch sides automatically when it reaches the end? Mine doesn't but I can use the button on the remote to do it. I don't have the manual so I don't know if this is normal or not.

Thanks.

Check www.laserdiscarchive.co.uk to see if they have one.

Aside from the AC-3, the players and manuals are identical.

It should definitely be flipping automatically. What happens now? Does the player stop, or freeze on a still-frame?

Make sure the "Film Mode" button on the player's front panel is engaged. Film mode speeds up the side change and displays a black frame during the flip. Without Film Mode, the player freezes on a still and does a much slower change.

If it's still not flipping automatically, there could be a mechanical problem with the player.

Right now it just stops when it gets to the end of a side. I'll play around with it a bit when I get off work today and see if I can get it to work. Thanks for the tips on the film mode. laserdiscarchive has a 704 manual for 2 pounds.

Well, the story gets worse. Now the player won't even pass a signal to the TV. The disc just spins and then stops. I've taken it to a local shop to see if they can do anything with it. Bummed out.

If you need it serviced, I recommend www.laserdiscservice.com. You'll need to ship the player, but they are experienced with LD players (obviously). I have a feeling your local repair shop won't know an LD player from an 8-track deck.

My local guys is actually very LD saavy and has confirmed that it isn't a belt issue which I understand it typically the problem with these things. I think something got misaligned/broken during shipping. I've contacted the seller to see what they can do for me but will keep the link you provided in the event I run out of other options.

Thanks.