Pioneer Elite

[rnrmf1971]

Originally Posted by AudioNut

I have been a very well-pleased Pioneer Elite owner/user for many years. I loved the huge rear-projection televisions that were once my pride and joy, and I was a Guinea Pig for one of the first of their wall hanging plasma TVs.

I also used and loved a number of their audio components and, in fact, still (sorta) own several pieces from the early 90's.

I say "sorta" because, at present, a couple of my children have laid claim to a couple of the best.


A huge, 66 pound, 120 watt, integrated amp - the Pioneer Elite A-91D - "digital" integrated amplifier. first sold in 1986 looks good and sounds, well at least O.K. even by today's standards. My oldest son has this one.




I also still own an F-91 Pioneer Elite Reference Tuner . . . . reputed to be one of the "best ever"





And I also have a Pioneer Elite CT-91 Reference Cassette Deck - which I just wiped the dust off of enough to read the model number. Once called the invincible battle ship of cassette decks . . . . it does, in fact, keep on plugging along - if you should have any cassette tapes (I don't). This piece should find a good home with a gentle owner.




P.S. Oops. . . . I just realized that I had posted here in this thread a year or so ago . . . I thought this was new because it had new posts. . . but I did go to the trouble to find pictures this time so I'll just leave it alone.

I love the way all that "vintage" Pioneer Elite gear looks. I own some of the Pioneer "silver" gear from the late 70's which still sound great, as well. I always considered getting an Elite integrated (or the separates) but wound up leapfrogging to Mcintosh. But I'm still astounded at how the Pioneer gear was superior to fairly expensive "thx approved" surround receivers I had through the early 2000's. My Pioneer Elite CT-43 is the best cassette player I've ever heard and the new blu ray player might look right at home next to it, assuming it is a top performer.

[prepress]

Originally Posted by rnrmf1971

Wow. With an msrp of $2000, Pioneer must have serious confidence that this outclasses the Oppo players. I'm really interested in the BDP-88FD.

According to a post on another forum, Chris Walker of Pioneer will be involved in a direct comparison with the Oppo 105 (he actually owns a 105, too). That will be interesting.

[rnrmf1971]

Originally Posted by prepress

According to a post on another forum, Chris Walker of Pioneer will be involved in a direct comparison with the Oppo 105 (he actually owns a 105, too). That will be interesting.

That will be interesting. I don't need most of the features of the Oppo and would rather have a more audio-focused player, if that's what the Pioneer delivers.

[djwhog]

Interesting read, I have a blu-ray and laser disc elite from back in the day, was among the best gear in its class in the day.

Curious to see where this will go as well on the audio support side for dvd-A and blu-ray-A

Pioneer unveils pair of audiophile-geared 'Elite' Blu-ray players | Digital Trends

BDP-88FD - Flagship Blu-ray 3D™ Disc Player with Heavy and Stable Chassis, Rigid and Quiet BD Drive, 4K/60p/4:4:4/24-bit Upscaling, Precision Audio, PQLS, Dual HDMI Output, and Network Features | Pioneer Electronics USA


Video

BDP-88FD Elite Blu-ray players reproduce exceptional video quality by utilizing Pioneer’s new advanced video engine consisting of the Precise Pixel Driver image processor and Pioneer’s new 4K Reference Converter that upscale existing disc-based or network content to Ultra HD 4K resolution (4K/60P/4:4:4/24-bit) providing the finest picture quality possible when used with a compatible display. The upscaled video is output via HDMI 2.0 utilizing its full 18GBPS bandwidth.


Audio

To deliver reference quality audio, the BDP-88FD employ the ES9018 ESS SABRE reference DAC for the utmost audio quality output, capable of playing DVD Audio, SACD and the most popular high resolution audio files. The BDP-88FD takes things further by using all four of its integrated DACs in parallel to greatly reduce noise. The BDP-88FD also features a “Direct Function Circuit” for use in pure analog audio playback mode shutting off all video circuits and dedicating the processing power to the audio components. The BDP-88FD provides noticeably increased audio performance with its use of a large capacity power supply transformer, independent quartz for 44.1 kHz/48 kHz playback, Hi-Bit and Hi-Sampling processing, and a DAC filter.

[beowulf]

IMO they would look sharper if they still used the wood trim on the side.

[prepress]

As I understand it, the main difference between the 88FD and the 85FD is the 88's beefed-up audio section. I still enjoy my 09FD so I don't need another player, but the 88 has my interest. Of course, a bunch of other things do as well, so I have to allow for that, but the 88 looks as if it will be cool. I think it's due out next month.

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by AudioNut

I also still own an F-91 Pioneer Elite Reference Tuner . . . . reputed to be one of the "best ever"

I still have one of those (along with a Kenwood KT-7001) but, unfortunately, there is nothing around here worth listening to on radio.

In the past, I also had a PD-65 player which, in its time was excellent, if unreliable.

Finally, I am still sorry that I didn't hang on to the more recent S-1EX speakers.

[prepress]

In case anyone's interested, the latest Sound & Vision issue has a review of the BDP-88FD. It's also on the website.

[prepress]

The 88FD player won an award over in Europe, and has garnered positive reviews from users on another forum. I've been wondering if it could replace my 09FD AND my MCD301.

[doguniverse]

Ivan, will you also carry car audio?