[raytom]

Can anyone give me a comparison how the 9500 competes today with newer products on the market?
I am after something high quality to pair with my pioneer 436xde plamsa.
Does anyone know a cheaper price than £699 at leconcepts.
Thanks in advance

Ray.

[Thunder]

Its a fantastic machine only bettered by the likes of Tag, Linn e.t.c

[CJROSS]

I actually think the £699 is a bargain for this machine from LEConcepts, so good is its video & audio. Anyway there is a cheaper option I reckon, keep your eyes peeled for a 2nd hand version with V2.7 (a load of use bought them at xmas direct from Toshiba – end of line for £299-399) these machines were R2 only these go for £300-350, but recently a poster “Buckster” has found a way of getting this machine chipped to MR for less than £100 : chronicled at the end of this giant thread :

Toshiba SD-9500 for £1,095

£450-500 for a MR model does not seem to far fetched. PS Dude the component output of this machine is sublime, but you should check out what machines outperform it HDMI wise these days as your screen supports this IIRC. Nic Rhodes is a good guy to read views on component from say a SD-9500 and other Digital videp playback modes.

[raytom]

Thanks for the help and advice,much appreciated
I was thinking along the lines of the pioneer 868v9500 and a more direct comparison between the two?
Anyone out there had or own both?
Thanks in advance,
Ray.

[Ekko Star]

Yep I have both, they are both very good indeed.

The 868 via HDMI is almost on a par with the Tosh via YUV. Very little in it if anything but I would give the nod to the Tosh.

The 868 has upscaling features and can handle a variety of discs and formats typical of more modern players. Build quality is good for todays standards, but still not what should be expected of a £1000 player. The only general dissapointment being the tray mechanism I would say.

The Tosh 9500 is awesome all round and is definitely a bit of kit to be proud of. It is built to an exceptional standard the level of which we are unlikely to witness again in the world of DVD. Tweaks galore until your hearts content.

On purely video terms I have found they are both at their best on 576P, 868 via HDMI a truly razor sharp picture full of depth and contrast. The 9500 you would expect to perform just by simply looking at the machine and it does so effortlessly, but it takes the 3-Dimensionality of the image marginally further to me eyes.

On Audio terms for video content, the 868 has the iLink which works wonderfully well partnered with an AX5ai for example. The Tosh has opitcal and coaxial digital connections but even that sounds just as good. The iLink on the Pioneer definately sounds better than its opitcal or coaxial connection but I'm not sure if it sounds better than the Tosh via those connections. Once again not much in it there.

One advantage the Pioneer did hold over the Tosh was that it could be made multi-region. However this is now less of an issue as multi-region.co.uk can upgrade the Tosh for you.

The problem you may have is trying to get hold of these machines now and I would guess the 868 is the more accessible in that respect.

[CJROSS]

On Audio terms for video content, the 868 has the iLink which works wonderfully well partnered with an AX5ai for example. The Tosh has opitcal and coaxial digital connections but even that sounds just as good. The iLink on the Pioneer definately sounds better than its opitcal or coaxial connection but I'm not sure if it sounds better than the Tosh via those connections. Once again not much in it there.

Just to add to Ekko usually informative post above. Im a stereo only user of the SD-9500 as such Im quite interested in how the onboard DAC/Decoders work for downmixing 5.1 DD & DTS via the stereo outputs from the player alone than say a digital connection to an AV amp. I use the XLR outputs to a Primare stereo amp and can say that the ability of the onboard decoders, DACs & anlg output stages are stunning to my ears. I previously had a TAG DAC that did wonders in this respect and can say the Toshiba is up there at that quality too. Stereo wise this is a spuerplative device from CD, HDCD CD, DVD-V & DVD-A. Via its owns DACs I would assume it’s a higher calibre of player than the Pioneer.

[raytom]

Thanks guys again for your input.
I am interested to hear the capabilities of the 9500 in stereo,thats another plus!
LEConcepts can get me a 9500 new for £699.
So really it's down to my own choice
Cheers Ray
PS Whats cables do you guys use to hook the 9500 up?