[Leaat23]

Hi all,

I'm after replacing my Pioneer 575 with one of the above players, this player has HDMI output which is what I'm after for my Toshiba 32wlt66, is it worth me swapping my 575 for this model?? Another feature I want is SACD playback, any of you good folk no of any better player with HDMI and SACD playback for around £150.

[unique]

Originally Posted by Leaat23

Hi all,

I'm after replacing my Pioneer 575 with one of the above players, this player has HDMI output which is what I'm after for my Toshiba 32wlt66, is it worth me swapping my 575 for this model?? Another feature I want is SACD playback, any of you good folk no of any better player with HDMI and SACD playback for around £150.

the 696 is prettymuch an hdmi enabled 575. i have both models, and i found on my hitachi 32" lcd that the 575 via component wasn't that great, but via hdmi upscaled was a lot better, altho i use the 696 on a 50" pio plasma. it plays sacd and dvda. i replaced a samsung 950 with the 696. if you want better PQ you have to go for the denon 1930 at £250, the 696 is £130 multiregion inc delivery, you need to get a hdmi cable tho

[Leaat23]

Cheer for the Unique,

I agree that the 575 is pretty poor via component on my Toshiba, so was hoping this 696 would be better with HDMI, just seen it online for 124.99 delivered but think ill give Richer Sounds a visit and see if they will do a price match Budget won't stretch to the Denon.

[unique]

Originally Posted by Leaat23

Cheer for the Unique,

I agree that the 575 is pretty poor via component on my Toshiba, so was hoping this 696 would be better with HDMI, just seen it online for 124.99 delivered but think ill give Richer Sounds a visit and see if they will do a price match Budget won't stretch to the Denon.

the 575 looked fine on my pio plasma, but it cost £3k and nothing really looks crap on it, but i was dissapointed when i got my new lcd for the bedroom and the 575 looked crap on it, but then relieved when the 950 via upscaled component looked a lot better and perhaps marginally better via hdmi, so whilst many say let the panel do the upscaling, it's not always the case. i upscale to my pio plasma with the 696, but i couldn't really say it was any better or worse as the upscaling is pretty good on that screen

[madhouse]

Originally Posted by Leaat23

Hi all,

I'm after replacing my Pioneer 575 with one of the above players, this player has HDMI output which is what I'm after for my Toshiba 32wlt66, is it worth me swapping my 575 for this model?? Another feature I want is SACD playback, any of you good folk no of any better player with HDMI and SACD playback for around £150.

Hi,

I bought the Pioneer because it does everything I wanted. It delivers a great picture and plays everything I have given it (including DiVX & XvID) from all types of disc.

However - I may end up trying to take it back as I am really annoyed at the noise the drive makes. Depending on where the laser is on the disc it is audible during playback. When I have my surround system at a good level, it isn't a problem, but when watching without disturbance from outside and at a lower volume it really is a pain.

Apart from that I am big time happy.

In a German forum today I read that someone managed to dampen the drive by using some padding normally used in computers. Apparantly a thin layer was glued to the case on the inside, as only 2 or 4 screws need removing to get inside the player. If careful apparently no traces of opening the machine are later visible .

If anyone has any other ideas I'd be willing to hear them as apart from my complaint it's a decent machine. And I tried quite a few before I got to this one.

Simon