HELP! Pioneer 508XD/LX508/LX5090 questions

[xjrsupercharger]

Newbie so forgive the questions!

I want a 50" plasma and AV set up which will require pretty much starting from scratch apart from some speakers. Intend to put in Sky HD, Apple TV (music), Blueray & DVD.

Everyone seems to recommend the Pioneer Kuro displays and they get a lot of good press here. I will be sitting approx 3m/10' away from the screen in a room 4.8m deep (i.e. the wall the screen will hang on) by 4.4m wide.

Questions:

(1) Is the extra money for a LX508 worth paying over a 508XD purely for 1080HD? Will I really notice over £1000 worth of difference?

(2) I believe the new 2008 Kuro screens come out next month and assume the LX5090 will be an uprated version of the LX508. SHould I wait? Does anyone know what the price will be like?

(3) What kind of money should I budget for an AV amp which I'm assuming should have HDMI switching. What features should I be looking for? I'm guessing a budget level of around £1000.

Thanks to those more knowledgeable than me!

 

[Hounder]

1. I guess for a screen of 50", full 1080P HD would be the option to go for if you can afford it. You don't notice so much of a difference on the 42" version, but get a noticably better picture on the larger screen with Full HD.

Look here for the cheapest at present:

http://www.prcdirect.co.uk/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=PDPLX508D

2. I've read the new Kuros have black levels 5x that of the current range. As to pricing, they will probably comparable to the current generation of Kuro screens when they first hit the
market.

3. I've been looking at these two :

http://www.purelygadgets.co.uk/prodinfo.php?prodid=21329&start=0&thislist=25~197~302

http://www.digitechelectronics.com/model.php?ID=3021

Hope this gives you some food for thought.

 

[Rob20]

1) What TV & Vid stated in a review of the LX508 (recently) that the difference in picture quality between that and the 508XD was 'incremental'. I recently spoke to a Pioneer rep who was a visitor at the Oxford St branch of John Lewis. When asked about resolution, he said that of the 20 or so reps that had seen the sets side by side the majority could see no substantial difference. Infact he said that personally, even from 1-2m away he could see no difference at all and that from my viewing distance of of roughly 3m+ it wasn't worth the £1,000 premium. In his opinion, the 508XD screen's picture was already so good and that for a 50" screen it's the colours reproduction, contrast etc that are of most significance. Anyway, £1,000 saved would buy a serious amp IMO.

2) Bumptious will be attanding an event to demo and release details for the new Pioneers next week. I believe he said that prices would be announced so look back next Tuesday. As it's only a week away you might as well hold on. Still, I imagine the 5090 will be £3,000+ anyway. No harm waiting a week to find out though eh!.

3) I paid £1,000 for my Onkyo 875 amp and am very happy with it. Has 4 1.3 HDMI inputs (one out) for HDMI switching, will upscale all your sources to 1080p via HQV Reon-VX Video Processing, plus decodes all sound formats including DD True HD and DTS Master Audio, (essential for latest Blu-Ray movies). THX Ultra 2 certified, 200 watts per channel, 7.1 the list goes on. For more info:

http://www.eu.onkyo.com/products/product_en_2008_5875659.html

 

[marts500]

I bought a 508XD after scrutinizing this with an LX508D in a side-by-side Hdmi cable swap running a copy of master and commander(Blu-Ray).Maybe its my eyes but i couldn't see the difference.If anything the cheaper 508XD looked a tad brighter(bigger pixels??).The sales guy assured me they were calibrated identically.Maybe the 508XD was better run in.I then had a quick demo of the Panasonic 700z and a Samsung...bless 'em.The 508XD has silk smooth 24fps panning and scrolling and the deep deep blacks display stunning cinematic pictures that really will deliver.I guess if you have to sit with your nose against the screen when viewing a movie i'm sure theres gotta be some difference with the higher resolution to warrant a £1500-£1600 hike over the 508XD and if this is the case i should carry on saving.But 3K for a tv....Jeez.By the way i am running a Marantz DV7001 dvd player and a Panasonic BD30 Blu-Ray Player (going on for another grand).My tv is being very well nourished with mint signals and i'm sure that makes a big difference.
Get the 508XD......

 

[Filbert]

Pricing for the G9 plasma has been released now.

 

[mark800]

You'll be able to buy the LX5090 for about £2400. Hopefully, that will help you make the decision. The TV is due in June. Personally, I'd buy the LX5090. In fact, I am upgrading to the LX5090 from the 508XD.

 

[uktrailmonster]

(1) Is the extra money for a LX508 worth paying over a 508XD purely for 1080HD? Will I really notice over £1000 worth of difference?

Nobody except yourself can answer that question. If your budget is tight enough to make you think about it, then it's almost certainly not worth the difference. No doubt the LX will be a tad better, but the XD is still a superb TV compared to pretty much every other 50" TV full HD or not. Personally I'd spend the £1K on the audio side to give a more balanced overall package.

If you're not in a hurry I'd wait for the new models, if only to get a better deal on the existing ones. Again, I doubt the difference in price will justify the difference in performance. There are already some great deals going on the 508XD, so it would be a no-brainer for me.

 

[Dazzonamission]

I like quiet a few of the people on here have a Pioneer Kuro Panel, myself opting for the cheaper 508xd which i got for £1611 including 5 years warranty, I must say the set is impeccable and the blacks are just outstanding,plus i have sky hd and am very very impressed with the quality of this plasma.
There are a lot of setting up options to get the panel working to it's full capacity,most of which rely on non default settings therefore some tweeking is required...but there are lots of useful post's on this subject.
I think anyone considering the new Lx series need to see the Xd series in it's full glory before deciding whether the extra money really is necessary to get a truly outstanding picture.

 

[Nn3m3s1sS]

Last week I received my LX5090H. What a great screen it is. Watch three movies already but didn't het much of the story from either of them cause the picture quality was so amazing. Every image looks like a piece of art in this screen!!

But now my question. I also hooked up my Xbox360 through HDMI. But when I play games (like Falout 3) the screen sometimes show a slight flickering or shows framerate drops. I use ofcourse game mode. What could be the issue??

Please help me out. Thank you very much!