is the pioneer 434 the one???

J

jeroenskie

Guest
Dear people had desided to buy the pioneer ,BUT just one hour before ordering ,My eye fall on somethings you said and now i'm :confused:

There are a few things that make me this.

1.As i'm a person that hear every humm or zoemm
i'm afraid that the fan noise is going to irritate me,i'm sitting 5 meters away do you think it is notticable at this range??

2. how about the reflection in the black edges?
does anyone that has the pioneer think it is anoying?

3.now for a more positive question,i do not want to use the pioneer speakers as i yhink they are to shine and big .

can I attach for instants a pair of gallo's? or is the 12 watt not enough?


this is it for now,hope you can help me :)

kind regards Jeroenskie
 
To be positive back, here's a reply from a proud Pioneer 434 owner who - despite being neither deaf nor blind - doesn't notice and is not annoyed by either a buzzing from the media box or any excess reflectiveness from the black borders of the screen.

I have my media box in a vertical position behind the screen, which probably blocks off any tiny noise. Seems to me it's best out of sight, with lots of otherwise obtrusive cables going into the front and back.
 
Originally posted by Billilu
To be positive back, here's a reply from a proud Pioneer 434 owner who - despite being neither deaf nor blind - doesn't notice and is not annoyed by either a buzzing from the media box or any excess reflectiveness from the black borders of the screen.

I have my media box in a vertical position behind the screen, which probably blocks off any tiny noise. Seems to me it's best out of sight, with lots of otherwise obtrusive cables going into the front and back.

:laugh:

That is good to hear.... I was afraid that i had to start my search again an then :suicide:

My media box will be in a closed rigt under the tv so that can't be the problem :)

Did you buy the pioneer speakers ? or do you know if there is a pre out so that i can use a amp for it ?

kind regards jeroenskie
 
jeroenskie

May I also add that I am a proud owner of the 434 (see the thread "My Comments" among others) and those little "noises" most of us have been describing are definitely very minimal and not show stoppers.

I had the 433 before, I am not totally thrilled by the black screen surrounding (a matter of taste I guess) but for sure there are no reflections.

Finally, I believe the two channel output is intended to connect 13W max in 8 Ohms speakers.

GO FOR IT!
 
I waited ages for the 434 to come out and have to say its good, but not that good. I know the question of resolution will no doubt be brought up by somebody, but I find Panasonics 6-series to have a superior picture. Thats a strictly subjective opinion as I was really looking forward to the Pioneer.

The fact that the Panny can be bought for a staggering £1300 less (Virtually the price of the Sanyo Z2 projector I'm also looking at and which IS high-res) is a clincher for me. I'm aware that the 434 has speakers, table stand and a media box, but when its being wall-mounted, connected to an AV system and a cable box, whoo needs em?
 
Thanks to everybody in this forum for their invaluable contributions I made my decision and got mine today.

Before I comment on 434 some clarifications about my viewing habits: This plasma is a replacement for a normal TV to watch analog SD cable broadcast. I will subscribe to digital cable soon though… I use the TV in the well lit living room (I hate sitting in the dark, and everything below well lit is dark for me) so brightness is important and black levels aren’t very critical. I also have to admit that I still do not own a DVD player (waiting for the 668) and never owned a video recorder (lousy PQ).

Now to the 434:

Picture quality:
The analog SD broadcast which is the only source I tested until now is above my expectations and is really great, especially when the source is nice. (Garbage in garbage out…This has been said here many times before) What I am wondering about is that the 434 is so much better than the 433 I usually see (lots of picture noise, greenish blacks). Comparing the Pana 42 with Pio 433 on SD broadcast was always a no-brainer in favour of Pana, which has good SD processing. I really would like to compare my 434 against Pana 42 . The 434 is really great in this respect and I am really confident it will hold up excellently against the Pana.

Banding/solarization: Sorry, couldn’t detect any. If I were very critical I would mention a certain flatness in skin gradations but this is the case with all plasmas and I never saw a better gradation than in this 434 (still at factory settings).

Black levels: If compared side by side the blacks are surely not as good as Pana. But stand (seen) alone they really are well enough and as I said in my environment no issue at all. Very happy.

Buzzing: You can hear a slight buzzing when near to the display. Sitting 9 feet away I hardly can hear it (and I tell you I am very critical about noise; I hear the computer monitor buzzing in the company three rooms away). It is no issue to me.

Fan in the media box: This is a bit disturbing but I have say I got used to it after one hour of watching. I will probably put the box away on a low place on my side rack. With 38 watts the power consumption of the box is really low; they could have found a passive cooling for that little bit heat.

Time to change channels: This really is UGLY. It takes 2 to 3 seconds to change the channels. Sometimes during change it loses the channel for a moment, then it takes even longer. Zapping is no fun…

That’s for the time being, now I will return to my new toy and continue my testing.
 
I'd agree that in isolation, the Pioneer has good black levels. I'd also agree with the concensus that the bezel does the set no favours at all and is strictly a case of form over function. I'd love to see a 434 with a brushed stainless surround and honestly believe the units picture would appear comparitively better as a result.
For me, I am, unfortunately, rapidly coming to the personal conclusion that plasma and particularly LCD justify a premium over CRT but only to a point. Four grand is beyond that point.
Its quite easy to make a case for a £2500 6-series Panny as the picture is superb for the price. I just think the law of diminishing returns kicks in straight after that and whilst many have made a case for the Pioneers resolution, the OVERALL image, and lets face it, thats whats important, is not quite as good.
I hand on heart believe that the Panasonic 6 is currently the perfect balance of price/performance. Just a pity the silver bezel is so much pricier.
 
I can't argue about the price sensitivity of others. But regarding the "OVERALL PICTURE QUALIY" you have to see the Pio 434 (preferably at home with proper connections) to believe it. The picture is sharp, vivid and rock solid...

I am also sold on that black shiny frame. I love it and it doesn't disturb a bit, even in my bright room.
 
You make some good points Sprout Crumble.
I am very interested in the Pioneer 434 HDE but do wonder about the law of diminishing returns as regards to this against the standard Panny 6.
The fact that the Pioneer has an HDMI input is whats making it worth considering, but until I get to see it linked to a compatable player I will have to reserve judgement. Has Gordon posted his comments yet?
I am concerned about the noise levels surrounding the panel and media box though. I thought Pioneer had the only so called silent panels around? :confused:
 
For me the 434 is currently the very best plasma although on lookks I also prefer the old 433
 
Originally posted by joys_R_us
[Time to change channels: This really is UGLY. It takes 2 to 3 seconds to change the channels. Sometimes during change it loses the channel for a moment, then it takes even longer. Zapping is no fun…
[/B]
As you may have seen on other threads, this is my biggest problem with tihs lovely product.......
 
Originally posted by AV Geeza

The fact that the Pioneer has an HDMI input is whats making it worth considering, but until I get to see it linked to a compatable player I will have to reserve judgement. Has Gordon posted his comments yet?

The Panasonic has changeable terminal boards. Does anyone know if its technically possible to provide a HDMI board at a later date?
 
I know it gets said alot on these forums but you really need to go to a specialised av seller and get a demo. It makes even more sense when you are talking about spending £3000 - £4000 pounds.

I fell in love with the looks and simple connectivity of pioneer straight away and pre-demo my mind was made up that that was the plasma for me. That's until I viewed the pio 434 side by side with the panny pw6 and hd6. Straight away to my eyes I preferred the panny. The contrast was better and picture smoother. Colour wise there wasn't a great deal of difference with the pio looking a bit greener, again I preferred the panny. Pioneer seem to use alot of noise to make their pictures looked sharper, which they definitely do at a distance, but as I will be sitting relatively close to the screen the pannys smoother picture suited me more. Even though its going to be a pain running more leads to the screen I really did prefer the panny that much that I felt it was worth it.

With the HD vs ST on a standard dvd (not hid-def) signal I couldn't really notice the extra pixels on the HD unless I was really close to the screen. With a pc signal via vga you could notice alot of difference especially with text readability.

I guess you've got to weigh up the pro's and con's yourself at the end of the day but I'd have to agree with sprouts comments about the pw6 when he said - "I hand on heart believe that the Panasonic 6 is currently the perfect balance of price/performance" although I prefer the black bezel and that's what I went for and its a good £1000 less then the pioneer.
 
Well i think if i could get a silver HD panasonic with an HDMI board i would go for that over the 434, but i want High Def, and by general consensus (apart from Gordon's half remark) i want HDMI.. Plus, i prefer the name Pioneer ;)
 
this is going to be a close call between the pio and te pana!

Can it be that there is not really A/B comparissing possible?

I do think that this is only possible when both plasma's are callibrated by the same person with the same software .

Maybe the person in the shop did crank up the red from the pana
and lessend the contrast off the pio??
With other words ,Can we say???this picture is better than ..........

Also there is possibilety off an other source on the 2 ....


What I read is that they are both perfect and therefore I can not imagne that either one is al loss of money!

I personally prefer the black lining off the pio ,I think it will give a deeper picture ,as far as I know black (dark)gives more depth in a picture than silver.

just this,did anyone ever saw the marantz plasma ?

I saw this a couple off years ago and I never seen anything like this again.
It was if i was looking true a window at a theatherplay So incredible REAL.

Hope they will come out with a new one soon ,this would be the only reason to sell the pio and go for the marantz :)
 
Originally posted by jeroenskie

just this,did anyone ever saw the marantz plasma ?

I saw this a couple off years ago and I never seen anything like this again.
It was if i was looking true a window at a theatherplay So incredible REAL.

Hope they will come out with a new one soon ,this would be the only reason to sell the pio and go for the marantz :)

IIRC, Marantz is a wholly owned brand-name of Philips so I'd be staggered if it wasn't simply a Philips panel and electronics in a different bezel.

As for a direct Panny/Pio comparison its hard to be sure. There's a tendency here to dissect the specs of tv's and focus on this bit or that bit. With the Pioneer, some have said the resolution makes it better regardless as its more future-proof so its worth the extra. Others say the Pannys contrast is king.
I say, and i'm sure many agree, that sitting down in front of them and thinking "wow, that looks great. Much better than the other one." is the beginning and end of it. The Pioneers extra resolution is no doubt of benefit to some people but it should never be a clinching argument if the purpose of the tv, i.e. to deliver a picture that makes you grin, is compromised in any way.
I'm not saying that's the case in this instance, because the Pioneer is a beautiful set with a fine picture.
What I'm saying is that FOR ME, I would never be happy spending £3800 on a screen that didn't give me the same satisfaction as a £2500 one simply because the tech specs are in conflict with that assessment or because other opinions say otherwise. Each person must choose to their preferences.
In this instance, I find the Panny image to be much more to my liking and if in a few years time, when HDTV finally gets going and higher-res DVD bursts onto the scene and it starts to lose its edge, I'll be happy in the knowledge that it has made me happy for several years and left me £1300 richer to contribute to a newer, and undoubtably superior set when that higher resolution is needed.
What I'm saying is, don't buy the Pioneer for its resolution alone, because if you don't find its picture as pleasing now, you're certainly not going to in a few years time when the resolution makes more sense for general viewing.
Buy the Pioneer now if its picture makes YOU go "wow".
.
.
.
I'm not sure if what I wrote above actually makes sense to anyone outside of my own head. Please ignore if its [Baldrick]gobbleaduke[/Baldrick]
 
Originally posted by Sprout Crumble
Buy the Pioneer now if its picture makes YOU[/] go "wow".
This is exactly what it did for me have it seen it next to a Panasonic. I think it is all personal taste to your own very eyes. For me Pioneer is currently way ahead on picture performance.
 
I do not have the Pana in my house environment, so a comparison is difficult.

The only thing I would like to stress is that the picture quality of the Pio 434 with a good input source is above everything I have seen in shops and exhibitions up to now. And I have been looking for a plasma for two years now !

Apart from the switching delay issue you can't go wrong with the Pio.
 
IIRC, Marantz is a wholly owned brand-name of Philips so I'd be staggered if it wasn't simply a Philips panel and electronics in a different bezel.

I had contact with Maranrtz and they claim it was a fujitsu display with there own tuner.

This tuner was the thing that made it very special.

Also they say the will come with a totally new one in medio next year,it will be better than the pioneer /panasonic wich is seen as a reference at this point of time.

It will be a totall marantz product so not a phillips or a fuj.. display.

Wel I can not wait to see! untill this time I will go for the pioneer.
And if the marantz is THE BEST I will sell the pioneer and go for the marantz ,although maybe at that time LCD is the better one.


AAAAAHHHHH I hate this evolution ,always running behind the technolegy!

Thanks for ALLL the reply's thise makes these forums what they are today:clap:

kind regards Jeroenskie
 
Costas,

What model panny did you compare the 434 against?

JP.
 
can anybody tell me if it is posibble to use the monitor out as kind of preamp ?

I want to use different speaker then the standard pioneer BUT want use the tele's volume to adjust the volume.

So the plan would be buy an poweramp connect it via the monitor out ,and only make use of the tle's volume knot ,
is this possible I want yo know for sure :O)

kind regard Jeroenskie
 
I fell in love with the looks and simple connectivity of pioneer straight away and pre-demo my mind was made up that that was the plasma for me. That's until I viewed the pio 434 side by side with the panny pw6 and hd6. Straight away to my eyes I preferred the panny. The contrast was better and picture smoother. Colour wise there wasn't a great deal of difference with the pio looking a bit greener, again I preferred the panny. Pioneer seem to use alot of noise to make their pictures looked sharper, which they definitely do at a distance, but as I will be sitting relatively close to the screen the pannys smoother picture suited me more. Even though its going to be a pain running more leads to the screen I really did prefer the panny that much that I felt it was worth it.

This is very, very similar to how I currently feel - I was pretty much 90% decided on the 434 before Event II this weekend. I had my heart set on the 434, but I just really don't know whether I could live with the "grainy/noisey" picture when compared to the panasonic - especially as I too will be relatively close...

Pretty sure I need a another proper viewing at a dealer so aim to arrange this soon...

For those looking at the 434 I would definitely try to view it side-by-side with the Panny's...

Cheers

JJ
 
Jasonjo,

My feelings too. I'm practically set on the 42PHD for the same reasons as yourself (plus the pioneers weaker black level -not a problem in a well lit room but will be obvious if you view dvd's in a darkened room). The 434 should be compared to the XGA 42PHD and not the VGA models.

Waiting for some Event II feedback (Joe).

JP.
 
I got my pw6 from av-sales jason, it would be worth your while going down there for a demo as they have the pio and the panny hd and sd set up in the same room. Like I said before I went for the sd model because I just couldn't justify spending another grand or so.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom