Pioneer 747A vs 656A / 565A

ddlooping

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Hi all. :)

I would like to know if any of you has had the opportunity to compare the (old) Pioneer 747A to the more recent 656A or 565A.
Is it a superior player (video/audio/cdp) or has it been surpassed by these cheaper, newer ones?

Thanks in advance. ;)
 
Hi, difficult question.
The 656 is better than the 565. Between the 747 and the 656, i would choose the 747 as it has a more professional feel to the player and also it looks cooler. In terms of performance the 747 can just out perform the 656 on video and is about the same on sound. look around and the 747's are going cheap:hiya:
 
Hi toohuge, thanks for the reply. :)

Where do you suggest I look around? ;)
 
Try looking at www.mountainsnow.co.uk and looking at the players that are on offer. Also, Seven Oaks www.ssav.com under special offers have got a 757 for 400 if you are looking for one. If i were you having looked at the prices of a 747(£690) and a 757(£400) i think that you should seriously consider the 757 or even the 886 which are very good players. I think that these others are a better player than the 747. My name is actually Chris for further reference:thumbsup: Any other questions regarding pioneer products or tag mclaren products please contact me.:rolleyes:
 
Thanks for the info, Chris. :smashin:

I'm actually looking to buy second-hand, which is why I'm interested in comparing these players.
The 757 and 886 are over my budget. ;)

By the way, do you know how they would compare to a Denon 3800?
This is what I'm using right now, but I'm thinking of selling it.
The way I see it is I should end-up with some extra cash (after having bought one of the Pioneers) that would go towards buying a plasma (probably the 42" Panasonic from NexNix).
 
The Denon will have better build quality as it is a Denon. In terms of perfomance, the pioneer 747 will out perform it. Pioneer make their players for one reason, to do the best job they can. The Denon will have slightly better CD reply but when it comes to DVD's and DVD audio the 747 will win hands down. Look around for a second hand 747, they are very hard to find as they are an excellent player. They only thing that the Denon has is a serial control port, i am guessing that you will not be needing this unless you have a creston controller. Try and find a seller that is willing to let you try out the Pioneer and compare it to your Denon, if build quality is not an issue then i think you will go for the Pioneer. Are you running RGB Scart or RGB Component from your Denon? The Pioneer is excellent oon both but be sure to try it out.:clown:
 
Thanks again, toohuge. :)

Anybody else willing to share his/her thoughts?
 
P.S: for CD playback I'd probably be using my Denon AVC-A1D DAC and use the Pioneer as a transport.
Unless I'm mistaken the amp has the same DAC as the 3800, so the sound with the Pioneer should be fairly similar if not identical.
 
I used a 717 for a couple of years and then a 737 until a week or so ago.
Tried a 747 and a 757 and to me the differences were very subtle if any and not worth the change, I have a meridian processor so cannot use the sacd or dvd-a side of the 757, but thought the 747 was the better movie player anyway.

Oh and the 656 is not as good as any of them imho.

I did try a denon 3800 in my system too, and thought this better than all of them, but it would not play the first disc I put in it, Moulin Rouge R1, so it put me off a purchase, but if you are not having problems with it then I would say stick with it.

I decided that I would now just keep the 737 and put my money into D-VHS instead, but, then saw the Panasonic rp-82 in action, and ordered one the next day, awesome player with no chroma bug at all and the most natural colours I have seen other than the tag Mclaren. One thing though, the audio side isnt quite as sharp as the pioneer, for music I prefer this but on films it was quite nice to have it a little sharper.

What display device are you using ???

The progressive scan is also excellent, I am now using it instead of my lumagen, but it is region 1 only, for the 2% of pal discs this doesnt bother me though.

Isn't Buns selling his RP-82 for £300 in the classifieds at the moment ??
 
I've owned the 656 and now have a 747. PQ is significantly better, tangibly so. Audio wise, I'm tempted to say it's better, expecially on CD's but that may be placebo as it's a 'better' player. Certainly, in terms of build quality it wins hands down, a very nice peice of engineering. The 757 is flimsy by comparison, like th 656 although I have never heard of any reliability problems with either so that may be irrlelvant.

Overall I would say the 747 is a very, very good DVD player. Having SACD and DVD-A is a welcome bonus and it does well on both.

As for the 3800, I reckon it's a better player than the 747, certainly for audio. The one thing it doesn't have is SACD so that may sway it. My 2800mk1 was at least the equal of the 747 for CD replay, maybe better.
 
I've owned a 747 & Denon 3800

The Denon (IMHO) is definitely better with both video & audio. Of course, as previously posted, the 3800 doesn't have the benefit of SACD.
 
Thank you all for your replies. :smashin:

From what I can gather the Denon 3800 is overall a better machine, with the main gain being observed when playing CDs.
But am I right in thinking its DAC is identical to the one found in the AVC-A1D?
I couldn't hear any difference when connected via its coaxial or analog outputs (mind you my Mission 774s might have something to do with it).
If so, wouldn't the 747 be as good a transport and sound the same via coaxial?

My main goal in selling the 3800 and getting a 747 is to save a few ££s towards the purchase of a plasma (Panasonic 42"?).
I'd be hoping to end-up with about £200 more in my pocket.
My current display is a 5 year-old Hitachi 50hz 32" widescreen with a decent picture on Sky and fairly good with DVDs.

P.S: SACD would be appreciated, if only for the multi-channel version of Dark Side Of The Moon. :)
 

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