Pioneer DV-747A review in Hi-Fi World

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Hi,
A few days ago I posted about Hi-Fi Choice's positive review of the 747A. I got a chance to listen to the player at the Bristol Show (asked them to play my Keb Mo SACD, track 'It Hurts Me Too') and sound quality was a bit disappointing, but of course I'm not familiar with Pioneer's hi-end AV electronics and speakers, so I can't conclude anything.
Hi-Fi World came out today. They gave it top marks (but then they give most thinks the full 4 globes - better to ignore the mark and read the comments).
"Compare it to the likes of Arcam's FMJ CD32T and you won't give the 747 a second look - or listen. It isn't bad - it's quite rich and full sounding, with no nasties and a decently refined and polished sound, but you hardly get pushed to the edge of your seat with excitement. It does the job perfectly well, but don't buy this primarily as a standard 16bit/44.1kHz CD player."
Is that kind of what the German mags were saying?
Most of the comments on DVD-A and SACD were that the DVD-A was exciting and very 'hifi' sounding with clarity etc, but still a bit edgy and digital sounding, whereas SACD was smoother and more analogue-like.
Some more example comments:
"both its DVD-A and SACD abilities are excellent - but different. In a nutshell, DVD-As sound more powerful and dynamic, and a little brighter, more edgy and 'digital', whereas SACDs are smoother, warmer and slightly more beguilling."
"The downside of the Pioneer's DVD-A performance is that it still sounds 'digital' - it's a long way from the beautifully beguilling, natural and organic performance you get from vinyl. Switching to SACD somewhat alleviates this sense - although it doesn't go as far as it could."
"[With SACD] I found myself locked into the music rather than the whizz-bang hi-fi quality of DVD-A."
"Tonally the 747 is smoother and duller with SACD than DVD-A, with a richer, fuller bass and wider, less precise soundstage - this seems to reflect the relative differences between the two formats in general."
"This machine is neither the world's best DVD-A player or SACD spinner, but it sounds way better than CD all the same."
I think I'll stick to my SCD-XA333ES :)
Phil

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Topic - Pioneer DV-747A review in Hi-Fi World - Phil Carmalt 03:46:57 02/27/02 (1)

Jack In The Box - Robertc88 04:41:05 02/27/02 (0)

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