I tried using it with an external dac (topping D30 pro - intended fort headphone setups) last year but i kept getting 1 second gaps. Maybe that depends on the digital output used.
An insightful demo. The stable platter mechanism is a serious design and has recently been revived by modern leading CD designer, Teac. I would further add, unless the streamer is galvanically isolated, it is likely passing on ground noise to the Dac, hampering its optimal performance. An iFi Lan iSIlencer Network Noise Filter plugged into the router/switch that feeds the streamer could help.
Had the 901 for a number of years then passed it onto my son who still has it and it's still in perfect running order. I recently got hold of the 703 for myself and it's a damn good deck. Common issue with the whole range was...the display gets dimmer over time, but it doesn't affect the sound. Apparently this issue was linked to the display being able to be switched off during playback.
I've had this CD from new for over 30 years. Still works great and sounds brilliant. Wasted my money buying a new Denon cd player recently. The Pioneer blows it away. Great video as ever!
I like the fact that you place the CD face up instead of face down. It gave me an idea. Since I have a regular Pioneer CD-player, I might just turn the whole player upside down and sell it as a vintage high-end CD player for twice its price...
I abolutely agree with you! The PD-S703 sounds great and probably better than any modern DAC. Music is my life and I'm in HiFi for over 45 years and I listened to hundrets of CD- players and DACs. If you ever get the chance to listen to a Pioneer PD 9700, PD 73 or PD 75 you won't believe what you hear then. These players top the PD-S703 and other smaller/ cheaper Pioneers of this period by far. All Stable Platter- Pioneers sound great but for me the PD-9700 is the "Stradivari" under the CD-players.The soundstage is magical, the timing is perfect and it sounds so natural, detailed, thrilling, airy and enegetic and never "clinical" or analytic or cold. Keep on making your great videos!
@@UTILITARIANTVUK I can't remember tbh, but vaguely recall reading / hearing that the marantz was more on the accurate, flat, technical side compared to the warmer pioneer?
This model came out during my 30s. Yes, I'm old. I read back in the days that the Legato extends the frequency range beyond 20khz although human hearing is apparently limited to 20khz. From what I can recall, it was said that the extended frequency sort of has an effect on our perception although we are not supposed to be able to hear the said extension.
Very nice player, I own the Elite PD-65 with the stable platter as well as a few other Elite CD players. I have found with all my CD/DVD no matter what brand, the Elite PD-71 has the smoothest operating drawer out of the whole bunch. it is as smooth as glass and totally silent. My Sony ES series 10 disc cartridge CD player makes such a racket when changing CDs, you can hear it from the other side of the house..lol
My first CD player I bought in 1988 was a Pioneer PD-7050. Very good sound, but my copy wouldn't work quite right. In the end I switched to a Yamaha instead and it lasted for many years. I liked the Pioneer player so it was a shame that technically it wasn't quite right.
i do like pioneer , i have a PD-7300, a PD-9000 , a PD-S701(ofrered), PD-75(urushi) , a PD-s801(really good cd player, some cost three times more and are close to this) ,a PD-S705(bought it only because the owner garanted me that was playing perfect) for 55€ and a PD-S904 ,all working at 100% , also have two 707 minidisc decks one cost me new in the box 20€ other was ofered to me , doble decks i have none as they went out of tune as fast as you play three diferent cassettes , i like cassettes to have better quality than cds, your Leak amplifier is great ,all built till 1979 was a lot better in sound quality , not only amplifiers but in my family Pioneer was the brand in 76 a cousin at christmas dinner in 76 almost got violent with me because i said " i´m going to invest my money on a high-end Sansui system" before he arrived near me as there were at least 3 chairs before mine i had the time to say "i´m joking"but i bought a technics system but hidden in a closet, i had to open the doors and it was all ready to play music in it and took from some technics speakers the logo and glued the pioneer ones, no matter what Pioneer in the 70´s was the best, the exclusive series are fantastic , the urushi ,only top end models bought one in late 80´s to early 90´s , turntables i have real good ones 7 of them ,my favorite is the P3 and the PLC-590 from 20 series also the cast iron plinth PL-560 with a shure cartridge v15 ,off course , speakers were great too , in the early 90´s bought some prologue towers are still incredible today (1.150€´s at the time money)as my HPM -150 , 2401 twin exclusive pioneer speakers built by JBL engenier the same who built the first HPM speakers and later the HPM-1100 in 1980, the PD-S801 as the same outputs in the back and that´s when better happens the 800 or 900 make a bigger diference from the 700´s but good too, in 70´s amplifiers cd players don´t sound that bad , i got hooked when i saw your first video, you´re for real , it´s real bright the cover is so dark that if you take it will be the more bright you ever seen , only this is on and the level of brightness goes low by the year, but you can put a not so dark display and it will be brighter again , i re searched this summer several consisdred the best cd player till 2.000€ in second hand most of them were like yours or the 904 or 9700 or 901,2,etc. is better than some expensive cd player the building quality it seems to decrease by the year as the PD-S801(the same as the 8700 without the so good legato link convertion) not only is bigger and looks better than the 805 or 4, it works the digital and analogue output at the same time and each at the time i am using now my 89 AD-91 and have them hooked digitaly and analogue but the analogue output sounds better , you can also increase the dac quality internally very cheap while outside in a box is not only a dac but also it equalizes the sound , so 500€ external , 35 to 40€ internal and maybe 10€ of work if you don´t know about electronics, some extrenal dac´s are inferior to the one inside the high-end cd players from pioneer the 7300 as a pcm 58 two years ago some very expenzsive cd player had the PCM 61, the dsd ARE GOOD BUT THE CHEAP ONES ARE BAD AS ALL
A small correction... CD holds 22000Hz, not 20000. The specifications for CD players say that they produce sound up to 20000, but in fact they produce no less than 22000.
It’s true up to a point - distortion is down to the limits of measurement on the best DACs today, but we’re talking such small fractions of percentage that it is not audible. Also hifi journalists have a lot to answer for.
Legato Link was some of the worst sounding players at the time. Stunning system the stable plater as a cd transport but fell short on sound, had many. Next to something like a marantz cd67se, similar money at the time, the pioneer sounded flat and undynamic. Even though the pioneer was technically built superior. And the pioneer looked way better. One of my favourite cd players of all time is a Pioneer PD91, phanominal player which sounded more like an analogue source that a cd player. Even today 30 years on, I hanker after the way it sounded, but they are very old now and probably impossible to fix if it failed.
I remember reading the hifi mags at the time and indeed they didn’t seem to favour legato link conversion, however it was all meaningless word salads made up to promote the brands that were paying to advertise and sponsor in said publications. 30 years later and people still believe all of the brainwashing when there is a world of factual information out there.
I tried using it with an external dac (topping D30 pro - intended fort headphone setups) last year but i kept getting 1 second gaps. Maybe that depends on the digital output used.
An insightful demo. The stable platter mechanism is a serious design and has recently been revived by modern leading CD designer, Teac. I would further add, unless the streamer is galvanically isolated, it is likely passing on ground noise to the Dac, hampering its optimal performance. An iFi Lan iSIlencer Network Noise Filter plugged into the router/switch that feeds the streamer could help.
Had the 901 for a number of years then passed it onto my son who still has it and it's still in perfect running order. I recently got hold of the 703 for myself and it's a damn good deck. Common issue with the whole range was...the display gets dimmer over time, but it doesn't affect the sound. Apparently this issue was linked to the display being able to be switched off during playback.
I've had this CD from new for over 30 years. Still works great and sounds brilliant. Wasted my money buying a new Denon cd player recently. The Pioneer blows it away.
Great video as ever!
me too! Though i dont use it anymore, it still works.
I like the fact that you place the CD face up instead of face down. It gave me an idea. Since I have a regular Pioneer CD-player, I might just turn the whole player upside down and sell it as a vintage high-end CD player for twice its price...
I forgot to mention that you have to listen to it in a headstand position!
@@UTILITARIANTVUK 🙂
@@UTILITARIANTVUK
😂
I abolutely agree with you! The PD-S703 sounds great and probably better than any modern DAC. Music is my life and I'm in HiFi for over 45 years and I listened to hundrets of CD- players and DACs. If you ever get the chance to listen to a Pioneer PD 9700, PD 73 or PD 75 you won't believe what you hear then. These players top the PD-S703 and other smaller/ cheaper Pioneers of this period by far. All Stable Platter- Pioneers sound great but for me the PD-9700 is the "Stradivari" under the CD-players.The soundstage is magical, the timing is perfect and it sounds so natural, detailed, thrilling, airy and enegetic and never "clinical" or analytic or cold.
Keep on making your great videos!
There was a co doing upgrades for these (Trichord Research) and selling them for c500 instead of the 250
I’ve been playing my PD S501 since around the early to mid 90s. 🤔🤷♂️ can’t remember now, but it was new!
Love it.... and still going strong
Another great video, would be interesting to see how many of today's p,ayers will be working in 2054....
Not very many!
Best CD player I ever had.
Superb on detail, I just loved it.
Wished I'd never sold it when moving to a new house In 2002.
That Pioneer era is fab.
If the benefit of the clamping method was an improvement surely, many manufacturers would be implementing it in their CD players. Food for thought!
Known side effect is the lens detaching itself and getting lost inside the players.
At the time, it was a choice between this and the Marantz CD63. We actually had both (the Marantz was Dads).
How did the Marantz compare?
@@UTILITARIANTVUK I can't remember tbh, but vaguely recall reading / hearing that the marantz was more on the accurate, flat, technical side compared to the warmer pioneer?
I have 2 Pio players. A DvLX50 dvd /Sacd player and a PD-5700. ( And a lot of old Philips players) They are vintage, but still play very well.
This model came out during my 30s. Yes, I'm old. I read back in the days that the Legato extends the frequency range beyond 20khz although human hearing is apparently limited to 20khz. From what I can recall, it was said that the extended frequency sort of has an effect on our perception although we are not supposed to be able to hear the said extension.
Anything with the "Pioneer" name on it is awesome in my book! I have the Pioneer PD-10 AE CD player & I absolutely love it! Great video buddy. 👍🏻
Very nice player, I own the Elite PD-65 with the stable platter as well as a few other Elite CD players. I have found with all my CD/DVD no matter what brand, the Elite PD-71 has the smoothest operating drawer out of the whole bunch. it is as smooth as glass and totally silent. My Sony ES series 10 disc cartridge CD player makes such a racket when changing CDs, you can hear it from the other side of the house..lol
Very cool.
That does look legit, very cool!
Yup. The Pioneer sounded slightly better to me too. The bass seemed heftier but more agile (a bit like me).
Ripples and cogging…to be avoided! Excellent!
I agree, in my modest opinion the cd dac sounds better
My first CD player I bought in 1988 was a Pioneer PD-7050. Very good sound, but my copy wouldn't work quite right. In the end I switched to a Yamaha instead and it lasted for many years. I liked the Pioneer player so it was a shame that technically it wasn't quite right.
i do like pioneer , i have a PD-7300, a PD-9000 , a PD-S701(ofrered), PD-75(urushi) , a PD-s801(really good cd player, some cost three times more and are close to this) ,a PD-S705(bought it only because the owner garanted me that was playing perfect) for 55€ and a PD-S904 ,all working at 100% , also have two 707 minidisc decks one cost me new in the box 20€ other was ofered to me , doble decks i have none as they went out of tune as fast as you play three diferent cassettes , i like cassettes to have better quality than cds, your Leak amplifier is great ,all built till 1979 was a lot better in sound quality , not only amplifiers but in my family Pioneer was the brand in 76 a cousin at christmas dinner in 76 almost got violent with me because i said " i´m going to invest my money on a high-end Sansui system" before he arrived near me as there were at least 3 chairs before mine i had the time to say "i´m joking"but i bought a technics system but hidden in a closet, i had to open the doors and it was all ready to play music in it and took from some technics speakers the logo and glued the pioneer ones, no matter what Pioneer in the 70´s was the best, the exclusive series are fantastic , the urushi ,only top end models bought one in late 80´s to early 90´s , turntables i have real good ones 7 of them ,my favorite is the P3 and the PLC-590 from 20 series also the cast iron plinth PL-560 with a shure cartridge v15 ,off course , speakers were great too , in the early 90´s bought some prologue towers are still incredible today (1.150€´s at the time money)as my HPM -150 , 2401 twin exclusive pioneer speakers built by JBL engenier the same who built the first HPM speakers and later the HPM-1100 in 1980, the PD-S801 as the same outputs in the back and that´s when better happens the 800 or 900 make a bigger diference from the 700´s but good too, in 70´s amplifiers cd players don´t sound that bad , i got hooked when i saw your first video, you´re for real , it´s real bright the cover is so dark that if you take it will be the more bright you ever seen , only this is on and the level of brightness goes low by the year, but you can put a not so dark display and it will be brighter again , i re searched this summer several consisdred the best cd player till 2.000€ in second hand most of them were like yours or the 904 or 9700 or 901,2,etc. is better than some expensive cd player the building quality it seems to decrease by the year as the PD-S801(the same as the 8700 without the so good legato link convertion) not only is bigger and looks better than the 805 or 4, it works the digital and analogue output at the same time and each at the time i am using now my 89 AD-91 and have them hooked digitaly and analogue but the analogue output sounds better , you can also increase the dac quality internally very cheap while outside in a box is not only a dac but also it equalizes the sound , so 500€ external , 35 to 40€ internal and maybe 10€ of work if you don´t know about electronics, some extrenal dac´s are inferior to the one inside the high-end cd players from pioneer the 7300 as a pcm 58 two years ago some very expenzsive cd player had the PCM 61, the dsd ARE GOOD BUT THE CHEAP ONES ARE BAD AS ALL
No headphones out !! 😱 No fix and variable rca line out !! 😱 as PD -S702 has ..
Anyways PD-S703 it's a good one too 👍
Lost remote ?? 😭
A small correction... CD holds 22000Hz, not 20000. The specifications for CD players say that they produce sound up to 20000, but in fact they produce no less than 22000.
I thought dacs were supposed to have improved significantly from 30 years ago !
It’s true up to a point - distortion is down to the limits of measurement on the best DACs today, but we’re talking such small fractions of percentage that it is not audible.
Also hifi journalists have a lot to answer for.
I like A better 😂 great stuff👍
Legato Link was some of the worst sounding players at the time. Stunning system the stable plater as a cd transport but fell short on sound, had many. Next to something like a marantz cd67se, similar money at the time, the pioneer sounded flat and undynamic. Even though the pioneer was technically built superior. And the pioneer looked way better. One of my favourite cd players of all time is a Pioneer PD91, phanominal player which sounded more like an analogue source that a cd player. Even today 30 years on, I hanker after the way it sounded, but they are very old now and probably impossible to fix if it failed.
I remember reading the hifi mags at the time and indeed they didn’t seem to favour legato link conversion, however it was all meaningless word salads made up to promote the brands that were paying to advertise and sponsor in said publications.
30 years later and people still believe all of the brainwashing when there is a world of factual information out there.
A