Pioneer CLD 2950

Hi,

I was looking for a higher quality player with A-B switching. At first, I was keeping an eye on the CLD 925 as the "holy grail", but then realised from reviews that the PQ of the 2950 was considered to be just as good (if not better) and they do not go for as much. So I managed to get hold of a (not pristine), but healthy 2950 for the princely sum of £21 on eBay (I gave them a bit more in the end, because £21 was a bit of an insult for such a nice bit of kit!).

My question- is the high quality circuit filtering applied through all outputs or is it only S-Video? What do people think is the best output for this player? S-video didn't seem too hot, so I am now on scart- I would have trouble picking out that it was a component signal- the colours are as tight as hell and the picture is very clean indeed. Still a bit of aliasing, but I don't think that can be avoided?

Cheers

Daniel

Danielp wrote:

Hi,

I was looking for a higher quality player with A-B switching. At first, I was keeping an eye on the CLD 925 as the "holy grail", but then realised from reviews that the PQ of the 2950 was considered to be just as good (if not better) and they do not go for as much. So I managed to get hold of a (not pristine), but healthy 2950 for the princely sum of £21 on eBay (I gave them a bit more in the end, because £21 was a bit of an insult for such a nice bit of kit!).

My question- is the high quality circuit filtering applied through all outputs or is it only S-Video? What do people think is the best output for this player? S-video didn't seem too hot, so I am now on scart- I would have trouble picking out that it was a component signal- the colours are as tight as hell and the picture is very clean indeed. Still a bit of aliasing, but I don't think that can be avoided?

Cheers

Daniel

I have a 2950 and a 925. They are both excellent machines and I would say that they have near-enough equal PQ. The area where they differ the most is in the audio output. Though both (from the box) will give you DTS from the appropriate LDs via the optical out) the 2950 as standard, will not output the AC3 Dolby Digital-out required for 5.1 sound without modification, but the 925 will. My 2950 is modified and has the output, many were back in the day. However, despite having an overall better features line-up...I must admit, whilst it is by no means flimsy, the 925 is nowhere near as well built as the 2950. Now there is a hefty and well put together machine. It just looks the business too. It is easy to see, if you do a search, that the good old (in a good way) days, 2950 was and indeed still is a fan favourite of many. There were plent of good reasons, only the main ones have I mentioned here.

The 925 also has a digital frame store and gives you the same kind of trick facilities from a regular CLV disc as you would get from a more expensive CAV version....picture when you press pause, picture when you turn over A>B etc.

As for overall picture quality from either machine...this would depend on the comb filter in your TV. The best way to decide really is to pick which ever one looks best to your gaze and go with that. As LD was always an analogue composite format anyway, it may well be better via the SCART. Also, I always go on repeatedly about calibration being a prime ingredient in improving a Laserdisc's picture, so once again I cannot stress it enough. If you can get an LD calibration disc, then don't hesitate. You will be surprised at what a difference it really makes.

I have an CLD - 2950 i think it`s a great machine, mine has has the AC3 add on, for picture i use the phono line and for audio i use both digital outputs(ac3 and opitical) and the analogue one for very old discs without digital sound.

Thanks for that. I had a look at the 925 and decided when it came to it, I could live without the extra features and save the £££. I find the "film mode" where the screen goes blank at disc turn perfectly acceptable, without the picture hold.

The pic quality is amazing, a bit soft as I have it, but also very vivid and cinematic. My TV is calibrated via a DVD THX configuration pattern. I read that the colour values are different for LD and my user preset certainly didn't work. However, the "standard" preset on my TV works an absolute TREAT. I thought vivid was OK, but it brought out noise in strong colours. At the moment, I just seem to get minor noise and bloom in reds, but blues are fine (and I find they are the most obvious).

I have tested the Fifth Element, Goldeneye and T2 SE on it and all look fantastic. However, the best thing is that Star Wars Definitive also looks really nice. On my previous player (a CLD- S315), it was all smear, blur, aliasing and noise. The 2950 brings out the best in it and now I see why people say that this version is one of the best ways of enjoying the original trilogy.

I went for a scart connection- at the moment, I just have it connected to a big Hi-Fi using the phonos- that is pretty impressive. However, I will probably use the toshlink when I get some sort of AV amp sorted. My one hasn't got the AC3 conversions (my S315 has, but the pic quali is such a class apart, I know which wins).

Daniel

PS....haven't tried the phono yet. Haven't got a cable long enough!

S video is what looked the best to my eyes when connected to my 2009 Panasonic 1080P LCD TV (30 odd inch at least)

The Scart I could not notice any difference when comparing against the yellow, white and red cables. (We call them RCA's in Oz)