Pioneer BDP-09FD a Surprisingly Good CD Player
-- Sat, 07/25/2009 - 01:27
3 months ago I added the Pioneer BDP-09FD Blu-ray player to my home theater system. Even though I have a separate 2-channel system, I still made it a priority to get good 2-channel CD sound with the Pioneer. My AV processor is the Bryston SP1.7 which has an excellent analog preamp. The amplifiers are also Bryston.
Well, it took this player forever to break in, but now that it has, I am surprised by its 2-channel CD performance. Knowing that Pioneer "went to town" with the analog audio section in this player, my expectation wasn't exactly low.
Can someone from AVguide.com give this unit a serious lookover, AFTER its been adequately broken in. For those who need to combine their HT and 2-channel systems, this may be an excellent choice.
Sorry, the above is my post.
I have had my Pioneer 09 for about 6-7 months...I got it for the blu ray side of the house. It is used in combo 2 ch/HT system with Meridian 861 v4, amps are ayre as is pre amp...I find the 09 best on blu ray but for regular DVDs my ayre D1xe produces a better pic and seems to provide better sound. But perhaps I should take a more serious listen to the 09
Your Ayre D1xe is a superb CD player, so I am not sure the Pioneer will best it. What I can say is that the Pioneer, with Shunyata Viper CX power cord / Stillpoint cones, provides CD sound which is overall better than my Arcam DV-27A and Sony SCD-777ES (SCD-1 without balanced outputs). Indeed, the Pioneer has made it rather clear that the Sony needs to be replaced in my 2-channel system (Mark Levinson integrated, B&W 805 Signature speakers)...probably Esoteric X-05 or Ayre CX-5xeMP. For DVD playback, the Pioneer is about on par with the Arcam DV-27A, which is to say it is superb. Blu-ray playback is also superb, but then so is the Oppo's at $499, so the audio section is the only reason one would purchase a $2,200 Blu-ray player. Indeed, 5.1 analog output sound for movies is outstanding and when the source is Dolby-TrueHD or DTS-MasterHD it is simply breathtaking!
I have a Pioneer 09FD also. I bought it for video, but one important factor was the analog section, as I have a conventional stereo setup to which video has been added. Subsequent to that I got a McIntosh MCD301 for CD playback. I had no interest in doing a comparison, but someone on another forum asked, so I did a very quick comparison (2 tracks) between the two players. I used And You and I off Close to the Edge by Yes (track 1) and Fanfare for the Common Man by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (track 2). On track 1 the 301 was the clear winner, sounding more open and a bit louder; on track 2 it won also but the gap was much smaller. The 301 retrieved more detail in both cases, and that was the main (only?) difference on the second track.
The 09's sound for video is awesome. For CD only it's good, but not spectacular, depending on recording quality. Remember, this is what was demonstrated using only two tracks. A deeper comparison might reveal more, but again, I'm not that inclined toward doing such comparisons.
Post new comment