Pioneer DV47a

On the AA hi-rez site, someone has commented that Pioneer is coming out with a new version of this player in the fall, the DV47AI, which has 1394 outputs for both dsd and dvd-a, and 1394 inputs in the corresponding receiver. This is seriously good news and would be far preferable to the DV47a, since it makes it possible to export the hi-rez signals to a digital processor, with all the options to have better converters and much better algorithms for bass management etc.

A mod would be great but I'm interested in out-of-the-box performance initially. I doubt I will do a mod at first.

See Ozfly's comments on mods in the current thread called 'Several routes to take to digital heaven'.

Dan Wright is providing mods for this unit that will probably vastly improve the quality of all the formats so that you can have exceptional universal playback in one unit.

It depends on the rest of your system, and what you're used to hearing. I have a DV47a for SACD and DVD-A, and can say that I am only too happy to shut it off and get back to my normal front end (Spectral), which is orders of magnitude more refined, neutral, tight, and capable than the Pioneer. CD playback with the Pioneer falls in the same category. Mass market gear doesn't cut it with very high end (and revealing) equipment. I am waiting for the first serious high end universal player to come along, and the Pioneer is just a stopgap until then.