Pioneer DV-588A-S Slim Progressive Scan DVD Player
A great universal player for the price
Pros: Great price, Plays everything, Great sound, Sharp picture from progressive scan, NSTC and PAL disc compatible (only region 0 or 1 however) <br /> <br />Cons: Cheap construction, Loading tray does not fully extend out, Colors are oversaturated (for my taste), Difficulty playing DVD discs with minor scuffing on them <br /> <br />The Pioneer 588a is the latest universal player by Pioneer which replaces the very popular 578a.  I purchased this to play my SACD discs.  My previous player was a Sony DVD player with 5 disc carousel and progressive scan from late 2002.  I was trying to weigh purchasing another Sony 5 disc with SACD capability or this player, which can handle almost every format including DVD- audio.  (Sony came up with SACD format as the next generation disc to the common redbook CDs, while Panasonic came up with the DVD-audio disc as the next generation disc.  Hence, Sony machines currently do not play DVD-audio, and Panasonic machines do not play SACDs.  That's what makes the Pioneer so competitive.  It licensed both formats from each company and can play either of them.  In my opinion, both SACD and DVD-audio are far superior to the current redbook CDs.  SACD is favored more by the classical music audience, since the format gives an accurate timbre to the instruments (especially strings), while DVD-audio is favored more by the jazz and rock and roll crowds because the percussive instruments sound much better.  SACD sounds too soft for this kind of music.  No one really knows which of these two formats will outsurvive the other.  It could be that another format might supplant both of them, who knows??) <br /> <br />Essentially this player is the same for the most part as the 578a, except that it can play DivX movies on top of everything else it could play before, DVD-Video, DVD-R & DVD-RW, and Video CD , SACD, DVD-Audio, CD, CD-R & CD-RW, MP3 and WMA CD-R & CD-RW and digital picture CDs (JPEG).  It is also a bit slimmer and smaller than the previousmodel, with a different face on it. <br /> <br />The player is one of the most inexpensive out there in the market.  Most of my stereo equipment is in the budget range, but I try to get the most bang for my buck.  I would say that the components I get are excellent for the money spent.  That said, this Pioneer has to be one of the cheapest built components I have ever handled.  It is very light and the buttons on the outside are not very solid.  It looks very delicate and fragile.  You wouldn't want to accidentally drop this, because it will not survive.  One of the things I did not like about this model is the fact that the loading tray does not fully extend out.  It extends out about 7/8 of the way.  You have to wedge your disc carefully into the tray to load it.   <br /> <br />What this player lacks in overall build quality, it more than makes up for it with its firmware.  This player handled every format I threw at it.  Basically, it took approximately 15 seconds after loading the disc for it to identify what it was, before it could play the disc.  The sound was excellent as far as I was concerned.  Also, I had a 0 region PAL disc (bonus disc to Air's \\"Talkie Walkie\\" album), which the player does handle.  So, there is a NSTC to PAL converter in this unit, just like the 578a has.  It can play 0 and 1 region discs.  I don't know if the region cracks have made it out on the Internet yet. <br /> <br />Compared to my Sony player, the CD audio was much better on this Pioneer.  It got much more bass response and was less ear-piercing than the Sony, a more rounded sound.  When I played DVDs, the Pioneer sound was much better as well.  Sonically, this is a far superior machine compared to the Sony I had.  It blows the Sony out of the water.  Also, played scuffed CDs perfectly. <br /> <br />I hooked up the DVD picture using the three separate goldplated RCA plugs, red, yellow, blue.  The picture was sharp and excellent.  The colors were very saturated compared to my Sony.The colors really popped out.  They tended to be warmer; there were more red tones coming through.  The complexions on actor's faces were very ruddy, whereas the Sony was more neutral.  The blacks were black, and there were more shadows on the Pioneer vs. the Sony.  (Star Wars trilogy was used for this A/B test).  I think overall, I prefer the Sony color saturation over the Pioneer which seems a little over saturated for my taste, but as far as sharpness and sound I preferred the Pioneer. <br /> <br />The main problem I have with my unit is the way it handles rental DVD discs.  There were minor scuffs on these discs.  It couldn't play them without getting hung-up.  I don't know if my unit is just temperamental, or if this indicates that these units do not have much in the way of error control concerning DVD.  I put these DVD discs on the Sony, which played through with no problems whatsoever.  This is the main reason why I'm not that taken with this unit.  I rent a lot of DVDs, and if it can't play them, then this is not going to work out too well for me. <br /> <br />Overall, I think this is a fine unit which does some things extremely well, but does have some limitations.