Pioneer PD-71 CD-player Review

In Pioneer’s Elite Series of audio components, no effort has been spared to achieve the highest possible level of performance together with rugged construction and elegant styling. The PD-71 Elite CD player includes such features as an antiresonance chassis and a “multi-floating,” shock-resistant isolation system for the laser pickup.

The digital signal is processed by “true” 18-bit digital-to-analog (D/A) converters using eight-tunes-over-sampling (352.8-kHz) digital filters. Separate converters are used for each channel to minimize interchannel crosstalk, and direct wire connections are used where they could shorten the length of the electrical signal path and reduce signal interference. The “bi-filar” power transformer (whose coils are wound in close proximity to each other) is physically isolated from low-level signal circuits to insure that mechanical vibration and external magnetic flux do not interfere with the audio signal.

The PD-71 can be programmed to play up to twenty-four tracks in any sequence, and it has a random-play mode as well as direct pushbutton access by number to any track or indexed point. These functions as well as transport controls, repeat, time-d play selection, and disc-drawer open/close are duplicated on the supplied wireless remote control. The front panel also contains a button to switch the display off (to reduce internal noise pickup) and an output selector (analog, digital, or both). The rear apron of the PD-71 contains both coaxial and optical digital outputs as well as gold-plated analog output jacks.

The Pioneer PD-71 is handsomely finished, with a glossy black-lacquer front panel and rosewood side panels. It measures 18 inches wide, 12-3/8 inches deep, and 5 inches high and it weighs 21 pounds. Price: $850.

Lab Tests

At a 0-dB signal level, the Pioneer PD-71 had an output of 2.15 volts into an EIA standard load at 1,000 Hz. Its A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio was an impressive 115.3 dB increasing to 117.1 dB when de-emphasis was activated (which happens automatically when a pre-emphasized disc is played). The quantization noise (with the D/A converter activated) was —96.5 dB, and the EIAJ dynamic range was 97.7 dB. The frequency (speed) error of the playback was a minuscule - 0.0008 percent.

The PD-71’s frequency response was ruler-flat over the audio range from below 20 Hz up to 6,000 Hz, falling to —0 15 dB at 20,000 Hz. The maximum de-emphasis response error was —0.2 dB in the 4,000- to 10,000-Hz range. The channel separation was quite symmetrical and more uniform across the full audio range than in most CD players. Separation was 124 dB at 100 Hz and 113 dB at 20,000 Hz measured from left to right, 125 to 110 dB over the same range measured from right to left.

A spectrum analysis of the noise output from the player with a silent track also yielded unusually constant, and low, readings across the frequency range, essentially alike for both channels. The noise decreased smoothly from — 120 dB at 20,000 Hz to about — 142 dB at 30 Hz, with power-line hum components of — 127 dB at 60 Hz, — 132 dB at 120 Hz and - 130 dB at 180 Hz. There was absolutely no detectable change in noise level when the display was turned off.

The total harmonic distortion (THD) plus noise at a 0-dB level was less than 0.002 percent from 20 to 3.000 Hz, increasing to a peak of 0.0028 percent at 10,000 Hz and falling to 0.0014 percent at 20,000 Hz. At 1,000 Hz it varied from about 0.002 percent at 0 dB to 0.0012 percent at —80 dB. Low-level spectral analysis of the player's output showed an amplitude error in the digital-to-analog conversion of + 1 5 to 4 2 dB at a — 100-dB level. The interchannel phase shift varied linearly from —0.3 degree at 5,000 Hz and below to +1,1 degrees at 20.000 Hz.

The PD-71 cued accurately to tracks unseparated by a time interval from the adjacent track, and its slew time from the beginning to end of the test disc was a moderately fast 1.5 seconds. It was able to play the 900-micrometer defect level of the Philips TS5A test disc but mistracked at the 1,000-micrometer level of the Pierre Verany #2 disc. The isolation from external shock was excellent for blows on the top and very good against side blows.

Comments

The measured performance of the Pioneer PD-71 places it among a handful of top-quality CD players that we have tested. The differences among these players are so minute, unmeasurable without state-of-the-art instruments, that they can be considered equivalent in performance and listening quality.

There are, of course, differences in price and features among this distinguished group of components. All of them perform the expected functions of a deluxe CD player, including direct access to any numbered track or indexed section, and all of them can track the largest defects likely to be encountered on a properly made and tended compact disc, even with unreasonably high levels of external physical shock and vibration.

Everything about the Pioneer PD-71, including the disc drawer, operated with satisfying smoothness, quietness, and precision. Moreover, it presents a strikingly handsome appearance. It is surely one of the best-looking pieces of home audio equipment we have seen. The understated display window, with its large orange numerals, shows everything most people care to know about their CD players without adding extraneous and confusing information. If you want to know more than the current track and index numbers and the elapsed time, the information is available at the touch of a button. Even the compact, and truly complete, remote control is not visually obtrusive.

Last, but not least, the PD-71 is the least expensive player of its class that we have used, bringing the highest level of performance within the reach of a large segment of the buying public. It is a good value as well as a truly "Elite" product.

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