hey there, all. i finally got courageous enough to bust open my DV-09 for some internal pics. all i can say, is WOW...















superlative build quality, the likes of which i haven't seen since the 1980's! built like a tank, and it all fits together with an uncanny precision. true high-end, built to last the generations...





now then. here, you can clearly see the "Quad-Layered Chassis" which. in reality, is a sandwich of two hefty solid steel plates between the primary base chassis, and the outer bottom plate, which is copper plated. all this contributes to a VERY solid platform unto which the balance of the player system is built upon. let me tell you, picking this sucker up feels more like 65lbs, rather than it's actual 35! it is SOLID.



to be honest, though, the sales literature flat out LIES when it claims that the DV-09 is a dual-transformer design. observe;





what do i spy with my little eye? ONE/1/UNO TRANSFORMER!! oh well, can't have it all...





ah, the (IN)famous PIONEER-designed "LEGATO LINK" D/A converter. this one, the top shelf "S" variant. supposedly able to "reconstruct" lost frequencies above a certain level, that are supposedly lost by the PCM encoding of the Compact Disc. though this technology has it's opponents and proponents, at least one audio magazine panned it as adding an unnatural character to the sound that passes through it. i, for one, cannot begin to fathom how such a system would work. regardless, i have no audible complaints about the DV-09's SQ, other than the fact that it pales when compared to the PD-91/3000 CDP. still, it IS an audio/video product, and it does that job just fine, IMHO...







now this is nice to see! a pair of BURR-BROWN D/A converters, one for each channel in this dual-mono audio output stage's design. i wonder if the SQ would be better if the LEGATO LINK processor was removed from the circuit? (NO, i am NOT going to attempt such a thing...)





looks like relays in the output. i've heard that the presence of relays on the audio output stage is one of the marks of a true high-end CDP. while my PD-3000 has two per channel, for a total of four, the DV-09 has but one per channel. still, uncommon design for a DVD player!

and finally, the rosewood veneer side panels, a luxury no longer available on home electronics at any price...

a shot of the 09 in action. regardless of what many detractors have stated, i find the performance of this player to be nothing short of SUPERLATIVE. it handles everything i toss at it with panache, my Hong-Kong bootleg of the 1998 "Mamotte Shugogetten" Anime series notwithstanding...

**** CROSS REFERENCE ****


my DV-09 parent thread can be found here:


http://www.sound-thinking.org/index.php?showtopic=5585

Excellent pics. Like all Pioneer Elite series components the build quality of the DV-09 is superb.

Is there an audio only mode? That would improve the sound quality considerably.

I suspect that the dual transformer gaff in the specs is either due to a difference between the home market and export versions, or the copy was written and there was a design change and the specs were not updated. The weight is listed as 40lbs, which would be about right if there were dual trannys.

Awesome pics from an incredible piece of audio gear.
Many tanx for sharing.

true. the U.S. specs are probably based upon the DV-S9, which appears to be the DV-09's JPN market counterpart, and bears a close resemblance to the DV-09's subsequent replacement model, the DV-AX10:


DV-S9












DV-AX10

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