TT, even though I'm on your side most of the time (it will be a cold day before I buy another Sony product) I think that Pioneer produces some of the most attractive equipment around and this player is no exception. I absolutely love the looks of this unit and greatly prefer it to the "slimmer" competition. I'm not impressed at all with the looks of most the other boxes out there until you get to the Denon, Marantz or H/K and those are priced out ridiculously silly for most consumers. Even though I'd prefer a $399-$499 price point, I wouldn't buy anyone's product at that price if it looked like crap. (BTW, I love the looks of my A-20 and always thought Toshiba took a giant step backwards on the design of the A-30 but that's just my opinion.)
This player would fit in nicely with my other Elite products and frankly, I prefer a little larger box because it also means a display I can see across the room. Generally (though not always) it also indicates better electronics on the inside too. Pioneer has always used tighter spec'd parts and is usually ahead on design inside their products. That means I get what I pay for and it almost always out performs the competition long term without failing.
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Sweet. I'd buy one of these in a NY minute.
TT, even though I'm on your side most of the time (it will be a cold day before I buy another Sony product) I think that Pioneer produces some of the most attractive equipment around and this player is no exception. I absolutely love the looks of this unit and greatly prefer it to the "slimmer" competition. I'm not impressed at all with the looks of most the other boxes out there until you get to the Denon, Marantz or H/K and those are priced out ridiculously silly for most consumers. Even though I'd prefer a $399-$499 price point, I wouldn't buy anyone's product at that price if it looked like crap. (BTW, I love the looks of my A-20 and always thought Toshiba took a giant step backwards on the design of the A-30 but that's just my opinion.)
This player would fit in nicely with my other Elite products and frankly, I prefer a little larger box because it also means a display I can see across the room. Generally (though not always) it also indicates better electronics on the inside too. Pioneer has always used tighter spec'd parts and is usually ahead on design inside their products. That means I get what I pay for and it almost always out performs the competition long term without failing.