Pioneer CLD-D703

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The Pioneer CLD-D703 was a part of Pioneer's seven-hundred-series of upper-mid-range Laserdisc players, and the first player in the family. It was evolved into the CLD-D704, which itself was the basis for the CLD-79 and CLD-99 "Elite" line high-end players.

Information

Pioneer introduced the 703 in 1994 to provide an upper-mid-range "stop gap" model to fit in between the CLD-D503, a lower-mid-range player, and the more expensive units in the "Elite" lineup. Although it lacked an AC-3 output for transmission of Dolby Digital sound, it did include may high-end features including twin 1-bit digital to analog converters, digital noise reduction and time base correction. For 1995 Pioneer upgraded the player, adding the AC-3 output and rebadging it as the CLD-D704. Other than the AC-3 ouput, the player was largely the same.

Pioneer used the 703/704 hardware for two "spinoff" players. First was the CLD-79, an Elite line player that was in honesty little more than a rebadged CLD-D704. Other than it's "Urushi" finish (a treatment that gave the plastic a very glossy, polished look), the 79 was different from the 704 only in that it had gold RCA connectors, a slightly higher audio signal to noise ratio and a longer warranty. The second spinoff player, the CLD-99, was again only a minor evolution; in terms of hardware it was simply a CLD-79 but with a new 3D comb-filter that worked via the s-video output to increase picture quality.

After the discontinuation of the 704, 79 and 99 the places they occupied within the lineup were more or less left empty; Pioneer began abandoning Laserdisc in 1996 as the release of the DVD format became close and a few less-capable DVD/LD combination players were all that remained available for North American consumers.

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