I have a Pioneer PD-65 in my 2nd system. It has been an extremely reliable and well built unit that has always worked flawlessly. It feeds a mid 90's Audio Alchemy DTI PRO/ DDE V3.0 d/a converter. I have kept all of the above, because nothing I have tried in the past 3 years at a retail price of $1500 or less has been any better. I have the output of the PD-65 feeding one input on my preamp and the Audio Alchemy feeding another. While the PD-65 sounds decent, the AA gear sounds much more natural and real. The PD-65 is a good transport. I recommend you consider a good D/A converter that caters to your sonic requirements and use it with the PD-65
Older Cd Players vs. new ones
Does anyone have an older cd player from the early to mid-90's that they feel sounds as good if not better than newer models in the same price range? I have a PD-65 that I wont' change out because nothing I hear, despite people saying the technology is so much better now, seems to sound any better. In fact I bought a new Elite SACD player which received great reviews in Europe and the CD layer is not as good as the old Elite pd-65 from 1993. For redbook cd I still use the pd-65 over the new Elite Pd-6-j