OTHER TECH

The 9-inch-long, brushed-aluminum and plastic universal remote control echoes the snazzy styling. It commands the ES-DV1000 system and your TV with a clean, reasonably logical layout that includes two diamond cursor-style keypads. One diamond controls disc functions, the other radio tuning and setup functions. The big master volume-control bar is a boon. Sliding down the cover that conceals the bottom half reveals 19 identical less-often-used small, square, dual-function keys.

The OEL display panel provides enough detail that you can completely bypass the onscreen displays - which are fairly simple, without elaborate graphics - even during setup. Pioneer also provides the option of a quick setup by using the remote to select "large," "middle," or "small" room size and one of nine seating positions. Or you can perform a more precise and conventional setup, including setting the distances of the speakers from the listening position in increments from 1 to 30 feet. The ES-DV1000 claims to be the first integrated home theater system to provide bass management for all program sources, including DVD-Audio and SACD, though (as usual) the speaker-distance compensation settings don't apply to SACD playback.

Video setup can be somewhat confusing. Pioneer gives you a choice of three factory picture presets: TV (direct-view, CRT-based), PDP (plasma), and Professional (professional video monitor). There are also three picture presets where you can store your own custom adjustments, which can include varying degrees of video noise reduction, and turn Pioneer's PureCinema optimization for progressive-scan output on or off.

The ideal baseball star would be the one who plays infield, outfield, pitches, and catches. The ES-DV1000 system plays every position, fielding practically any disc you might throw at it. It plays DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, Super Video CD, Video CD, Super Audio CD (SACD), standard audio CD, recordable audio CD-R/RW (including discs with MP3 files), and recordable DVD-R and DVD-RW. Since this is a Pioneer, and Pioneer officially supports only the DVD-RW rewritable format, the manual doesn't even mention the DVD+RW format, but it did play the DVD+RW (and DVD+R) discs we tried. The only formats it doesn't play are DVD-RAM and Photo CD.

Besides being a true utility player, the ES-DV1000 has built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoding as well as Dolby Pro Logic II processing for 5.1-channel playback of stereo and four-channel sources in both its Music and Cinema modes. Because it plays DVD-Audio and SACDs, it decodes virtually any sampling rate and word length up to 192 kHz and 24 bits. There are a few surround enhancements courtesy of digital signal processing, including Virtual 6.1 Surround, which simulates a back surround speaker, as well as Headphone Surround for listening without speakers. These modes aren't available for DVD-Audio or SACD playback.

We decided to let the Pioneer ES-DV1000 get its ya-yas out with the widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 DVD of The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood feeding a 42-inch widescreen rear-projection HDTV monitor. The soundtrack lacks visceral sound effects, using the surround channels mainly for ambience, but T Bone Burnett's musical score is rich and full.

Dialogue came through clearly and sounded very warm - I didn't miss a single word. The system was also revealing enough that I could sometimes hear the difference between dialogue captured during filming and dialogue dubbed in later.

The system sounded boomy, however, no matter where I placed the subwoofer. Normally I put the sub to the left of my TV, about a foot out from the wall and 2 feet from the corner. But even when I placed it farther from the walls in my spacious, 15 x 24-foot home theater, there was no appreciable change.

Although there are no control knobs on the subwoofer, the system offers both an electronic LFE (low-frequency-effects) attenuator and a bass control via the remote. I adjusted both controls and was able to reduce the boominess slightly. While the system reproduced transients with acceptable articulation, there was little high-frequency ambience. For example, when Sidda (Sandra Bullock) bangs the cordless phone on the table, it sounded quite real. More brittle transients (metal against metal or metal against pottery) sounded real initially, but they lacked a natural treble decay. The music, ranging from traditional Cajun to Alison Krauss, sounded very pleasing but had a touch too much heft on the lower end.

Visually, the picture was a good balance. It wasn't razor sharp, but it was cleanly detailed without noticeable artifacts. The colors were well saturated without excess. For example, the red airplane in the blue sky looked realistic. The transition between disc layers took about half a second and was very smooth.

I just happened to have the CD of the soundtrack of The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, so I gave it a spin to test the system in standard CD audio mode. It provided superb stereo imaging, with a nice breadth and depth of sound. The Dolby Pro Logic II Music mode created a delightfully lush 5.1-channel sound field, with the voices remaining realistically placed up front. The system was particularly flattering to Linda Thompson's honey voice on "The Dimming of the Day." However, the bass tubbiness I heard while watching the DVD was still evident.

The ES-DV1000 system sounded impressive playing both DVD-Audio discs and SACDs. While it was still bassier than I would prefer, the sound from these discs seemed more balanced. For DVD-Audio I used the sampler disc supplied by Pioneer, listening to Les Brown, Eric Clapton, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Mannheim Steamroller. No SACD sampler was supplied, so I used a mostly classical Sony/ Philips sampler and listened to the London Symphony, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Bernhardt-Erskine-Anderson jazz trio, and David Johansen and the Harry Smiths. Both discs sounded better than conventional CDs on the ES-DV1000 system, which reproduced them with sonic details that were missing from the CDs. In particular, Peter Erskine's percussion shimmered convincingly, especially when he tapped the high hat.

Pioneer emphasized style and pizzazz in the design of this system while also giving it the ability to play just about any video or audio disc on the market. That alone justifies its premium price. You'll probably have to spend a little time adjusting the electronic bass control for the smoothest sound. But you can't help but come to the same conclusion that I did: this is a neat one-stop solution that provides everything you need to enjoy movies and music in style. PDF: In The Lab