Exclusive: High-end Pioneer BDP-LX91 player is Blu-ray royalty, and it's great with DVD & CD too!

The BDP-LX91 is the first Blu-ray player in the fast-expanding Pioneer BD line-up to be granted AIR Studios Monitor certification, implying that it has been tweaked for optimum performance by the golden-eared engineers of that famous London recording studio. If you're looking for a guarantee of sonic quality then this is probably it.

Pioneer has a long-standing relationship with AIR and has used Tim Vine-Lott and his team to fine-tune a number of its AV products of late, with spectacular effect.

A step-up from last year’s trend-setting BDP-LX71 model, the LX91 builds upon many of its predecessor’s attributes, and offers a level of finesse only found on premium hardware. It typically sells for around £1,800. I knew as soon as I unboxed it I knew I was in for a treat...

Heavy metal hero
The LX91 is a large and weighty player (14.3kg). The design mimics the brand’s current range of LX-AVRs in terms of balance and finish.
Beneath the lid, separate power supplies for the audio and video board help mitigate against interference, while the drive mechanism itself is positioned low and central to minimise vibration. There’s a high-end video DAC (14bit/297MHz for HD, 14bit/216MHz for SD) and, naturally, 1080/24p support.

Across the board, there’s wonderful attention to detail, both in terms of build-quality and components, from the choice of capacitors to the copper-plated screws that hold the thing together. Even the wiring for the drive is twisted specifically to minimise noise.

Backside AV connectivity is excellent. There are 7.1 analogue audio outputs for those without HDMI and/or a preference to use audio phonos; coax and optical digital outputs; component, legacy S-video and composite video slugs; and two (count 'em) HDMI outputs.

The secondary HDMI is principally for projector users and only carries two-channel audio, so don't route it into your AV amp. This output is not active simultaneously with the main HDMI out – you toggle between them via the remote control.

And, if you have a projector with an anamorphic lens attachment, you’ll be interested in the player’s anamorphic zoom mode which stretches the image of 2.35:1 movies vertically; your anamorphic lens will then correct the distortion. This allows all the pixels available to the projector to be utilised, giving an appreciable bump in resolution. Alternatively, you can utilise the main HDMI just for audio, with the sub running to the display. Theoretically, this gives a bump in audio quality.

Unlike the earlier LX71, the LX91 is a Profile 2.0 deck with an unprecedented 4GB of internal memory onboard. This means you don’t need to faff around with memory cards to utilize BD Live downloads and features. And with a network LAN connection it’s a snap to make firmware updates.
Out of the box I updated this to the latest version of software available (2.24), and it’s with this that the unit was tested. Unfortunately, BD Live was still not activated on this version of firmware. That’s coming soon. The first thing any buyer should do when they install this baby is check for new software via the setup menu.

Flagship duo
For this audition, I hooked the player up to the Pioneer SL-LX90 – aka the Susano – the brand’s flagship AV amplifier.

In use, the player is pretty slick. Disc loading times are a definite improvement over Pioneer’s previous generation of BD spinners. The player almost appears to be breaking into a sweat when loading a disc, although it's not quite as speedy as a PS3. The disc-to-screen experience may still not be as seamless as it should, but it's getting better.

The LX91’s audio and video specification can be considered excellent. The deck features Wolfson WM8740 audio DACs (pretty much the same spec as those in the Susano amp) on every channel and a feature called PQLS (Precision Quartz Lock System) over HDMI. The latter is highly significant. Audiophiles have long bemoaned the sonic quality of CD audio delivered via HDMI, specifically because it is prone to jitter.

The PQLS system used on the LX91 is designed to work with either the SC-LX81 amplifier or the step-down SC-LX71, and essentially it allows them to control the Blu-ray player’s clock frequency.
The downside is you have to have Kuro Link engaged for PQLS to function – and Kuro Link (aka CEC control) is nothing but a headache in anything other than the most basic of systems, turning components off when you simply want to change a display or source. My advice for those keen to utilise PQLS is to keep Kuro Link off, until you want to listen to a CD. Then switch it on for the session. Hopefully, a second generation Susano with PQLS will be issued without too much delay.

While in Japan, the Pioneer engineers behind the LX91 told me that they had completely redesigned the audio clock to reduce jitter across all outputs, be it HDMI, coaxial or analogue. The company has also modified the coaxial digital output from the player to improve frequency response. It’ll be interesting to see if audiophiles will remain faithful to coaxial when listening to CDs, or adopt PQLS over HDMI as the connection of choice. To maximise performance, the player also has a Pure Audio mode which shuts down the video board.

Tweak for weeks
Cinephiles will be able to tweak for weeks with the player’s extensive video adjustments (15 in total): black level, gamma correction, hues and colour intensity, sharpness and more can all be altered and committed to memory (there are three user-banks).

This is, of course, very useful, but I found the increment steps rather coarse. When I wanted to optimize the black level, the options offered really weren't fine enough. I found myself having to balance the player output by altering my display. Rather cleverly, Pioneer also provides modes designed specifically for different displays (projectors, LCD or plasma) as well as a specific video output optimised for its ninth-generation Kuro PDPs.

One of my current favourite Blu-rays is the visually brilliant Wanted. It's a thrilling pick 'n' mix of audio-visual eye candy, but its image is not without problems. Using the BDP-LX91 I was able to tame some of the video noise in the picture without unduly changing its sharp, colour-rich character.

As a result, I don't think I've ever seen the film look better. And its DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack, bitstreamed out from the player into the hulking Susano amp, sounded just sensational. It's a tour-de-force of multichannel sound design, and the LX91 just ate it up. The LX91 is also a mighty fine DVD player. It passed all the HQV jaggy tests with ease and was unfazed by scrolling horizontal and vertical text in the disc’s mixed film/video torture tests.

Audio to a higher standard
Of course, where the player really shines is with high-bitrate audio. 2008’s DTS and Dolby Blu-ray demo discs (not available commercially) have a wide variety of encodes to listen to, which are great for puttings AV amps through their paces. DTS-HD Master Audio encoded at 24bit/96KHz (sadly still a rarity on Blu-ray movie releases) is just gorgeous from this deck: Nature's Journey 1 & 2 (both 5.0 mixes) have the kind of clarity and wraparound imaging that's best described as hyper-real: it's all 360-degree tropical rainfall and percussive effects.

For high-quality Dolby True HD it's difficult to fault Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds: Live at Radio City Music Hall. This 24bit/96KHz recording is as layered as a ‘70s haircut, with the kind of rich tonality and emotive vocals that pull you into the performance. Again the LX91 excelled.

Five star CD
Perhaps where this player surprises is in its abilities as a CD player. Even without, PQLS I was amazed by the smooth detail and imaging created by the LX91.

My musical preferences careen to the heavy, but modern recording techniques rob many rock tunes of their dynamism, so for genuine texture and tangible musical imaging I had to look further back and into different genres. Legendary saxophonist Art Pepper's Star Eyes, from the SHM-CD Compilation: Jazz Edition Vol. 2 (Universal Japanese import), was just sublime.

Suddenly it was 1958 again and I was in a low-tech US recording studio rich in atmosphere and sonic nuance. And for purity of separation, Sonny Rollins’ I'm An Old Cowhand (from the same disc), was breathtaking. This player can deliver effortless form, depth and timing. Even without a PQLS compatible amp, it's amazing. Indeed, if this player also spun SACD and DVD-Audio platters I'd retire my current audio source immediately– but it doesn't, so for the time being that venerable piece of kit has to stay.

Conclusion
Overall then, the BDP-LX91 is more than just another Blu-ray heavyweight; it’s also a champion CD-spinner and a five-star DVD deck. If you’re building a Pioneer-based home theatre (perhaps a Kuro screen and Susano amp) buying it is a no-brainer. Even if you’re not, treat yourself to an audition. The BDP-LX91 is Blu-ray royalty!

HCC verdict 5/5
For more on the Pioneer BDP-LX91 click here. To see how the BDP-LX91 performed in our labs look out for the upcoming review in Home Cinema Choice. For the latest magazine subscription special offers click here.