I dont see much talk of them any more....

I would like to get one just to hook up to play my old CDs i have laying around. It would seem most could be had very cheap nowadays.

Id like to go with somthing vintage that is good quality. If i were to go with a single disc unit id probably be looking for a older NAD or Denon.

I do have a question about changers. Did anyone make decent 5 disc changer? I had an old sony back in the 90s that would allow the current disc to keep playing while you opened the carousel and changed the other 4 discs. It was pretty nice. One thing i didnt like about it was the fact that changing discs was some what slow...but even worse than that....it was lound and very very annoying when it did switch discs.

Did anyone make a 5 disc changer that didnt sound like a garbage truck?

Dont even get me started on my small sony bookshelf system. It is ok but the 60 disc changer is awful. I have it in the bedroom and let me tell you when it changes discs you will awake from a dead sleep. VERY VERY loud and clunky.

Decent cd players seem to be scarce on the used market. Last year when my wife and I were garage saling and checking CL for them they were easily the most difficult to find component for our second systems. A good used cd player is a rare beast. At least that's been my experience.

I've attached a photo of the single disc player I purchased on e-bay.
It only cost me about $25 and plays excellent & looks great. This player was built in August 1985. I do know Pioneer built pretty decent multi-disc players, I owned a couple that had a 5 or 6 cd cartridge. These units and the cartridges seem to available on e-bay (single cd players are less common). Again, I've only owned Pioneer cd players, so that is the only opinion I can give, I've always been happy with mine.

To get a good working condition cd player it's very hard. Normaly you use it until it brokes up. Got a 1989 NAD "in the family" that worked great until november... Now it just doesnt play a complete song without jumping! R.I.P.

I have 5 carousel Sony CDP-CE 305 that have given me stalwart trouble free service for the last 8 years.

Been using the 1984 FD-3040 Magnavox since 6:30am :music:

Most major brands of CD players seem to last around 10 years with normal use, some longer obviously.*

But since they include so many delicate and small mechanical parts, just like a turntable I think it's still a really iffy proposition when buying an older player as to whether it works properly or not. So IMO, this helps explain the lack of players on the market.

Btw, I know a lot of people don't like this brand but when I sold audio gear for 3 years in the mid 90s, of all the players we sold - Sony, Technics, JVC, Pioneer and Sherwood - Technics' 5-disc changers were the quietest and fastest changing, and most reliable (this last reason is probably why many music stores - remember those? :( - at the time used them for their listening stations). One of the coolest models we sold included a buffer memory system, so that when it was changing discs, the music wouldn't be interrupted. Very slick! They're easy to identify because of the large logo with a green LED set into it that indicated when the buffer system was activated.

Sony still sells a 300(?) disc mega changer and a 5-disc changer the last time I looked, along with a version that also plays sacds for only $150. Onkyo sells a 6-disc changer, which even has a metal front panel (that's rare these days!). And Pioneer still sells their cartridge changers, along with a couple of those mega CD changers.


* my own Technics SL-PG4 bought in 1991 lasted 8 years until I tried to resolder a broken RCA phono connection on the internal printed circuit board (the plugs on those Radio Shack "Gold Series" interconnects had a death grip on the player's jacks - very difficult to plug them in or remove them)....and yours truly unknowingly dribbled some solder on a nearby chip and when I turned it back on, player no workie anymore. :^(

The carousel cd changers seemed IMHO to be less trouble prone.... I still have 5 disc Sony I've had for years that works well... Look for used ES Sony cd players on ebay.

One of the coolest models we sold included a buffer memory system, so that when it was changing discs, the music wouldn't be interrupted. Very slick! They're easy to identify because of the large logo with a green LED set into it that indicated when the buffer system was activated.



That buffered system sounds pretty neat. Any idea what model Technics that was? I had a nice sony that allowed the carousel to open and you could change 4 of the 5 discs. It was just a base model but that thing was rock solid. I ended up getting rid of it cheap and i sure wish wouldnt have. It was loud but not as loud as my 60 disc mini system...wow...that beast is horrid.

My 1988 Magnavox CDB-460 will be celebrating it's 20th "trouble-free" birthday next month........when it promptly burns the house down.

Steve

Decent cd players seem to be scarce on the used market. Last year when my wife and I were garage saling and checking CL for them they were easily the most difficult to find component for our second systems. A good used cd player is a rare beast. At least that's been my experience.

Picked up a Denon dcm-380 five disc for $7 on a half price thrift day.It was rated top five disc for the year it came out(2002?).Too bad no remote.

That buffered system sounds pretty neat. Any idea what model Technics that was?IIRC it looked pretty much identical to this one (http://www.vintagetechnics.info/cdplayers/slpd9.htm), but instead of a blank space next to the power button on the left of the faceplate, there was a raised rectangular area with the feature's logo and the green LED.

I think it went for @$220 so we didn't sell many. And it was hard to demo that feature, cuz you had to put in a couple discs, hit play, go to the last track, FF to near the end of that track......but not too far because otherwise the buffer memory couldn't "fill up" with enough music (the green LED slowly blinked while that happened).....and then wait for the track to end, but all the while listening for the tray to start rotating *before* the track ended. THEN you could finally point out "See? The music is still playing but there's no CD actually spinning!" Whew! We used one in our speaker demo room, set on random, and it made a much better impression there as long as the customer wasn't in a hurry.

Also, their changers had what's called the "spiral" play option, not earth shattering or anything but still kinda neat & which I use more often then random (we have one in the 2.0 HT system). When chosen, it plays the first track of every CD, then the 2nd of every CD, then the third and so on & finally stops after the very last track of the last CD.

Have recently purchased a Denon DCD 1400, Mission PCM II, Pioneer PD-S801 and a Technics PL-1200.Most cost about 100. All of them sound great but I think I have too many....

There are TONS at the goodwill I go to, as well as on Seattle Craigslist.
The other day I saw a carver single disc player.
But most of them look to be in very good shape.
If you want I could buy one and ship it to you?

I bought a used older Rega Planet back in the fall, and so far it's been great. I would hope CDPs made by "high-end" companies like Rega would last longer than 10 years, but who knows. Not to say the above mentioned companies (Pioneer, etc) aren't good.

I have had a denon dcm 560 cd 5 disc player since the year it came out (02 ) I think.....I have used it every day since and it works flawlessly. I only had to grease the tray once with lithium grease as it was getting noisy and sticky. It is rather loud when changing discs though but sounds beautiful while playing. I remember comparing the sound with many other models by other manufacturers of the same year and thought the sound was much clearer and more musical than the others . I recently put it through a DAC and really didn't notice much difference in sound quality. Though I keep it going through the DAC anyway it sounded just fine without it.

I have a Pioneer 6 disc changer listed here somewhere and I got in a Yamaha CD-28 that would not open, new belt and adjust the limit switches and it is good as gold.

I have had a denon dcm 560 cd 5 disc player since the year it came out (02 ) I think.....I have used it every day since and it works flawlessly. I only had to grease the tray once with lithium grease as it was getting noisy and sticky. It is rather loud when changing discs though but sounds beautiful while playing. I remember comparing the sound with many other models by other manufacturers of the same year and thought the sound was much clearer and more musical than the others . I recently put it through a DAC and really didn't notice much difference in sound quality. Though I keep it going through the DAC anyway it sounded just fine without it.

I have this unit and wish I never bought it. It's reliable, but the mechanism sucks. It clunks 8 Times while scanning any empty trays. And it does this slowly. Now the Denon DCM 777 I have is great.
As posted earlier in this thread, you don't see any mid, to high end players used on the cheap. There are a couple CDP's at my local thrift, and they will sit. They aren't bad, just not that good either. I am enjoying this Marantz I picked up last night.

Adcom made a GREAT sounding 5 disc changer. ***GCD700**
You can find them on the bay for under $200.
http://www.datazap.net/sites/rdietzel20001189/auction-images/TVzODhPUY9-1.700f.JPG

Adcom made a GREAT sounding 5 disc changer. ***GCD700**
You can find them on the bay for under $200.
http://www.datazap.net/sites/rdietzel20001189/auction-images/TVzODhPUY9-1.700f.JPG

As long as it doesn't spend half of it's time in the repair shop. As most older Adcom CDP's do.