Vintage CD players

I recently acquired a Pioneer PDR-19RW to match my other Elite Urushi gear. (Is this considered vintage?)
These retailed for $1200 new in 1999 I believe.
It has optical and coaxial digital, and RCA analog inputs.

It is a single disc recorder that plays CDR,CDRW.
So far I have been impressed with its playback capabilities.

Here is a pic of one.

Thats a nice unit - it's exactly the same as my HHB CDR-830 Burnit CR-R cept for the logo and the color (HHB is purple). Here's a pic.

Cheers,
Bob
 

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My Technics SL-P1300 :banana:
Pretty minty and sounds very good. I love the style, and the weight? Holy cow, it's heavy.

Jimmy

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Very cool. This one reminds me of those 70's cassette machines. I had a couple of them, Teac if I recall correctly. Sweet!
 
Once, again, Sony don't get no respect.

The early Sony ES series CDPs were and are great machines. While the op-amps and whatever can be upgraded, their quality construction was second to none. And they sound very good, even by today's standards. My brother's -707ES is a terrific piece. When the CD tray opens or closes it is like its on ice. The smoothest operation of any CD machine I've ever played with.

I agree the vintage Sony ES decks are super. The earliest ES model numbers ended in ESD. Even the 5 disc players are great. I have a Sony cdp-C8ESD and it is every bit as good as the single play units with 3 motors, one for the drawer, one the rotate the carousel, and then the transport the holds the cd and plays it. It is stellar in sound too and has fixed and analogue controlled variable outputs operated by the remote, plus digital out.

If you want the smoothest operating transport check out a vintage Linn Karik.
When you place a cd in the drawer it retracts it into the player and an elevator raises the transport to the join the cd. I enjoyed putting a cd into it as much as I enjoyed the sound of my Karik III.
 
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Good god this thread was started in 2004!
Amazing isn't it. I guess it's because still the old hi-end players continue to be fantastic transports. In combination with modern D/A converters, you can get the best of two worlds.

My rig continues to be a Yamaha CDX 1020, which now has a Monica II D/A module doing D/A converter duty [DIY Paradise, Kuala Lumpur]. I had to take the trouble to build a power supply for the latter, as well has box up and wire the Monica. But for all that, the sound is simply marvelous.
 
Good god this thread was started in 2004!

lol, thats what I was thinking, hell this is a vintage thread. I read through all of it and must say i"m very confused, pretty heavy stuff. I have a couple of the Kyocera"s, one totl 710 with vid out and one 610, they sound great to me but I have nothing to compare them to. I am thinking about buying a new one, looking hard at a cambridge, a 510 I think it is, its around 500 bucks. Do you guys think it will sound that much better than my Kyo"s or am I just fixin to waste 500 clams, thanks, Roost
 
My main CD player is a Yamaha CD-2. I bought it new for $600 back in 1984. Great sounding deck. It died last year and thanks to a fellow AK'r, it is back up and running. Much smoother sound than any of the new units I have tried over the last year.
 
How about the Philips Cd 850?

Bought mine when it was first released and its still going perfectly today.

There is also the CD960 and some of the Studers which use the same transport.

John
 
I am a Califorina Audio Labs Tercet fan and currently own 3 of them and for me there are non out there that are better sounding than them.
 
I am thinking about buying a new one, looking hard at a cambridge, a 510 I think it is, its around 500 bucks. Do you guys think it will sound that much better than my Kyo"s or am I just fixin to waste 500 clams, thanks, Roost
Your call of course, but read my last post just above .... and:

Recently I had a guest here who had never heard my system. She is a discerning artist with refined senses for every detail of artistic creation and the wonders of nature, both great and small. Her initial remark on hearing my system was. "The sound is coming down all over me and I feel like I am inside it."

I can't remember how old the Yamaha transport is — CDX 1020. The Monica II is apparently already superceded, but I'm not worried by that.

For further weighing and assessment:

AMPLIFICATION: 2 X mono amps, Trio/Kenwood L05M's (re-capped and partly re-wired)

PREAMP: NON

ATTENUATOR: Simple, very cheap as borscht DIY build. [Elliott Sound Products design — see web page] Shunt to ground via R's. Separate Lt & Rt channel control ie: both add and subtract signal.

ALL IC and Cable (Except Speaker): DIY of various stuffs — cheap ... no jewelry included.

SPEAKS: Modified 3-way Sansui SP-G88's, JPN. domestic market only: (Sansui titanium tweets replaced with hand-made silks from UK. Re-capped, re-wired.)

As my sig says — all junk and/or DIY.

If I were you, I would spend my $ on D/A conversion. But that can be a black hole of error and deception. Monica II is non-over sampling. It does k.d. lang, Bjork and classical guitar better than Gustav Mahler at full steam with a giant orchestra. But even that is pretty damn good.

Confusing as you say. So much of Red Book is very confusing. It can sound like sewage or it can be deluxe — and big money does not seem to answer the problem — well until you get into VERY GIANT HUGE MONEY! Maybe!

How do I know? Well like most of us, I've listened. I've sat quietly in the background of the audio boutiques and heard the salesmen talking to the dudes rattling the keys to their Porsches and Lotuses. As long as I keep my trap shut, I am welcomed.

Let us now know you fare :thmbsp:
 
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Denon made some great decks in the 80s. Yamaha, too, though they seem more fragile.
Plus One on Yamis being somewhat fragile (back around '91 anyway)..
Late '80s-early 90's Realistic/Optimus were solid performers..... the choices posted here thus far are solid.
Look to some Sony's
 
I've got a Yamaha and a Sony CD player. I sort of like the Sony a little better. Bought both at Goodwill ($18 for both) They work just fine!
 
I've got a Yamaha and a Sony CD player. I sort of like the Sony a little better. Bought both at Goodwill ($18 for both) They work just fine!
A bit better than what Yamaha? And what Sony model and year would that be?:scratch2: And why!? No argument ... it is just that your comment may be interesting if we were to know something about your experience!
 
Hi, trying to get some feedback, searching AK and think this is the best place to ask.
Hopefully get some responses
I have these CD players , both thrift store finds for under $25 AUS
Sony CDP590
$15
DAC 2x PCM56P CXd2554P
KSS210A
8x oversampling
18BIT (written on the fascia)

vrs
Yamaha CD-1050
$25
(not CDX-1050)
DAC 2x PCM56P-YM3414
TAOH-JP3
8 x Oversampling
16bit
Digital output
approx 10KG

I thinking the Yammie
What do you guys think?
 
A very interesting thread with lots of good opinions and reviews. And although new CDPs may be superior in performance, I can't see spending the money when I can buy a decent vintage unit. I have a NAD 5220 that I paid $5 for and a Kenwood DP-850 (April 1986) that I paid $9. Both in outstanding condition and sound amazing with my gear. Just the build quality and heft makes vintage worthwhile for me.
 
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