Vintage CD Players?

[melofelo]

for a good dac...try running your vintage cd through a late 90's sony motl to totl minidisc recorder...mds jd 930 upwards ..or es series...the results may surprise you..:scratch2:

 

[AMPHEAD]

I have a Kyocera DA-910 and it sounds superb. The unit is built like a tank, has a huge power supply, and very high quality parts. It was modified by a well known audio guru with upgraded caps in a few areas. It listed for $1600 in 1985. Here are a few photos.

 

[truetone36]

I have a Fisher, a Sanyo, and a Realistic (model #'s escape me at the moment) all from 1985, all still function beautifully.


Dumont-First with the finest in television.:yes:

 

[avionic]

I really like my Nak OMS-4's which have a Burr-Brown PCM54J 16Bit DAC for each channel.:yes:
Pictured is one of the -4's I picked up for $19(ebay) and costed and additional $6.50 to repair(loading belt)

Dave

 

[gearhound]

I am the original owner of a Magnavox CDB460 CD player.
I bought in new in March of 1988.
It has been an every day player for 19+ years....no problems & still sounds great!!

Steve :thmbsp:

 

[REDone]

Compared to some I was a bit late getting to CD's My first was a Technics which gave up the ghost a few years ago, second purchase was a Mission DAD 7000 about 10-12 years ago (I'm the second owner) Still plays well but is a bit tempremental with CDR's almost to the point that none of them play now.

As far as normal CD's go the Mission plays real nice & I don't really want to look for anything else, the only thing pushing me is the cdr playback problem

 

[catatonic28]

I'd go with what MitsMan, wrunow and slow jazz said...
The Sony cdp-c77es form '91 is great!
I got one dirt cheap and those wood ends look great.
I also managed to get a Sony DAT recorder dtc-60es with matching wood ends.

Also got a Philips cd200 from 1983...if anyone has any info on these...see post

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=115071

And absolom, for the date of your Philips cd101 check out

http://www.thevintageknob.org/DAD/DAD-timeline.html

And

http://www.thevintageknob.org/DAD/CD100/CD100.html

The thevintageknob is a good place to start if you're interested in early cd-players.
Cheers, catatonic28.

 

[ozmoid]

I have a Kyocera DA-910 and it sounds superb. The unit is built like a tank, has a huge power supply, and very high quality parts.

I picked up a Kyocera DA-710cx today, very good build quality, good sounding player. Circa 1986-87, solid wood end caps, "champagne" finish, direct track selection buttons, Digital out, accepts a remote (no research on that item yet, it didn't come with one), weighs a ton. Works great, put it in my daughter's system (she's 5) because of the track buttons - a big block of tiny buttons numbered 1-24 (IIRC, she's asleep and the CDP is in her room) that will directly call up each track. Sold for $800 new, I paid 1% of the original purchase price.

I knew nothing about this player, and did not really NEED another CDP, but I followed the first rule of vintage: If it's heavy, BUY IT!

 

[ampegdan]

I have a Sony CDP-311 from the late 80's. Have seen this one with other model #'s too, like cdp-291. Indestructible. Also have an old Fisher from the same era in the system at work. I don't do remotes or store discs in the machine so the oldies don't bother me at all. Wish I could find a silverface Sony from early era; I don't like black because it's hard to read in low light.
Of course if I used the remote it wouldn't be an issue and I'd have to find another reason to prefer silver...
A buddy sent me his mid 90's black Yamaha CDC-905 with remote. It's so deep it doesn't fit in the rack. Neither did the receiver it came with.
Dan

 

[absolon]

And absolom, for the date of your Philips cd101 check out

http://www.thevintageknob.org/DAD/DAD-timeline.html

Thanks cat, Axel's site has been quite interesting for me as I have much gear he has listed there.

The Philips has moved out to a friend's system and has been replaced by a Quad 66 CD and a B&O CD-X. The B&O is another Philips based deck, and a real example of industrial art.

 

[wa2ise]

Modify a vintage player with vacuum tubes!

I've modified several vintage CD players. Replaced the op-amps in the analog audio output circuits with vacuum tubes, for that "tube sound". See http://pw2.netcom.com/~wa2ise/radios/tubedac.htm

 

[chillwolf]

I have a Technics CDP with MASH. It is the best sounding one out of the 5 units I have. I have a Pioneer CDP/Recorder, a Nak, an Insignia 5 disc player and a Realistic. The Technics has the warmest sound of them all, maybe that MASH has something to do with it!

 

[bre's dad]

I recently picked up a Denon DCD-425 at a yard sale for $5. Mint, minus the remote. Sounds great... It replaced a Kyocera CD player that the laser died on. Ended up selling it for about what I paid for it. Can't say which one sounded better, but the Kyocera was prettier and had more features.

I too had a Technics cd player as my first back in the 80's. There's one like it on ebay I'm watching and will probably pick (or try to.) Only thing that seems to be wrong is the LCD backlight is out.

 

[RHX68]

Technics SL-P900

Hello chillwolf, I have a Technics SL-PS900, which share the circuity of Japanese domestic model SL-P900 (refer to the link below), it's very nice player with absolutely hi-fidelity sound, even today. It claimed to have a 118dB S/N ratio where as far as I know, no other CD player can claim this spec. I tried some other CD players and it still on the top :yes:, in terms of clarity & musical dynamic. I'm sure the MASH DAC was a great invention from Mashushita. So sorry that the Technics brand seems to be fade away within these few years. :tears:

http://www.thevintageknob.org/TECHNICS/SLP900/SLP900.html

I have a Technics CDP with MASH. It is the best sounding one out of the 5 units I have. I have a Pioneer CDP/Recorder, a Nak, an Insignia 5 disc player and a Realistic. The Technics has the warmest sound of them all, maybe that MASH has something to do with it!

 

[Krautrawk]

I have a Fisher CDP circa 1987 that I would love to hear but it is in need of new belts. Front loading 5-disc changer of dubious reliability but the components look pretty spiffy. I should be able to fix it, after all, it's JUST a mechanical problem right? Anywhere I swear there was a sticky thread telling where to find belts but it seems to have disappeared, if anyone can direct me I would appreciate it.

 

[arrow 68]

I have a Marantz 73SE that I paid retail for years ago. Don't even want to admit what I paid for it. Very nice and I like having volume control on CD especially for vintage receiver with no remote control.

I picked up a Dennon 560 changer on eBay ~ 6 months ago and love it. Beats the Marantz hands down. Aslo has a volume control. If I'm going to live with vintage I like having at least one source where I can control the volume.

The Denon 560 is a good player if you can get past it's clunky mechanism. I run a Denon DCM 777 that is great. Being a Cartridge Player may turn people off. It has a single disc tray also.
Now if I found a nice one cheap, I would not turn it down, but I don't understand the singe disc CD Player mentality. Isn't a CDP supposed to be convient?

 

[ponderbear]

gotta shout out for my yamaha cdx-530. bought it brand new in 1990 for $300 and it still plays like new. and it's got groovy LEDs, too. Very nice sound- I've compared it to several players and it's beat them so far.

I had a Kyocera for a while- DA-310x, does that sound right? Another sweet player.

Ditto on the early sonys, the few i've peripherally had contact with (friends, libraries) seem to want to last forever. I would like to say the early all-metal discmen, but mine was very sensitive to vibration and eventually was so off-track it had to have pretty expensive work done at Sony (right after the warranty expired!!). It never tracked the same after I got it back.

Carver- DTL something or another- bought it in 1985 or 6 for- jeez, must have been five bills- built like a tank, played very nicely. I had it for two years- it was the only thing between me and a ticket home, a thousand miles away or so. It had to go.

 

[zenith2134]

Anyone remember those Magnavox commercials during the late 80s where they would claim their players were the best-sounding money can buy? Wonder how they have held up through the years. I remember some were built in Belgium, and I KNOW Philips built about 99.9% of them.

 

[jimfet]

My first CD player was a Technics. Paid $149 for it 21 years ago. I gave it away a few years ago and it is still playing. I still remember the first 2 CD's I bought to go with it.
Tony Bennett...The Art of Excellence
Jimi Hendrix... Electric Ladyland. The English version with the naked women on it. Cost me almost $50

Those 2 CD's have been played to death.

That Tony Bennett, is a sure fire panty melter.

 

[metalmando]

Hi,

I am intrigued with the thought of a better, older CD player. Would a Denon DVD-3000 used as a CD player get me there? I have one available to me.