"Vintage" CDPs; what are you running?

fiddlefye

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There have been plenty of threads lately about the earlier CDPs, but I don't recall seeing one of the type "Show us your ______". I'd love to know what elderly players folks have, what they like or dislike about them and maybe a brief description of the sonics?

Apart from several 5 disc players (all Sony) around the house I have three nice single disc players which I enjoy a lot. None quite reach the heights of reproduction I'd like to hear from Redbook in that they all smear a bit in really dense and heavy orchestral passages but then I've yet to hear any player that really sorted that out to my satisfaction regardless of the price. Maybe it's just a limitation of the medium but my vinyl system still does that much better. Given any other genre of music or less intense sections of an orchestral work they all sound excellent if distinctly different. Here they are in chronological order:

Nakamichi OMS 7 - this was definitely a "rescue dog". It apparently spent almost it's entire life in the back of a closet as it never had the received the upgrades and so would have been able to play precious few CDs after about 1990. When I got it the transport (crazy complex) wasn't working very well and it would play almost no CDs I own. It has had most of those upgrades done now (plus some heat control mods) and sounds wonderful. I get the feeling it was voiced with analogue tape in mind as a reference (surprise!) as it sounds remarkably like a good 1/4" tape on my A77 RTR. The only drawback is that it can't play the CDs with special copy protection, just doesn't know how to bring up a menu.

Sony 608ESD - my first better player. When I first got it I found it could get edgy when pushed a bit by the material. I had a couple of mods done; upgraded power supply diodes and all of the many intermediate boards and connectors removed to clean up the signal path. Like night and day. I love the linear transport in it, one of the very best and it is a reason why I bought the last player on my list as it shares the same transport.

Denon DCD-1520 - Another rescue. The guy I got it from said it stopped recognizing discs within the first year after he got it and he basically put it aside. A belt and a bit of adjustment and it sounds great. I still haven't managed to get it into my main system but it seems to do a wonderful job of sorting out layers on music and finds secondary harmonies my other players miss. In any of the applications I've put it in so far it is very sweet.

So, what do I like about these ol' gals? First off that I can buy really fine machinery for peanuts. They are all made to a standard that is almost non-existent now except for some really high end stuff (and many of them don't have transports in vaguely the same league at that, I've seen them apart on the bench). They may not have quite the resolution of the best new players, but they are certainly musical. They have buttons on the front that duplicate what is on the remote. Yay! Did such things disappear to make the players look nicer or was it a cost-cutting measure?

Lack replacement lasers is a problem, but at least with mine I now they all have come to me with minimal hours. Even at that I'll be doing some hunting.

So, what are you running and why? (sorry to be so long-winded)
 
I use a Pioneer Laserdisk model CLD-5201 as my main setup. I like it because it's big and heavy, plays any CD that I throw at it. This was bought new from my brother, so he gave it to me in exchange for my Denon 5 disk CD changer.

I have a JVC XL-V211 CD Player that I found at a thrift. Heavy drawer, solid construction, plays disks with no problems.

I gave my 5 disk changer, a Denon DRM-360 to my brother. That I purchased for $25 at a thrift. No remote. Later I found the remote for it at a flea market for $5. The shuffle feature is the best that I ever heard. It don't play the same song twice.

I like the ones that I have since they all have solid construction. They all have some weight to them. The JVC that I have is from the late 80's, the Pioneer from the early 90's and the Denon is from the mid 90's. I'm sure the newer ones play nice, but the ones that double as DVD players today are so flimsy that is a joke.
 
I have a Phillips CD-50 which is heavy...and is lightning fast on the load up and reading of the disk...

I have a JVC-XL-Z444 which will read cd-rs and play everything I put in without skipping a beat...the vintage JVCs are excellent under the radar players

I have a Technics SL-P220 which plays great but the display will dim unless you hit it but I only paid $5 for it....

Last night I found a Sony DVP-NC685V Universal DVD player which plays SACDS! Not vintage but I had to mention it lol

I hope you meant elderly cd players not elderly AK'ers lol!
 
1988 Magnavox CDB460

Can read anything and has never skipped in 22 years of ownership.
VERY dynamic but probably NOT the last word in detail.

1985 ADC CX-100

Similar sounding to the Magnavox, but in a smaller physical package.

Steve
 
1985 ADC CX-100

Similar sounding to the Magnavox, but in a smaller physical package.

Steve

That's good to know, I picked one of those up at a thrift for next to nothing recently and have not gotten a chance to mess with it much. I also picked up a very similar looking BSR cd player. Did they use those names interchangeably back then?
 
Let's see... I have a Carver TL-3300, Carver SD/A-360 changer, Carver DTL-200 MkII, Denon DCD-1560 and a Denon DCM-560. The Carver 3300 is getting the main amount of use right now.
 
I have one of these A/D/Cs as well - it's a good player.

Also have a NAD 5320 that I am quite fond of.

My main CD player is a older Sony CDP CE375 changer - they still make newer versions of these, but mine from '93 hasn't gone out yet. 5 discs, good times.

1988 Magnavox CDB460

Can read anything and has never skipped in 22 years of ownership.
VERY dynamic but probably NOT the last word in detail.

1985 ADC CX-100

Similar sounding to the Magnavox, but in a smaller physical package.

Steve
 
Magnavox CDP-650: Great player. Paid $$ on eBay for practically NIB. Would not play CD-R's until I replaced the 33uF radial cap on the servo board and recalibrated the laser. Now it loads and plays just about anything. Great player, very laid back , almost a tube sound.

Nakamichi CDP-2a: (NOT CD Player 2) My favorite player. Recently purchased at a thrift for $5, only needed a $.79 belt. Paid $10 on eBay for a CD Player 4 remote to use with it. Much more detailed than the Magnavox, and will play any CD-R. This is one to keep an eye out for. The OMS-2a may have the same internals...

NAD 5320: Free with $30 7100 receiver. Great CD player that plays anything, and is quick. Has a full sound and is an all around fine CD player.
 
Magnavox CDP-650: Great player. Paid $$ on eBay for practically NIB. Would not play CD-R's until I replaced the 33uF radial cap on the servo board and recalibrated the laser. Now it loads and plays just about anything. Great player, very laid back , almost a tube sound.

I also have a CDB-650. Mine started skipping in January. I replaced it with a Yamaha DVD-S1800, decided a few months later that I couldn't bear the idea of scrapping the Magnavox without trying to repair it, and got it running reliably again. I'm toying with the idea of swapping it back into the big system. It loads and plays any CD or CD-R and sounds great -- dynamic and detailed, but not too forward. The power supply mods and op amp swap that I did on it years ago improved on what was already a fine player.

I also have a Magnavox CDB-502, modified by Frank Van Alstine, and a bone-stock Magnavox CDB-460.

Nakamichi CDP-2a: (NOT CD Player 2) My favorite player. Recently purchased at a thrift for $5, only needed a $.79 belt. Paid $10 on eBay for a CD Player 4 remote to use with it. Much more detailed than the Magnavox, and will play any CD-R. This is one to keep an eye out for. The OMS-2a may have the same internals... ...

My first CD player was a Nakamichi OMS-2a. I would never describe it as detailed; veiled and rolled-off would be a more accurate description of its sonic character. It also had problems tracking some pressed CDs that played without incident in the Magnavoxes. It came in a distant second in a shoot-out with the modified Magnavox CDB-502, so I sold it.
 
TAGO MAGO:

As far as I know, the ADC and BSR CD players, were produced by the same manufacturer.
I'm NOT totally 100% sure of that though?

Steve
 
I love old CD players. My collection: a ReVox B225, a Sony CDP501es, a Grundig CD7500 all from 1984, and the latest of the gang, a ReVox B226 from 1988.

The first ReVox and the Grundig have 14-bit D/A converters, the Sony a single 16-bit shared between channels. In order of sound 'niceness' I'd put them:
1) Grundig, 2) B226, 3) B225, 4) Sony
although I have never done a direct test/comparison of any two together.
 
My first CD player was a Nakamichi OMS-2a. I would never describe it as detailed; veiled and rolled-off would be a more accurate description of its sonic character. It also had problems tracking some pressed CDs that played without incident in the Magnavoxes. It came in a distant second in a shoot-out with the modified Magnavox CDB-502, so I sold it.

Must be different then. The CDP-2a has the TDA1541a with poly decoupling caps and one or more power regs on each chip, from the factory. It is a great sounding player. Thanks for the heads up though, I won't be tempted by the OMS-2a.
 
I'm using a Sony CDP 650 ESD. The best unit I have ever heard for vintage. Others being Denon 1500 & 1500 MkII. It weighs a ton. It listed for $1300 in 1986. It plays all the CD's & CDR's with no problem which my Denons had problems with. Best part I found it at a thrift for $6.98.

http://thestereoclub.blogspot.com/2009/11/very-very-rare-sony-cdp-650esd-cd.html


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Must be different then. The CDP-2a has the TDA1541a with poly decoupling caps and one or more power regs on each chip, from the factory. It is a great sounding player. Thanks for the heads up though, I won't be tempted by the OMS-2a.

I remember opening the OMS-2a up when I had to replace a drawer load belt and being surprised to find a single Burr-Brown 16-bit DAC chip shared between the two channels. The digital filter oversampled at 2x, if memory serves, and the op amps in the reconstruction filter were pretty generic (the JRC version of the Signetics NE5532, I believe). The parts quality was quite good and the power supplies were well-designed, but the limitations of the early digital chip set kept the player from achieving sonic greatness.
 
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