Recommendations for a CD Recorder

I have a phillips CDR 880 that i used to transfer a fairly large LP collection over the past 2 years i burned approx. 400 Cd's with not a single malfunction or frisbee. If you are interested I am done with it and it is in perfect condition with all paperwork and origional box. I have not tought abot a price but i think $400 is fair. e-mail kens48@aol.com

Hi, Mchd1. There have been fairly extensive and helpful discussions in the not-too-distant past. Search the forums for "cd recorder" and you'll see many posts that will help you narrow down what you're looking for. I tried a two-well consumer deck but returned it and switched to a Tascam single-well pro deck -- but that's just my particular situation. My general take is that CD-to-CD recording quality is excellent on most decks out there, so you just need to worry about features, price and reliability. If quality analog-to-CD recording is important, you may want to be more selective. Again, the old threads make a great start.

I'll second the TASCAM recommendation. Try to check out a TASCAM CD-RW700 at a pro music or musical instrument shop, not a hi-fi store. You can use cheap computer discs and are not subject to the other limitations of the "consumer" recorders from Philips, Pioneer, etc.

I've had excellent results with a Pioneer 739 (now 839)-- 3 CD drawer on the left and a CD-R drawer record on the right. You can program 3 CDs at once, hit record and have a compilation. It's versatile, easy to use, has been totally reliable and can now be had for around $300. This is a consumer grade CD burner and uses CD blanks with the SCMS system. Good Luck. Craig

I owned a Philips CDR880 for two months before it broke. I managed to record only a few CD-R's before the tray mechanism jammed and when I manually (and gently) pryed it open a flimsy white plastic wheel fell out.

I returned the Philips CDR880 and got a Pioneer Elite PDR-19RW instead. These listed for about $1000 and the construction quality is far superior with its copper chassis. It's heavier and just feels more solid in every respect (knobs, buttons, jacks, tray, etc). Both the Philips and Pioneer are single tray models and both were top-of-the line units from each manufacturer in their day.

I should mention that my only other piece of Philips is also broken. My Pronto remote died after 2 years of light use. All of my dozen or so Japanese remotes still work, many of them are over a decade old.