Rotel RCD-1070 replacement

I've heard the Rotel RCD-1072 and it sounds great. You can find them for about $400 used.

The white grease may be a type of white lithium grease available at auto parts store (not the spray on). Another possibility would be some white Japanese grease (shietzu?) available at Honda dealers.

The Rega Apollo CDP with trade-in would be about $850.

The problem with your Rotel RCD-1070 is not due to a lack of use. Skipping and not spinning up after a number of years is a common problem with that unit. My 1070 was doing the exact same thing after working flawlessly for years. I took it in for service and it was said to be the belts and laser being out of adjustment. It worked for about a month or so and then the problem reappeared. In short, I bailed on it and bought a Bryston BCD-1. I sold the Rotel to a friend for $100, he's going to try and have it repaired again. Do some research, the problem with the Rotel is not at all uncommon.

Still no luck. The new laser is in and it won't even recognize any discs I put in there. I've already tried adjusting the pot in increments all the way to both extremes with the same results. Could I have put the new laser back in the wrong position? I think I did more harm than good!

Peterman1983, if you have no experience doing a laser swap, I regret that my post above may have encouraged you to try it yourself. I have had two laser replacements done by factory authorized techs. The first one was done badly and the new laser lasted a year at best. The second one was done well and AFAIK the player is still going strong. I conclude that the job is not as easy as it may seem, and I would not try it myself unless I were willing either to scrap the machine afterwards or to pay someone to clean up my mess.

That's all very well in hindsight, of course :(. It seems to me you now have a few options, if nobody here chimes in with a solution. You can look for a good technician willing to take over, you can try the ribbon cable replacement Rudd suggests above, or you can give up and see what a non-working player is worth to you or someone else.

Please let us know how things go if you get the chance.