CD player reliability.... good and bad.


Since the mid late 80’s I have gone through probably 15 + CD players, some lasted me many many years, some were non working out of box, some lasted a week, some months, and as said some lasted years.
Is the shipping process causing some jolting of the unit, and innards get jolted and the tray or a small piece gets damaged? Or just the way they are made?

We take great care of our CD players, dust cover when not in use, don’t drop them, hit them, shake them.....yet they just stop working or things go bad, skipping, display goes out prematurely, tray rubs on something, or any number of issues...!! ??

BUT,....my cheap pickup truck CD player still works after 13+ years , dust, bumps, filth, exploding pops, lots of dust in my truck from my profession, dash, floor, everywhere, years of dust, caked all over, yet I put in a cd, and the darn thing still works.

But , recently it has started to act up, it plays everything I put in it, but sometimes won’t eject,...


anyway, why is it most CD players have a reliability problem. NOT all of them, but there seems to be a %10-15 of new players that arrive in non-working, or only last a short time.

Any thoughts......
128x128arcticdeth
My experience mirrors skypunk,  Mahler 123, georgehifi and others. Tremendous reliability and service from CD players and transports with many years of frequent use. And if chosen wisely one can expect excellent sound quality and music reproduction with Redbook CD. Depends on what has been purchased. 
Charles 
"Are any top loading CD+SACD players currently made?"

Great question.

Qualia 007 used to be some sort of a top-loader, but not exactly what comes to mind as "top-loader". I wonder how was the realiability on them. I doubt it was many of them, though.

It was really cool to watch and pleasure to listen to...

Sony Qualia 007 Integrated SACD Sytem. ULTIMATE high end Statement from Sony. Gorgeous! | CD/SACD Players | South Bend, Indiana 46614 | Audiogon

In action...

Qualia 007 - YouTube
My 1998 California Audio Labs Icon MkII is still going strong, but I share your concerns about finding something newer and reliable.

God thread if people have rec's on newer decks.

DeKay

Obviously any gear with moving parts will need attention at some time.  I don't view my Marantz Ruby as a "disposable POC".  

Really MC--I'll bet you never fuss and maintain your beloved table, do you?  My advice would be when the belt stretches, just toss the table in the dumpster.
One of the many benefits of hi-res streaming is that I rarely spin a disc anymore, which now makes malfunctioning transports a wonderful non issue to have.