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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
cincinnatipete
43 posts
 
I've had 4 CD players in last 33 years. 

First was a Denon, back in days when they rated them by "oversampling." 2X, 4X, etc.  It played beautifully, but crapped out early.  
I was young and moved several times, which probably did not help. 

Second was a Luxman DZ 122, lower end for that brand, but also played beautifully to my ears. Five year warranty. Lasted maybe 10-11 years. 
Also had a cross country move. 

Current two are still going strong.
Sony carousel SACD player. SCD CE 775, maybe 16-17 years old?
My office system.   

Marantz CD 5005. For the money, great sound and build quality. 
Maybe 5-6 years old? 

I'd say build quality has gotten a little better over the years.  I'd also say moving them around,  even carefully packed into their original box, does not enhance longevity. But of course they had to be shipped in the first place. 

arizonabob's avatar
arizonabob
92 posts
 
I've been using 2 Denon DCM-390's for more than 20 years. OK, so they aren't the high-end single disc Oppos or Brystons, but they work well. After all, they're for listening to CD's...There has been a glitch on occasion, they are 5 disc carousels. All in all, for what they cost, a bargain at twice the price.
midareff1
182 posts
 
My issue with CD players is a bit different.  My first player was a Sony something or other about 37 years ago (+/-).  It was about the deadest sounding music I had ever heard although being free of cleaning vinyl and the associated clicks and pops was wonderful.  A few years later that was followed by a Philips CD80, which a year or so later was modded by Wavetrace Technologies out of Tampa. The Dual 1219 and Shure V15 Type III cartridge were now toast as was the rest of the album collection as I moved to all CDs.... and added a PS Audio Ultralink, then an Ultralink II.  That was eventually replaced by some $4K Marantz player that couldn't keep up with my 45 year old Sansui TU-9900 modded by Radio X including a Burr Brown chip set.  The Marantz went and was replaced by a Sony XA 5400 ES CD/SACD which is still here for the very few CDs I can't get on Tidal. I stream from a Cambridge CXN (V2) to a Benchmark DAC3 b and find that very satisfying.  If the Sony blows up I don't think there is much reason to replace it other than with another transport feeding the benchmark.
cincinnatipete
43 posts
 
When I bought the Luxman DZ 122, circa early 1990s, the shop told me that Sony or Philips made just about all the mechanisms, lasers,  and chips for CD players on the market at that time, including a lot of  the pricier esoteric players. 

I believe my Denon and Luxman both had Sony internals, or at least a lot of the internals were Sony. 
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
the shop told me that Sony or Philips made just about all the mechanisms, lasers,
Correct there were a couple of Panasonic as well.
Later on Sanyo started doing them too, all reliable as well.

Here is a major list of just about all cd player and cd transports and dacs.
 showing dac chips and laser mechs and lasers
http://vasiltech.narod.ru/CD-Player-DAC-Transport.htm

Cheers George
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