Solved! Denon DCD-1500 II disc not reading

I have a DCD-3300 (1987) with the same exact problems as reported in this thread. I've got the top cover off, so I'm going to investigate the clamp ring. I think it sounds great, btw.

EDIT: I figured out how to get the stabilizer arm off, and then saw the fiber ring. It was quite thin, and covered by what looked like compacted soot. I can only guess that it came off CD labels. Thirty years of accumulation! I scraped most of it off with a fingernail, cleaned up the rest with a semi-stiff brush, and got what had scattered around with brush and vacuum. While the arm was off, I cleaned and lubed the laser rails and the loading mechanism. It loads and unloads better, there are NO skips, and it still sounds great.
 
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I have a DCD-3300 (1987) with the same exact problems as reported in this thread. I've got the top cover off, so I'm going to investigate the clamp ring. I think it sounds great, btw. It load and unloads better, there are NO skips, and it still sounds great.


Hey Splatter, I too, think mine sounds great. However, I was told by a certain member here, whose name is a type of necrotrophic fungus, that these cd players sound brittle and shrill, and have been eclipsed by newer tech.

Aren't people funny? Enjoy the recently repaired cd player, Splatter Pak. I know my Denon 1500 II won't be leaving anytime soon.
 
Oh, and for the record, I bought a thin sheet of felt material and cut my own felt pad to size. Glued in place, and working just great.

All respect to LoTR, but I find these to sound rich, build quality is robust, and sounds absolutely amazing going thru my McIntosh XRT20's.
 
Hey Splatter, I too, think mine sounds great. However, I was told by a certain member here, whose name is a type of necrotrophic fungus, that these cd players sound brittle and shrill, and have been eclipsed by newer tech.

Aren't people funny? Enjoy the recently repaired cd player, Splatter Pak. I know my Denon 1500 II won't be leaving anytime soon.

He must have his Denon mated to the wrong cable/amp/speaker/ear. YMMV, as they say.
 
Hey guys thanks for this thread. I got a DCD-800 from a friend and love the sound. So, I just went out and picked up a DCD-1500 which I'm listening to now. What a great CD player. I've been using a SCPH-1001 PS1 for a while and tried out a few other cheap players, but this series really impresses.

Here's the DCD-800 on top of the DCD-1500:

KxVYhMr - Imgur.jpg
 
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Those look nice, Johnny_Law! Glad you're enjoying that classic beast. I know I love mine!

Now, if I could only do that digital output mod on my Sony CDP302ES.
 
Hey Splatter, I too, think mine sounds great. However, I was told by a certain member here, whose name is a type of necrotrophic fungus, that these cd players sound brittle and shrill, and have been eclipsed by newer tech.

Aren't people funny? Enjoy the recently repaired cd player, Splatter Pak. I know my Denon 1500 II won't be leaving anytime soon.

Newer technology like in my Denon 1920 SACD player with a 192 kz DAC's. Ha...I compared my 1920 which is 17 years newer than my 1988 1500II. I am still waiting to hear this new tech superiority. Actually they both sound good, But I would have to say the 1500II is still more refined in SQ, and light years ahead in almost every other area like build quality, functions (variable headphone out), display, features, appearance, etc. The new player weighs about 5 lbs...1/4 what the 1500II weighs.
 
Newer technology like in my Denon 1920 SACD player with a 192 kz DAC's. Ha...I compared my 1920 which is 17 years newer than my 1988 1500II. I am still waiting to hear this new tech superiority. Actually they both sound good, But I would have to say the 1500II is still more refined in SQ, and light years ahead in almost every other area like build quality, functions (variable headphone out), display, features, appearance, etc. The new player weighs about 5 lbs...1/4 what the 1500II weighs.

I've heard a heavily modded Oppo that my general practitioner and all around audio nut let me borrow.

The high end was ear-tingling bright. Detail? Sure. Fatiguing? To my ears, yes. Your results might vary.

Not knocking the new stuff, but I think the vintage TOTL units are still viable sound for someone on a budget, or otherwise.
 
Denon's house sound is my reference standard for Digital. Period. If they don't sound mellow and mellifluous it's because the master didn't either. I've owned a bunch of 'em and they all sound similarly TERRIFIC. With the high frequency extension that is most often notably associated with better MC cartridges. Now, off to start a thread about how to replace the ONE thing I don't like about MY Denons (1520's and 1560's): THE overpriced/unobtanium Sony KSS-151a laser.
 
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I have a Denon DCD820 (bought new by me in the early 1980s) which started to refuse to read some CDs, then this gradually became not reading most CDs. I had a look at it and fond that it was struggling to focus on the disc. The symptoms were - Drawer closes, disc spins for a couple of seconds and then stops with no track indications on the display. These players have Sony laser units and are quite easy to find through Ebay for about £20.00 or so (about $30.00 I expect).

Changing them is simple.
1) Open the player.
2) Pull the transport out. This is fixed to the base plate.
3) remove 4 screws holding the top cover of the transport.
4) Slide the cover sideways slightly to release the catches.
5) Remove the laser unit with it's carrier.
6) Fit new laser unit - DO NOT ADJUST ANYTHING!
7) Rebuild and test.

It took me about 30 minutes to replace it. Once you get the new module you will see how it fits.

After replacement, the player played all my CDs without a problem. Good sounding player which is in our kitchen system.
 
I like reading these old CD fixes. TTs, I get it but I like CD players. I had around 15 CD players sitting around that I never tested. Yesterday I ended up taking the covers off of about 10 of them, mostly simple problems. One had a stuck door, the only thing wrong with it was a plastic belt driven pulley was frozen, a drop of oil and I have a nice working Sony. I had another CD player where the door would keep opening and closing, no play. I pushed it in with a little force and then it worked consistently, that was the easiest to fix haha. Maybe it's a bad idea more than a good one but I put belt dressing on the belts(at any auto store). I think I found the following link on this site but here it is again, there was some info there I appreciated. http://lampizator.eu/LAMPIZATOR/TRANSPORT/laser/Laserology.html (Well, OK, it's a "sticky" I was looking at there) Out of the 15 or so CD players I have, I only have 3 or 4 that I haven't figured out a fix to yet.

edit ....ime, don't use belt dressing I mentioned above. The belt needs to slip a little at times, belt dressing is sticky and I witnessed a belt snap because it wasn't able to slip.
 
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Thanks - yes, mine had slipped off center, and it was when I was watching the puck motion with a disc trying to load and the cover off, that it occurred to me that the vibration/oscillation this causes might be enough to cause a read failure. It was confirmed by gently pressing with a smooth object onto the top of the puck while a disc first started spinning - it then loaded the disc correctly. So the pressure on the disc was also a critical factor. Glad if this helps save these lovely decks. Mine cost me $25 from a thrift store - I suspect the previous owner had given up and read about the scarcity of replacement lasers (and their cost), so just dumped the deck. My gain! :D

Sorry I am chiming in kind of late (only a few years!), but my DCD-1500ii properly loads only about 50% of the time. I confirmed your thoughts on the source of the failure of the clamp by simply placing a piece of masking tape (for painting) on top of a few of the CD's that were giving me problems. Doing this effectively added to the disc's thickness. The tape application allowed the disc to load properly and the player read and worked great for all these particular discs. So, I decided to open the machine, clean and lube, and remove the arm and affix a washer onto the clamp. Unfortunately, I was unable to remove the arm easily. I know that there is a coil spring on the far end of the arm that needs to be removed, and there is a plastic tab on one side of the arm's pivot point that has to be bent in order to free one end of the shaft at the pivot point. Once that end of the shaft is free, the one on the other side would simply slide out. Once the shaft is free, will the arm come right off, or am I missing something else here? I did not want to force the plastic tab as it seems really weak. If it breaks off, there will be no means to keep the arm in place other than the coil spring. I realize that it has been several years since you first posted this thread, but I would greatly appreciate your input (as well as others) on this matter. Many thanks!
 
Sorry I am chiming in kind of late (only a few years!), but my DCD-1500ii properly loads only about 50% of the time. I confirmed your thoughts on the source of the failure of the clamp by simply placing a piece of masking tape (for painting) on top of a few of the CD's that were giving me problems. Doing this effectively added to the disc's thickness. The tape application allowed the disc to load properly and the player read and worked great for all these particular discs. So, I decided to open the machine, clean and lube, and remove the arm and affix a washer onto the clamp. Unfortunately, I was unable to remove the arm easily. I know that there is a coil spring on the far end of the arm that needs to be removed, and there is a plastic tab on one side of the arm's pivot point that has to be bent in order to free one end of the shaft at the pivot point. Once that end of the shaft is free, the one on the other side would simply slide out. Once the shaft is free, will the arm come right off, or am I missing something else here? I did not want to force the plastic tab as it seems really weak. If it breaks off, there will be no means to keep the arm in place other than the coil spring. I realize that it has been several years since you first posted this thread, but I would greatly appreciate your input (as well as others) on this matter. Many thanks!

eddiel1 - I am having the same troubles as you. You can remove (what Denon calls) the clamper arm without taking the transport out of the player. With the player situated so that the front panel is toward you with the cover off, the transport will be on the left side of the player. The clamper arm has two shafts molded into it that point to the left and right. The shafts sit inside of mechanical housings that move the clamper up and down. The housing on the right is designed to be gently deflected to the right just a bit so that the shaft is clear and you can pull the clamper arm out by lifting vertically. Once you've gotten the right shaft clear, the shaft on the left will come out freely. You do have to be careful to *gently* deflect that mechanical housing or it may break -- you have been warned. Once the clamper arm shafts are free, carefully detach the spring in the back -- and make a note about how the spring is attached, as you'll need that when you reassemble. My clamper assembly has the same broken flange problem reported elsewhere. It also has a completely blackened and worn down felt clamp "washer" which was also reported here. I hope to get some help from a mechanical engineer friend with both issues.

P.S.: Before attempting to remove the clamper, open the CD transport door, then pull the power plug, leaving the transport door open and the clamper up and away from the motor and optical pickup. It's easier to access the the deflecting mechanical latch on the right when you do this. Reassemble in reverse.
 
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eddiel1 - I am having the same troubles as you. You can remove (what Denon calls) the clamper arm without taking the transport out of the player. With the player situated so that the front panel is toward you with the cover off, the transport will be on the left side of the player. The clamper arm has two shafts molded into it that point to the left and right. The shafts sit inside of mechanical housings that move the clamper up and down. The housing on the right is designed to be gently deflected to the right just a bit so that the shaft is clear and you can pull the clamper arm out by lifting vertically. Once you've gotten the right shaft clear, the shaft on the left will come out freely. You do have to be careful to *gently* deflect that mechanical housing or it may break -- you have been warned. Once the clamper arm shafts are free, carefully detach the spring in the back -- and make a note about how the spring is attached, as you'll need that when you reassemble. My clamper assembly has the same broken flange problem reported elsewhere. It also has a completely blackened and worn down felt clamp "washer" which was also reported here. I hope to get some help from a mechanical engineer friend with both issues.

P.S.: Before attempting to remove the clamper, open the CD transport door, then pull the power plug, leaving the transport door open and the clamper up and away from the motor and optical pickup. It's easier to access the the deflecting mechanical latch on the right when you do this. Reassemble in reverse.

FPHART, thank you very much for responding to my inquiry. I guess my instincts were right, and you certainly gave me fair warning on disassembling the housing. When I first encountered this situation, I "chickened out" and simply continued using the masking tape on the CD's that wouldn't read. Now that you confirmed my thoughts on this matter, I will go back in and very carefully remove the clamp. Thanks again!
 
My Denon DCD 820 will do the : I do not want to read this particular disc" routine on occasion - one of these days I will definitely remove the cover and take a close look at the clamp mechanism.
 
I thought I'd chime in since my first CD player was a Denon DCD-1500. (first version, not the" -II") I did own this player from the time I bought it new in 1986 until I sold it in 2017. It worked flawlessly and never exhibited the issues noted in the initial thread post. Of course I was the original owner and took care of it fastidiously during the time I owned it. I can say, in retrospect ,that it was fussy about having a clean disc surface. Even a slight smudge could cause a 'skip'. But when that happened the fix was always to clean the read surface of the disc. I can also note that it was fussy about certain CD-R discs. Some brands it would read, others not at all. I suspected at the time that this was because it was an early player.
I also note that even though this player adheres to the 16/44 red book format, it was really more of a 14/44. Or so I had been told. Later models were full 16/44. Additionally, this player did produce a very strong lower frequency. It rocked. Perhaps it suffered from a bit of jitter, which is normal for all players of this era. The audible evidence of jitter is a slight harshness to the higher frequencies, which I did notice about it.

I have a fair collection of CDs. Most of which I acquired while owning the DCD-1500. I loved that player. It was beautiful, obviously well made... and it provided faithful service throughout the time I owned it. later, around 2005, I acquired a lightly used Jolida JD-100 CD player, which quickly superceded my Denon. Clearly this one had a sound I preferred. Even though the DCD-1500 produced a weightier lower frequency, the JD-100 overall sounded sweeter. It did not exhibit any sense of harshness in the high frequencies. Ergo, less jitter. It should be noted that the JD-100 has a tubed output stage, using a pair of 12-AX7. The previous owner of the unit had upgraded to a pair of Electro-harmonix 12-AX7 tubes and these are still in the unit today.
I can say, however, that the JD-100 unlike the Denon has given me some trouble. After much head scratching I was able to determine that an integrated circuit (chip) on the output board was working itself out of its socket, causing an intermittent display error followed by unit shut down. When I figured this out, the fix was to push the chip back into its socket firmly enough for it to stay put. Now everything seems to be fine with it.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Even though my system is vinyl oriented, I still play the occasional CD from my collection. And I still purchase a CD now and then when I want to sample new music.
-Steve
 
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Definitely a +1 on the Denon players. My first good player was a 1500 II, bought new around '86 after reading a review in Digital Audio magazine. Blast from the past there. That was a nice player, well built and it sounded so much better than the POS Pioneer that I started with. And now, after 20 years of use on my Sony NS999ES, I'm going back to a DCD-800NE...arriving Tuesday.
 
Definitely a +1 on the Denon players. My first good player was a 1500 II, bought new around '86 after reading a review in Digital Audio magazine. Blast from the past there. That was a nice player, well built and it sounded so much better than the POS Pioneer that I started with. And now, after 20 years of use on my Sony NS999ES, I'm going back to a DCD-800NE...arriving Tuesday.
do you have any idea if this was denons first go at cd players? i think there was a dcd-1000 also ,im guessing its the 1500s little brother ,that is also about 1986 ,be interesting if any one has an idea
mike
 
do you have any idea if this was denons first go at cd players? i think there was a dcd-1000 also ,im guessing its the 1500s little brother ,that is also about 1986 ,be interesting if any one has an idea
mike
Not sure about the lineage, but Denon actually has a very early history with digital audio. They were involved in some of the early work with recording and playback.
 
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