Finally found a Denon DCD-1500

[JarredCrowe]

I've wanted one for a few years now but never seem to be able to run into them. Well just the other day I decided to stop in at savers and sure enough there was a clean one sitting on the shelf. I tried it out there and it functioned fine.
After spending the last several days demoing it I can see what the hype is about. I also currently have an onkyo integra dx5500 , a Sony dvps7000, and a magnavox cdb 560(tda1541) so I have a fairly decent range to compare to. I'm inclined to agree that it sounds a little darker than the others, more relaxed. It also seems to be one of the more detailed of the lot. Overall I'd have to say I'm rather pleased. I know I'm on borrowed time with any player this old but for what I paid I'll just enjoy it till it dies.

 

[slow_jazz]

I've had one for years. Super reliable....

 

[Pandovski]

Congrats and welcome to the DCD-1500 club

 

[avguytx]

I wish my DCD-1560 was as reliable. Damn obsolete Sony KSS-151a lasers....ugh.

 

[JarredCrowe]

I've read before that they can live long lives. As soon as I got it I cleaned the lense just because. The exterior is in about as good of shape as any I've ever seen from a thrift, the drawer works as it should and it has no trouble with random access. I'm sure I'll get many hours of enjoyment out it. I've wanted a for digit denon a while now and I'm glad it was everything I expected.

 

[opt80]

Mine works great.Andyman owned it before I did.

 

[JarredCrowe]

Good stuff. . I must have see at least a dozen three digit denons(not including changers) and passed on every one. I'm glad I waited.

 

[sully1801]

The 1500 is a great unit, I've had one for about 25 years and it still works in a 2nd system of mine. Once in awhile the drawer needs some help to close fully, but...
They don't make 'em like that anymore, unfortuately...

 

[guiller]

The DCD-1500 was the first CDP I owned that showed me that CDs have lots of musicality in them. Before I had BOTL CDPs that sounded very artificial to my ears.

 

[charles 1973]

I had their 1500II for many years. Mine was one of many with a defective laser and stopped working way sooner than it should have.

However when it was working in terms of SQ it was indeed very good. I also have their 17 year newer, upsampling SACD/DVD universal player. I did a comparrison between the two, fully expecting the antiquated 1500II to be eating the 1920's dust, with it's upsampling and all. Ha...Nice try. That 1500II gave up nothing to the modern 1920, and overall had a more real sound. The 1500II in terms of quality of design, Functions and Display makes the 1920 look like a BOTL Chev Cruise compared to a Cadalic CTS-V. The 1920 however also sounds very good though and I'm quite pleased with it. Generally I like Denon's products. Their AVR's are 2'nd to none IMO overal in terms of value/$.

 

[wsjoe]

The model number DCD-1500 is very close to the DCD-1500II but they are miles apart including the DCD-1520, DCD-1560 and so on. Yes, the DCD-1500 sound pretty good compared to those cd players you already have. Go get yourself a DCD-1520 or DCD-1560 and modify those and you will be blown away. Too bad the lasers that go into these are no longer available or too damn expensive.

 

[avguytx]

Thus the reason mine has become a door stop unless I can find a donor laser from another machine for cheap. It sucks, too, since it's such a beastly player.

 

[Wasatch]

I remember when they first came out, they were MONSTERS in size and weight compared to alot of other CD Players of the time.

 

[JarredCrowe]

I'm impressed with it. I wouldn't say all my other players are slouches but at least currently it's my favorite. It even tracked a portion of one of my discs that makes my swing arm magnavox stumble(I think the disc was manufactured off).

 

[charles 1973]

I'm impressed with it. I wouldn't say all my other players are slouches but at least currently it's my favorite. It even tracked a portion of one of my discs that makes my swing arm magnavox stumble(I think the disc was manufactured off).

I had friends give me CD's because they wouldn't work on their very good players, but worked fine on my 1500II. It's ironic that my player, despite its laser that malfunctioned way sooner than it should have was able to play these disc's without a hitch.

It looks like Denon really was on to something, too bad they (or whoever made the laser) couldn't follow through with better QC. It really is a sweet player when it works.

If you want to try something interesting, try connecting the variable Audio Outputs (you will need the remote I believe) directly to the Power Amps Inputs, if that is appropiate with your set-up. When I took my well Regarded NAD Preamp out of the picture, what was a Good Sounding Player, Was elevated up a Notch or Two.

 

[JarredCrowe]

Yes I can run it cd direct on any of my current setups. I do not have the remote however, couldn't I just use the headphone volume pot on the unit itself? When I was running my onkyo direct it worked that way.

 

[charles 1973]

Yes I can run it cd direct on any of my current setups. I do not have the remote however, couldn't I just use the headphone volume pot on the unit itself? When I was running my onkyo direct it worked that way.

I don't believe the Headphone Volume controll will work with the Variable outputs. I think I tried it once. The remote volume shows up on the display, but doesn't move the Headphone control. However by all means if you can somehow try it before connecting it directly to the Power Amp that would be good. Even at max volume it still only brought my Power Amp to perhaps a few watts. It depends on the input sensitivity of the power Amp. It's Typically 1 - 2 volts for full power I believe.

A CD Direct function on an amp may not completly bypass the preamps circuts, I took it right out of there and plugged it directly into the power Amp just to be sure. Not very practical to be sure, just something to to do on a boring afternoon. Some people use a pasive Preamp to get that transparent sound. An Active preamp that plays that well isn't cheap. Some of today's Integrated's, like Rega's Brio-R for example are said to do a good job though.

 

[JarredCrowe]

Hmmm. I see what you mean about the volume on the denon. I guess I'll have to wait till I can encounter a remote for that function. The only other thing that might work would be going from the headphone out to the rcas on the power amp. At least that way there would still be some volume control. And I didn't mean cd direct as in like a tone defeat, I ment it as in going from the cd player directly to the power amp.

 

[jimbofish]

IIRC the CD Direct output is usually meant to connect to a cassette deck so the volume will be preset for recording. Some decks of the era had matching CD direct inputs. The volume control has no effect on the output from CD direct.

A universal remote will work with the volume for the Variable outs.

 

[Ed in Tx]

A little surprised the disc clamp pad hasn't been discussed. On my 1500II that I bought a few months ago, the pad on the disc clamp had turned to black carbon crumbling powder I could rub off with a finger. I removed all that and made a new pad out of some adhesive backed polishing pad material. But it's kinda rough around the edges since I cut it by hand. Definitely open to suggestions. Has anyone come up something good to replace that rubberized pad on the clamp?