Found a Philips CD80 cheap

gonzothegreat

Super Member
I was browsing the thrifts the other day and I found a Philips CD80. From 89/90. 4x oversampling. Things weighs 20lbs. Even included a set of Monster Cable interconnects.

Here's the question for the audience. I've been throwing my audiobucks at the final stages of the chain (i.e. speakers and amps) while basically ignoring the front end (tuner/tape/CD). I didn't really think that I'd significantly improve the sound by upgrading my cd player from my current early model Sony DVD player.

I won't have time to play with the new player until next week but I'd like to hear what sort of improvements I might hear. In Cd player reviews I hear lots of grainyness/harshness quantification but that's about it.
 
Gonzo, you lucky bum, you scored with that Philips!

It should be one of the coveted-at-the-time 16 bit, 4x oversampling jobs that audio types craved back 15 years ago or so. The primary advantage to these over the more common 1 bit machines is in the high-frequencies, where they clearly shine -- the 1 bit (almost all Japanese) machines' signals tend to fall apart and get ragged in the highs, leaving that harsh, grainy sound just as you describe.

Whether or not the rest of your system is transparent enough so that you will hear a difference is unknown to me, but on a bench test, the 16 bit 4x machines are measurably much more faithful to the music signal.

I've just recently taken the same path, having ditched my cheapo Sony for a Philips CD-40 and am happy, but of course these days, even a stock Philips is no match for a superb quality DAC($$$!!). But for what it is, it's mighty good and should get you by in style, as defined in 1990.

By all means try it out and let us know what your impressions are!

Jay

P.S. The Monster cable wont help a lick, but wont hurt, either. :)
 
I know I said before this is a heavy mofo but words do not do it justice. The whole chassis aside from the front and back panels are cast metal. As you can see in the pic, copper shielding lines the chassis.

I found out why this player was tossed in Goodwill. The output was intermittent in both channels. It worked fine when I listened to it on headphones so I was baffled. I lifted the hood (which required Torx drivers) and started tapping components (hoping to find a loose contact). The sound acted up if I smacked the output relays so I lifted the lid and nailed her with a drop of ProGold on the relay contacts. Problem solved!

I haven't A/B ed it with another player but it sure sounds detailed going directly into my recently repaired Kenwood 700m. Dunno how much of what I'm hearing is the Philly and what is the Kenny.
 
That's the holy grail of vintage Philips units, congratulations!!!
It retailed for $800 back in the late 80s, early 90s.

There was a Marantz version available that was identical, IIRC.

You may want to check if yours has the "Gold Crown" version of the TDA-1541A DAC chip. You can see the little crown by the logo on the chip. The "Crown" version was hand selected for linearity. Same one used by megabuck separate DAC manufacturers and McIntosh on their $2000 MCD7007.

The CD80 also uses copper plated PCBs and other nice quality components.

Beautiful cosmetics as well. It tops the CDB650 in that department.

Regards,
crooner
 
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Thanks for the info. When I had her open, I saw the special sticker on one chip and wondered what it meant.

Initally I was just going to turn it around on ebay for a few bucks but considering how nice it sounds with my new amp, I might hold onto it for a while. Just will have to find something else to unload.
 
That unit just "screams" quality!

Thanks for posting a pic.

That was the dream CD player to own back in those days.

And I noticed the chassis itself is copper plated. Impressive indeed.

The unit is a keeper. OTOH, I once saw a CD80 sell for upwards $400 on eBay. They are rare and not many are around, compared to the more pedestrian CDB650.
 
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