I continue to collect Vintage CD Players: Sony CDP 302

What I miss is that level of craftsmanship. The little window, the backlit buttons with symbols (play, pause) and the overall heft of the machine.

Sure, my 10 dollar Pioneer Blu-Ray from GW walks all over it, sonically, but which do I wish to play more?? Yep, that glorious Sony.
 
My mom, 70, and full of life, keeps bringing me these old DVD's and CDP. I got a PILE of them she scores on the cheap. The Pioneer Blu-Ray is a sweet find. Wolfson DAC's, 117 signal to noise ratio.

The model number is BDP-51FD.

Looks like this -

66519.jpg
 
well james, I just pulled the trigger on one for 100 on the bay free ship.

cheep enuf just to see whats what. U got my curiousity up.
 
well james, I just pulled the trigger on one for 100 on the bay free ship.

cheep enuf just to see whats what. U got my curiousity up.

From what I understand, the ELITE version of that very player was ridiculously overbuilt. This one doesn't have EIGHT DAC's, because that's for the top tier stuff, but if you're using it for cds and music, you don't need that.

I hope you enjoy it. It is rather slow to load, but the sound to my ears is distinct, clean as a pin, and just pleasant.
 
I'll be running CDs only so all that other stuff is junk far as Im concerned.
I dont even know what most of it is. I still live in the darkages. I like it like that.
One reason why I didnt pay alot. dont like payin for alot of unused stuff.
So I looked for one in good shape low priced.
I'll report back here when I get it.
 
Late to the show but I will toss my hat into the CDP-302 ring! I've owned many of them including the CDP-302II. I still have a pair of CDP-520ES paired with a pair of matching TA-F444ESII integrated amps. Disk read and seek is as fast as any new CDP. Scan could be faster but I rarely use that function.

Anyways, both of my 520ES have slow to open trays. Anyone have a source for the belts?
 
And some photos of my CDP-520ES II sitting on top of a TA-F444ES II. I had the matching tuner well before I acquired these but sold it.



No digital out unfortunately.



520ES and 302 are very close internally. The major difference is the four extra caps in the middle which are not present in the 302.

 
That's pretty stuff, SoCal. I'm guessing you've tried that auction site?? I bet the belts on the 302 might just work. Good luck.

And that's my favorite Robert Cray cd by a wide margin.
 
onwardjamse, i got the bluray 51 in.
it is slower than molasses in jan. takes forever to decide what to do. who in hell designed thatt thing?
it does everything in sloooo-motion.
aside from that, it does sound pretty good tho.
best $100 cd player i have, the only one too.
compared to my Oynko 7030 and sony 302 I can only it say it sounds about the same. but thats a good thing.
they all suond really good the way they should.
not sure at this time if i will keep it or not.
glad i got it to compare my other CDPs with.
 
been listening to the BR 51 and yes it does sound like u say, clean, distinct, and very pleasant.
and slo as frozen honey. but gettin used 2 it.
 
Picked this up last night at Savers for $7.99.
It's not particularly good but it was a mess and it's fun to rip them apart and clean them up.
 

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Bottom of after replacing
View attachment 824677 View attachment 824678
Beautiful BU-1 mechanism sled linear motor.
After the eighties, things have changed ...

hi....am new here and was going this forum,i've this cd player 302es and replaced the signal processor chip the new one CXD1125Q
but now the cd spins for like 3 seconds and stops.
Do i need to connect the pins 53 and 57 like in your botton side showing brown wire connections.
 
I was wondering, I have both a 302 and a 203. I know the 302’s BU-1 laser is top notch. The 302 is in my primary setup. What are the main differences between the two? Thinking about switching them between my primary and secondary systems due to positioning issues (ventilation). I’m adding a piece of equipment to my secondary system and need to set it on top of the cd piece. The 302 has vent holes in cabinet. The 203 does not.
I guess my main question is, am I giving up much by switching the 203 into my main system?
 
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