vintage Sony CDP
- Thread starter dj_AmTraX
- Start date
thedelihaus
Nocturnal transmissions
I've got a decent collection.
ES models, but not the cream of the ES. Just decent kit, but no mega-donut TOTL units.
Good thing about mine are there's still lasers available- many of the best Sony ES units suffer from unobtanium CD blocks.
This, of course is a drag, because Sony made some killer CD players.
Check out AK member Axel's excellent site, The Vintage Knob, featuring many a nice Sony product-
http://www.thevintageknob.org/SONY/sony-main.html
Stoffie
Sony afficionado
Have a CDP-X777ES with unobtanium laser block, so when it dies, I'm screwed.
Also have a CDP-X555ES for which laser blocks are still available, if you look well enough. Also a great machine but a notch down from the other one.
CDP-557ESD, CDP-X555/559/505/777/779/707 are all great TOTL machines, if you can find them, and not all have spare lasers available anymore. So often a donor machine is the way to go.
Also have a CDP-X555ES for which laser blocks are still available, if you look well enough. Also a great machine but a notch down from the other one.
CDP-557ESD, CDP-X555/559/505/777/779/707 are all great TOTL machines, if you can find them, and not all have spare lasers available anymore. So often a donor machine is the way to go.
drknstrmyknight
Addicted Member
Still using my DVP-S300 for CD's, which I bought new for $400, Christmas 1998
drknstrmyknight
Addicted Member
Sony's first, not too bad sounding supposedly (check it on TVK, I think Axel has some thoughts on it), but you can get much better than that though. More of a collector's item than anything else
I love this sort of unattributed "u can do better" thread.
Nothing on TVK AFAIK - lemme have it! I'm not a 'meter reader'. What is wrong with the DVP-S300 for CD playback? Shoud I hit the yard sales for an old playstation? Can I wow myself with 200 bucks? I'll do it in a hearbeat!
Stoffie
Sony afficionado
My reply was not in answer to your message, I was talking about the CDP-101. Thread starter asked about our thought so I gave mine.
You posted one minute before me and never saw your message. Not saying anyone 'should' necessarily do better or anything like that. Just saying there is better out there than first gen players for those who want it. Sheesh. Chill out man. We're all just having fun here.
You posted one minute before me and never saw your message. Not saying anyone 'should' necessarily do better or anything like that. Just saying there is better out there than first gen players for those who want it. Sheesh. Chill out man. We're all just having fun here.
I also have a Sony CDP-X339ES (with wood side panels) which I bought new 1n 1992 and It's little brother, the CDP-X229ES (no wood side panels) and they both still work as good as new. They are both very solid units. The 339ES has more solid bass response but they are both excellent IMHO.
I have a CDP-101 as well, and I think that the laser is gone. I've wiped it off, but it won't read.
Is the laser available at a reasonable price, and if so, how can I be certain that that's what's dead in my player?
dr*audio
Fish fingers and custard!
The laser for the CDP-101 is NLA. This player had a lot of issues; power opamps that go bad and are unavailable, RF PLL adjsutment was incorrect in the service manual, and if you don't have the special bulletin Sony put out, you will never get it right, and the player won't play CDs. It doesn't sound that hot, either, the high end is a bit mushy.
Thanks, out in the garbage it goes.
gener8tr
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't toss the 101 into the garbage. I'm sure there are lots of people out there who would love to have it for parts. I think even non-working models sell on ebay for $50.00 and up plus shipping. Maybe your unit could help someone else looking to get their 101 back up and running.
dr*audio
Fish fingers and custard!
It still looks nice sitting on a shelf, even if it doesn't play, it's something of a collector's item. A friend brought me a Sony CDP-111 to work on. About the same vintage as the 101, maybe second generation, or a later player from the first generation. It has the same transport as the 101. After I got the loading mech to work, I found the laser power was very low, meaning the laser was at end of life. He told me to keep it. I put it in my audio museum. It sits on a shelf looking cool.
thedelihaus
Nocturnal transmissions
Sony's first, not too bad sounding...but you can get much better than that though. More of a collector's item than anything else
I owned the 102. Very similar, and I'll agree with the sound reviews above- also adding a brittleness to the end result, as CDPs were still in their infancy, and the technology a bit rudimentary.
You'll notice, however, they are a solid piece of gear, well built, and not a plasticy, throw-away player like many modern players have become.
This is true.
An AKer bought the first Yamaha CDP offered from me, working, to benefit AK, for $100.
And I've seen the 101s sell from $35 to over $100, in both working and non-working conditions.
It is, after all, a milestone in audio history- the first of Sony's legacy of CDPs.
dr*audio
Fish fingers and custard!
The CDP-102 is a whole different animal from the 101 and can be easily modified to sound much better:
1. Replace the output and filter opamps with LM833 opamps.
2. Solder a braid to the chassis at the points on the circuit board where the screws are. Sony uses the screws to provide contact with the chassis, and the chassis to make electrical connection between these ground points on the board. When the screws get loose the highs start to get nasty sounding. You can tighten the screws, but if you solder ground braids in, it provides a permanent cure.
The Sony CDP-302 has upgraded opamps and doesn't require them to be replaced, but the same grounding mod should be done.
1. Replace the output and filter opamps with LM833 opamps.
2. Solder a braid to the chassis at the points on the circuit board where the screws are. Sony uses the screws to provide contact with the chassis, and the chassis to make electrical connection between these ground points on the board. When the screws get loose the highs start to get nasty sounding. You can tighten the screws, but if you solder ground braids in, it provides a permanent cure.
The Sony CDP-302 has upgraded opamps and doesn't require them to be replaced, but the same grounding mod should be done.
