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Late 1980's/Early 90's Made in Japan CD Changers

Moby2 said:
I used it today for the first time and it sounds very good using analog outputs (better using digital coaxial connected to my Harman Kardon AVR 630 receiver) and works well as a transport.
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Excellent; thanks for the feedback. Indeed, this is a great looking deck with its aluminum faceplate and that glowing green-ish light on the front...the analog outs sound decent?
 
fiddlefye said:
I have a bunch of Sony changers kicking around in secondary systems and they all work flawlessly, especially the one ES model. It definitely sounds better than the standard issue and looks much nicer, better build. I've made a habit of nabbing them when they turn up at thrifts and having a few on hand as back-up. At $5-10 a pop it isn't a big investment. The only thing is I've yet to have one show even the slightest hint of failing. I don't use a changer for any of my more critical set-ups, but they can be handy for background listening and in truth sounds as good as any of the other cheaper players.
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Some changers from the late 1980s even have dual 16 bit Burr Brown DACs. I bet they sound great.
 
Adcom and Denon also made pretty nice drawer-type changers in that era. I have an Adcom GCD-600 and it sounds quite nice, though I think it was built in 1994, so it's outside the OP's stated time period. The later GCD-700 is also highly regarded, though I've never heard one. My dad had a nice Denon drawer-style changer from the late 1980s or early 1990s; I have no recollection of its model number but it was a robust and good sounding machine.
 
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Remembering one more changer I had for a time that really produced some surprisingly good musical results. It was a Carver and it had one of the old 1 bit chips. While a bit lacking in resolution perhaps they made up for it in musicality. I ended up giving the Carver to a dear friend along with an Arcam integrated and Reference 3a speakers and she is still loving it many years down the road. When I'm over visiting I still really enjoy listening to the combo.
 
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