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Less-common Japanese CD player recommendations?

expatguy

expatguy

Active Member
Hello all,

I am in the mood for experimenting with "vintage" 80s to 90s Japanese CD players. Sony, Yamaha, Denon, Sansui, Technics, Kenwood, Pioneer and JVC are well represented in the threads I've searched. My question is, can anyone make recommendations about the *lesser known/less popular* makers and models of that era? Models that play both CD and CD-R are a plus.

I am thinking specifically (but not exclusively) of the following, less-discussed makers I am likely to encounter here in Japan:

Onkyo , Panasonic, Toshiba, NEC, Mitsubishi, and Teac, Sanyo, and Akai.

The names are roughly in order of how often they appear in online auctions and thrift shops, with tons of Onkyo players heading the field.

My listening interests are wide but generally exclude really hard rock. Something that would handle music from Elgar to the Eagles rocking out would fit the bill. FWIW, I am using a Technics SP-L1300 and getting good results with my rather bright sounding Pioneer setup (see signature).

I look forward to hearing your suggestions.
 
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Players with e TDA1541 DAC

One link led to another, and I found this interesting one that attempts to list all CD players using the venerable TDA1541 DAC.

http://tda1541a.nl/site/

It lists some of the makers I'm interested in. I'll definitely be looking for models with this DAC
 
Rick Vestal said:
Kyocera... Not sure about the CDR playback though...
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I own a Kyocera DA-610CX, and so far it's played every brand of CDR that I've thrown at it (unlike my old Technics cd player from the same era). Super quiet and smooth transport tray and very pleasant sounding. From what I hear, the 710 and 810 sound even more refined. The DA-910 must be a pretty rare bird. Don't think that you could go wrong with the 410 through 610 though. :thmbsp:
 
Nakamichi made some very nice players back in the 1980s. I used to have an OMS-7, which sounded very nice even though it was a first generation player with only 14 bits (!!) I believe the OMS-7 II used the 16 bit TDA-1541 DAC.

Don't dismiss the big brands out of hand. Many of them made (and still make) high end gear for the domestic Japanese market which never sees the light of day in the US. I've seen some fantastic looking CD players (and amps) from the likes of Pioneer and Denon in my visits to Akahabra in Tokyo, which look like they'd be $5K in a US audio salon.

If I could afford it, I'd get an Accuphase SACD player. They're supposed to be much cheaper in Japan. Accuphase US says that they won't covert foreign gear to 110V or otherwise service "grey market" gear, but I've heard there's an exception if you buy it while living abroad, and use it there for a year or more.
 
i have got somewhere in my collection a sony cdp-101 it says in the instructions to let it warm up for 20 mins. before use . the transformer sticks out of the back and inside is packed with electronics unlike modern stuff .. i cant wait till i find it again and give it a whirl .. i am working through the collection and selling it all .. sony got the name but Philips invented cd and i think Philips make the better transport
 
I do not recommend any players with older Philips transports, because the lasers are reaching end of life now and if they fail you have to replace the entire CDM unit at $200 if you can find it.
Onkyo made some very fine players with the Integra name on them, but those lasers are NLA also. The regular Onkyo players are very good sounding, well made, and use common parts that are easy to find and inexpensive, like Sony lasers that you can buy for $20. If you upgrade the output opamps in these players you will be very pleased with the sound.
 
dr*audio said:
I do not recommend any players with older Philips transports, because the lasers are reaching end of life now and if they fail you have to replace the entire CDM unit at $200 if you can find it.
Onkyo made some very fine players with the Integra name on them, but those lasers are NLA also. The regular Onkyo players are very good sounding, well made, and use common parts that are easy to find and inexpensive, like Sony lasers that you can buy for $20. If you upgrade the output opamps in these players you will be very pleased with the sound.
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Yeah, one of my worries is the lasers. Tons of Denons that fire up but don't read CDs regularly appear on online auctions. I'm glad you mentioned Onkyo, because they are fairly common here. Are there any particular models you would recommend?
 
expatguy said:
Yeah, one of my worries is the lasers. Tons of Denons that fire up but don't read CDs regularly appear on online auctions. I'm glad you mentioned Onkyo, because they are fairly common here. Are there any particular models you would recommend?
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The DX-1800 is a great player, with a transport that is metal, not plastic, Sony KSS-210A laser and Sony chipset. You can pick them up sometimes for $20! I upgraded the opamps to OPA2228PA opamps and I think it now sounds as good as my Integra CD player.
 
expatguy said:
I am thinking specifically (but not exclusively) of the following, less-discussed makers I am likely to encounter here in Japan:

Onkyo , Panasonic, Toshiba, NEC, Mitsubishi, and Teac, Sanyo, and Akai.

I look forward to hearing your suggestions.
Click to expand...
How about Sharp/Optonica? I suppose they are rather more common in Japan than the US. Even so, I see very few Sharp CD players here in the US, much fewer than other Japanese brands.

I have a little Sharp component type CD player that isn't very fancy, but it sounds decent to me. Will look up the model # later on.

I would easily second the recommendation for the Kyocera DA-610. I have one and it is an excellent unit with some cheap spots...most notably the drawer switch that can corrode and result in a fun game of "catch the disc tray". It also uses a pretty simplistic DC permanent magnet motor for the laser sled drive. It does play CD-R just fine, same as the Sharp above.
 
Those Kyoceras are built like tanks and they fly under thrift-store radar because Kyocera does not have much name recognition among consumers (unlike Sony, Pioneer, etc.). I chanced across a 410 (n.b., higher model numbers do not always mean better models in Kyocera-land) and it has stayed in the house long after a number of other decks have come and gone.
 
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Another very nice vintage Japanese CD player is the Yamaha GT-CD1. It's younger brother, the GT-CD2, is also nice, but not as nice. You'll have to get one from Japan (or perhaps Hong Kong :D), and they aren't all that cheap (the GT-CD2 is significantly cheaper).

These CDPs have an over-the-top transport mechanism, with a chamber made from machined gun metal, and a thick, beveled-edge circular crystal chamber lid that seals the chamber... every detail was covered to make these mechanically as jitter-free as possible. Yes, I know people rely upon digital jitter-correction these days, but there is something to be said for not having the jitter there (or having it minimalized) to begin with. There is one (plastic? nylon?) gear piece --part of the mechanism that lifts up the glass lid-- that sometimes fails after so many years, but you can get after-market metal replacements for it, if you search a bit.

The DAC was state-of-the-art for its time, and still sounds good, but technology has moved on. No worries - there is a direct digital out, so you can use any DAC you wish, and have fun DAC-rolling.

If you can find the Denon "Special Limited Edition" CD player, that's a nice one, too. It wasn't only sold in Japan, though; I bought mine new in Hong Kong years ago.


I'd give serious thought before laying out too much for ANY CDP, though: you can get as good or better (mostly better) sound quality with a computer-based system. If your aim is to have fun, collect or complete a vintage system, it's fine, but if your aim is simply to listen to CDs, a player may not be the best way to go.
 
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