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Not afraid of Vintage CD players

kydog

kydog

Super Member
The look, feel and quality of build along with that 80's sound keeps me in the market for vintage Cd players, Especially first or second generation players. I've been lucky enough to find a Pioneer P-d70 ( x3) And enjoy the features along with the beautiful display. The Phillips CD204 is also well built with a smooth delivery sound wise ( It a notch above the Pioneer sound wise).

Both circa 1984 and still kicking:yes::music: Will the laser give out? probably. But for now I'm digging the tunes:thmbsp:
 
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My Maggie FD-1010 is my only CDP "keeper". Its flip-top is vastly superior ergonomically to the slide-out drawer types.

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Very nice! That Philips CD-204 is very similar looking (albeit in silver) to my Philips CD-350.
 
That's a beautiful CD204, and FD-1010.

Happy owner of a Maggie CDB 473 myself. No pictures to share, though.
 
A Nak CDP4 is currently in my main and doing the biz quite nicely. Also have an old Maggie back-up made in Belgium circa 1988 that still sounds great! Old stuff is good stuff.
 
JohnVF said:
build quality to die for and sound quality to die of.
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That pretty well describes the first CD player I ever heard in 1984, an early Sony with 16-bit converters and no oversampling. The sound of that machine kept me from considering the CD format for more than 2 years. It was a 14-bit Philips-based machine with oversampling -- a Mission player, if memory serves -- that convinced me to give digital another try in late 1986. I've collected and enjoyed CDs ever since.
 
Technics SL-P990,Technics SL-P999,Technics SL-P1200,Denon DCD-1560,Pioneer PD-91,Micromega Solo H all from the very late 80's/early 90's are some of my personal faves.They're all built to last and still sound great to this very day.Although some very early players like Sony's CDP-101 and CDP-102 from 1983/84 cause me listening fatigue,so I don't listen to 'em no more.
 
I have this Sony CDP-203 from 1986, in very nice condition, just needed a drawer belt to make it work, missing the remote unfortunately.
I think it sounds pretty good but I only have it (and the Luxman) hooked up to a pair of 4" KLH bookshelf speakers at the moment.

Love the big "DIGITAL" moniker on the front, a big Buzzword in 1986.

sonycdp203.jpg


I also have this nice (but dusty) Onkyo DX-706 from 1991.
I had to take the lens off the laser on this one and clean the reflecting mirror to make it work but it sounds very nice.

onkyo.jpg
 
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Eric H said:
I have this Sony CDP-203 from 1986, in very nice condition, just needed a drawer belt to make it work, missing the remote unfortunately.
I think it sounds pretty good but I only have it (and the Luxman) hooked up to a pair of 4" KLH bookshelf speakers at the moment.

Love the big "DIGITAL" moniker on the front, a big Buzzword in 1986.

sonycdp203.jpg


I also have this nice (but dusty) Onkyo DX-706 from 1991.
I had to take the lens off the laser on this one and clean the reflecting mirror to make it work but it sounds very nice.

onkyo.jpg
Click to expand...

I recently learned that the Phillips CD204 consisted of a glass ( non plastic lens:scratch2:) Were most of the early players made like this? The sound is remarkable:music: Can't get over the condition of this beast, very well kept. The Pioneer is no slouch either:D
 
I came unto a pair of Phillips CD-50 and they replaced my vintage Adcom and Nad. Love the look, but more importantly, the sound. Crazy soundstage, deeper bass, more textured voices.
 
Don't have anything that old, CD player-wise, but do have a pair of 1991-92 vintage Sony ES units. An X111ES that works fine, but that recently has required a little help when the drawer closes. The other is an X222ES that needs to have the circuitry which tells the player there's a disc in the drawer to be looked at. Intermittenly plays a disc, then, about 3/4 of the way through, stops, and displays "NO DISC".

-J
 
zebra03 said:
If they don't play CD-R's , I steer clear .
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I have two Magnavox players from 1987 -- a CDB-460 and a CDB-650 -- that have no trouble playing CD-Rs. The 460 is bone stock and sounds quite good; the 650 has some power supply upgrades and new op amps in the reconstruction filter and sounds even better. I use the 650 as a transport in my main system because it reads problem CDs better than anything else I've tried and I like its user interface.

I also have a 1992 Magnavox CDB-502, modified by Frank Van Alstine, that lives in an extension system. It sounds very much like the 650 and will also play any CD or CD-R that I throw at it without a hiccup.
 
Nice CD players! I'm playing through a circa 1993 Sony CDP-C235 5 disc changer. It makes some god awful sounds though when it shuffles. My wife says she's gonna kick my arse if it messes up her Donna Summer CD so I'll probably be getting a new one soon! That or an old single CD player!
 
My two from the early years...

Sony 620ES : 1986
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Beo CD-50 : 1985
e5b3b745-7fa7-4a00-8b43-181b530b7b5a_zpscfbd29a2.jpg
 
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