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Recommend a good vintage CD player

B

big-daddy-59

Active Member
Looking for a CD player to complete a small vintage system. What I'd like is a high quality single disc player that was made/sold in large numbers..not necessarily a TOTL unit. Mid grade is fine. However, the availability of spare parts like replacement laser assemblies is important.
 
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Does anyone else find something odd about combining the words "vintage" and "CD player" in the same paragraph? LOL.
 
I have a philips cd-650, very good sound and there are many sites with info on upgrading it. Any player with a tda1541 dac chip would also be worth considering.
 
I dont have an amazing set up. Running a Sansui 8080db and a pair of Mach ones. I just picked up a $20 5 cd sony player from around 1995 off CL and it sounds fantastic. I think if I put more thought into a CD player with the set up, it would have been a waste of time. It only makes a big difference if you're running high end equipment imho.

Just my $0.02
 
Onkyo DX-1800 is a nice player, well made, uses a Sony KSS-210A laser, available for $20, and sounds very good right out of the box. If you can solder, replace the output opamps with better parts and you'll really have a nice player for chump change.
 
JVC made some solid players. Their transports are built like tanks and their very cheap at the thrifts. I own the XL-V311 and XL-V211. Both are from the late 80's and they play any disks that are thrown at them including CD-R's.
 
AnalogDigit said:
JVC made some solid players. Their transports are built like tanks and their very cheap at the thrifts. I own the XL-V311 and XL-V211. Both are from the late 80's and they play any disks that are thrown at them including CD-R's.
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I have a JVC player, XL-V333, that was given to me with a bad loading belt. Popped a new belt in and it's been fine ever since. I would not say it is "built like a tank" but it does sound good. The Onkyos are built like tanks. Mostly metal inside and out.
 
I always think that 'vintage' in hi-fi pretty much ended / declined when analog transitioned to digital displays. I guess a lot of that occured around 1978-80. CD players came along in 1982-83? Many of the affordable early models in the mid to late 80's are not known for great sound (always exceptions I suppose). Reliability is another factor to be considered with elderly CD players. I have a lot of vintage audio and when it comes to CD players I just try to match the styles and finish (silver or black panels) regardless of the year of CD player production (newer almost always preferred). With the older CD players that lack ideal sound quality one can always upgrade circuitry; for example, some older CD players can be upgraded / adapted / connected to add on DACs. Others might think the vintage age ended about 1962-64 when tube gear faded in favor of solid-state!
 
Turnergande said:
I always think that 'vintage' in hi-fi pretty much ended / declined when analog transitioned to digital displays. I guess a lot of that occured around 1978-80. CD players came along in 1982-83? Many of the affordable early models in the mid to late 80's are not known for great sound (always exceptions I suppose). Reliability is another factor to be considered with elderly CD players. I have a lot of vintage audio and when it comes to CD players I just try to match the styles and finish (silver or black panels) regardless of the year of CD player production (newer almost always preferred). With the older CD players that lack ideal sound quality one can always upgrade circuitry; for example, some older CD players can be upgraded / adapted / connected to add on DACs. Others might think the vintage age ended about 1962-64 when tube gear faded in favor of solid-state!
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I think this was my point..there's no defnitive definition of "vintage".It's always what people perceive.

I do not want to sidetrack the original post. I was just responding to reply made regarding "vintage".
 
I really like my Kyocera DA 610 but am always on the lookout for a DA 910. They have a very nice sound and are well built.
 
dr*audio said:
I have a JVC player, XL-V333, that was given to me with a bad loading belt. Popped a new belt in and it's been fine ever since. I would not say it is "built like a tank" but it does sound good. The Onkyos are built like tanks. Mostly metal inside and out.
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I have two in the JVC XL series. The top of the line, XL-Z1050, and the bottom of the line, the XL-V141. Grabbed one for $5, and the other for $13. The XL-Z1050 has dual digital outputs and dual analog outputs (fixed/variable). It also weighs in at a solid 17 pounds. Even the little V141 is a good sounding player in my secondary system.
 
I bought a JVC XL-V151 off of the Bay and have had zero issues with it. It plays everything I put into it and sounds great. Didn't pay very much for it either.
 
the good dr*audio implies/makes a valid point on repair-ability...

with any older player that's selling for more money than your willing to toss away,and that you might consider a "keeper".you might first want to do a quick online search to see what laser mechanism it uses,and to see whether it's still available and at what cost...some are cheap and easy to get,others are expensive and difficult to find...& some are pure unobtanium...the laser is about the most likely failure point after cheap rubber belts on players that use them.unless it's very cheap,you might want to reconsider any older player that's going to become a doorstop should the laser go or is weak to start with...

i would recommend an older denon if you find one cheap or are careful to follow the preceding caveat about the laser used.they're as common as dirt but in years past were often a cut above the mass market fare in most respects
 
beatcomber said:
Does anyone else find something odd about combining the words "vintage" and "CD player" in the same paragraph? LOL.
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No, I don't find the words "vintage" and "CD player" to be an oxymoron. The CD format is nearly 30 years old, and if a player was made the same day that a child was born, who is now old enough to legally purchase alcoholic beverages, then it's VINTAGE to me.
 
CD player

IMHO a Rotel RCD-855 or RCD-951 would be hard to beat and they can be picked up at very reasonable prices......
 
I've got a Yamaha CDX-520 that would probably fit your definition of 'vintage'. It's pretty BOTL however it sounds just fine and could be used as a digital transport.

Stumbles over CDR's though. I haven't gotten it to play one yet. So if you burn a lot of CDR's than compatibility should be something to test for IMO.
 
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