The demise of the vintage CD player?

I have a Magnavox FD1051 BK 01. Manufactured in '86. I refuse to comment further for fear of jinxing it.
 
I wouldent bother unless you want the nostalgia of an old player.
I have a carosel player that sounds almost as good as the Lux tubed unit I bought in 1987. The cheapie was $129, the Lux was $1500.
 
what you have realise is that nine times out of ten, it is not the laser. The compact disc system relies on many things all being perfectly aligned/set or working. Technicians long stopped doing a complete realign after generation one machines. Yamaha shipped entire loading/tray/laser assemblies as a plug in replacement under warranty as the time required to diagnose and repair a first gen machine was more than the cost of replacing it. I have boxes full of yamaha mechs complete, often it is only a limit switch, a spindle motor or a cracked sled gear pinion. I am yet to find a first or second gen machine with a true 'dead' laser. Off output, sure, but never enough to not play once everything else is up to spec. That is the issue, getting each sub circuit or servo to alignment when another is out. No fun at all. For instance, I always pick up Akai CDD1 machines (kyocera first gen with philips chipset) and realign everything, just for fun. It takes half a day to do it properly and as the entire servo circuitry is discrete, faults are a plenty. But it sounds beautiful when done. It is a first generation japanese machine with TWO philips o/s D/As, something incredibly rare. I say keep them all, and save them for the future CD gurus of vintage hifi. I am not one yet, but I intend to be as the machines are so cheap when not working it is a sin. I have already replaced individual laser diodes in laser heads as an excercise and 2 out of 3 worked. Don't throw them out yet.
 
restorer-john said:
what you have realise is that nine times out of ten, it is not the laser. The compact disc system relies on many things all being perfectly aligned/set or working. Technicians long stopped doing a complete realign after generation one machines. Yamaha shipped entire loading/tray/laser assemblies as a plug in replacement under warranty as the time required to diagnose and repair a first gen machine was more than the cost of replacing it. I have boxes full of yamaha mechs complete, often it is only a limit switch, a spindle motor or a cracked sled gear pinion. I am yet to find a first or second gen machine with a true 'dead' laser. Off output, sure, but never enough to not play once everything else is up to spec. That is the issue, getting each sub circuit or servo to alignment when another is out. No fun at all. For instance, I always pick up Akai CDD1 machines (kyocera first gen with philips chipset) and realign everything, just for fun. It takes half a day to do it properly and as the entire servo circuitry is discrete, faults are a plenty. But it sounds beautiful when done. It is a first generation japanese machine with TWO philips o/s D/As, something incredibly rare. I say keep them all, and save them for the future CD gurus of vintage hifi. I am not one yet, but I intend to be as the machines are so cheap when not working it is a sin. I have already replaced individual laser diodes in laser heads as an excercise and 2 out of 3 worked. Don't throw them out yet.
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Makes sense. I also thought about changing the laser diode itself and keeping the actual laser assembly, I would image though it would be complicated and hit or miss with that kind of "transplant".
 
The first generation lasers were hand built and aligned, and very expensive! I have found Kenwood and Philips that seem to run forever. The problems with the earliest CDs was usually alignment, or the variable reflectivity of the disc. 2nd gen. lasers had laser power servos. These were used in the earliest "high end designs" and tend to last forever, unless they were Sony OEM. The Sonys fortunately were used in such great numbers that the lasers are still generally available. If other servicers are like me we have a few of these older lasers in stock that could be used in the classic machines. To uncover these gems simply list the generic numbers printed on the pickup's label. I'd be happy to search for old pickups through Nesda's service network. While it seems possible to replace a laser diode in a worn pickup, you would have to have the ability to align laser power and to set the diffraction grating (single beam Philips do not have gratings).
 
restorer-john said:
I have already replaced individual laser diodes in laser heads as an excercise and 2 out of 3 worked. Don't throw them out yet.
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That was a question I had on my mind that I forgot to ask.

So, there is a way to replace the actual diode itself???

Perhaps that's a subject for a new thread.

j
 
When I spoke to the Yamaha techs they said after the lasers and spindle motors are the only parts on the older Yamaha's that will render them useless because replacements will be hard if not impossible to find. Replacing them will be a pain as the techs here have said since they will need an alignment.

Mark B said:
II'll probably save them for the CDX-5000 & CDX-10000.
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I was told they are now out of stock. I think they also use he HG-1 laser like the 1120/2020/5050 but they said they are not compatible with each other.
 
Picture of the laser yamaha sent me as a replacement to my 1120.

attachment.php
 
I have 2, a Sanyo and a Realistic (I don't remember the model #s) pou away.
They were both made in 1986, and both need to be worked on right now.
Neither will read a disc.

Dumont-First with the finest in television.:yes:
 
Eric Clark said:
When I spoke to the Yamaha techs they said after the lasers and spindle motors are the only parts on the older Yamaha's that will render them useless because replacements will be hard if not impossible to find. Replacing them will be a pain as the techs here have said since they will need an alignment.


I was told they are now out of stock. I think they also use he HG-1 laser like the 1120/2020/5050 but they said they are not compatible with each other.
Click to expand...
When I called Yamaha parts last year about a replacement laser block for the CDX-10000 they told me it was part# NX602610 (HG-1 Parts Kit). I bought 2 of the kits. Who did you talk to at Yamaha that said the HG-1 would not work for the CDX-5000 / CDX-10000?
 
I have a Mod Squad Prism which will play a CD for a few seconds and then stop. Does this have anything to do with the things being discussed in this thread? I'd really like to get it working, as it sounds very good. BTW, I also have a Realistic CD-2200 which was manufactured in 1986, and it works great. I especially like the ergonomics/big buttons.
 
Why would you spend more than $15 for a new laser when you can buy a complete CD/DVD Player for $19.95? As some above have stated, many of the old players are very "edgy" sounding.
 
Though I'm sure it didn't sound as good as today's players, I do long for my first unit. A Sony CDP-111s. That thing was built like a tank. You could pick up the entire unit by its opened drawer and shake it around, never even slipping a took on the drawer gears! And that was with another piece of gear sitting on top of it!!:banana:
 
what you have realise is that nine times out of ten, it is not the laser. The compact disc system relies on many things all being perfectly aligned/set or working.
Click to expand...
restorer-john: very interesting post! I had looked for this info and failed to get filled-in. I've been frustrated by a Kenwood DP-990SG that fails to play CDR. It's a very serious, 2nd gen machine with a serious power supply, giant boards, die cast sled, copper shielding and so on. I cleaned the lens up and it played CDR for awhile then reverted to its old habit. I was thinking that it was a tired laser. But maybe it's .... Any ideas?

And for anyone with a non-reading unit — carefully clean the lens like you would a coated camera lens.
 
i still have my Sony CDP-30, the first CD player i bought and I think it was 1984? can't recall. Except for the cd tray that my daughter tried to rip off when she was a todler (it sticks and has to be coaxed to open) it plays GREAT. Its the CD player in my B system and since I don't really play CD's all to often and when I do they are CD's recorded from my Vinyl, I hope it will last a good while longer
 
Mark B said:
When I called Yamaha parts last year about a replacement laser block for the CDX-10000 they told me it was part# NX602610 (HG-1 Parts Kit). I bought 2 of the kits. Who did you talk to at Yamaha that said the HG-1 would not work for the CDX-5000 / CDX-10000?
Click to expand...

From what I understand there are differences in the HG-1 laser.
 
I bought a Luxman D-105U Cd player that had its laser replaced and it still malfunctioned when I got it. I found another of the same model on Ebay and it works for now. I lined up the KSS laser assembly for this model and apparently there are three manufacturer models of the same laser that work in my Luxman. One is Sony, another Toshiba, and thirdly Samsung. One is still available if you look for it.
 
I personally feel cd players don't age well. Just my personal opinion but technology really helps newer players sound much better... Much higher sampling rates, etc....
 
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