Vintage CD players

[1420-1503]

A well constructed Marantz cdp made in Belgium you say?

Belgium used to be quiet an interesting country in their golden days.

Brussels, 1958 expo:

 

[Toasted Almond]

The Magnavox CDB-650 is the ticket. It was the absolute favorite of the after-market mod guys because of the Philips CDM-4 transport system.

I had a Euphonic Technology ET-650 (a modified Mag 650) and it was the best cd player I have ever heard. It bested SACD by a large margin.

TA

 

[Glenz75]

Crooner - Hey I don't think your passion for collecting vintage cd players is laughable as I do the same thing. I would love to get my hands on one of those Hitachi DA1000's... I remember years ago servicing one for a customer and thinking back then "What a crusty old cd player" but I liked the look of it and if I saw one now I'd go for it! :thmbsp:

Interesting comments about the DAC brickwall filters in the CDP101's I actually have an write up about the 101's in a hifi mag, should go and have a read of it, they went into some depth about the design etc, I have three 101's, the third is my parts unit.

And that Mitsubishi DP101-Man what a real 'tank' that looks! I have never seen one or that Sanyo either. Very impressive.

The pair of old Mitsubishi's I have got are DP103, they are similar in size and weight to the CDP101's... I wonder if the DP103's have the same DACS in them?

Heres a photo of one of my DP103's.

Cheers
Glen

 

[Glenz75]

My other 'vintage' Cd players...

Technics SL-P10
Technics SL-P6
Technics SL-P500
Mitsubishi DP-205

 

[2DualsNotEnough]

I had a vintage Quasar cd player that was circa 84 that I picked up at GW.It had a few issues,but I kept it around for a long time because it came with a nice wood case.

 

[yrly]

Speak of the devil! That Technics SL-P500 looks to be the twin of the MCS Series A 6801, or certainly darn close to being the twin. Of my vintage CD players it is my favorite, sounds great even to this day, and I love the sound the transport makes when reading the CD. Mine is circa mid 84, bought it for $9 at Amvets, looks like it was hardly ever used. As I said in the previous post it has one of the most logical track access/programming setups around. Does the SL-P500 have the pitch control as well?

 

[sven]

I've been playing a Technics SL PC10 almost daily since I got it new in ' 89. Still works like a champ. It does have trouble reading cheap CDR's ( white label Memorex mostly) though.

 

[Tony75]

How about a JVC XL-V1. This unit would probably be their first generation CDP. It's funny how they built these like a tape deck in operation. It is also really heavy, still works too, even with a CDR. What I really like about this unit is the really funky position indicator for the laser sled. Hope I get this picture thing to work. :yes:

 

[crooner]

Oh man what a cool player that JVC is! I wish I could get ahold of one for my collection. It is designed remarkably similar to the Hitachi DA-1000, with that nifty laser position indicator!

Yes, these early units were conceived to operate like a tape deck of sorts. Each manufacturer had its own peculiar operating philosophy. The Sanyo DAD-8, for instance, acts exactly like a cassette deck, meaning that if you stop the disc it will resume at the very same spot when you hit play.

Some of the older players like the CDP-101 and early Technics didn't even have a "stop" botton. Sony used a function called "Reset" and in a Technics player you had to press pause for several seconds to stop the disc.

Tonight I had a very interesting listening session. I decided to fire up the Sony CDP-101 and Mitsubishi DP-101 for comparisons.

I was using my Dynaco tube setup. The Sony sounded pretty good, better than through my earlier Creek system. The Mitsu was no slouch either. The DP-101's display and illuminated disc door looked really cool in the dark (dig those cassette deck like peak level meters!)

 

[crooner]

Here's a shot of my CDP-101. It was manufactured in June 1983. Meaning it was a late production model. Perhaps this explains that it works perfect today. I believe the servo and IC problems were solved later in production. Mine appears to have never been repaired.

Also in the picture is the very first CD pressing ever released. It's Billy Joel's 52nd Street on CBS/Sony japan. Catalog number is 35DP-1.

 

[crooner]

Here's the Sony "Goronta" prototype (from Sony Japan's site). This was a vertical loading player. It was shown in numerous Hi-Fi shows before the CD launch. Sony surprised everyone with their low profile drawer loading CDP-101. Other manufacturers had designed models with front loading mechanisms similar to the "Goronta".

 

[crooner]

CBS/Sony pressing of Pink Floyd's The Final Cut from 1983.

These CDs are quite rare and are a testament to the longevity of the format. I have several of them and all play as new. CD rot anyone?

 

[crooner]

Even Micro Seiki got into the CD bandwagon with a Kyocera based player, the CD-M1 (not mine, I wish!)

 

[crooner]

The pair of old Mitsubishi's I have got are DP103, they are similar in size and weight to the CDP101's... I wonder if the DP103's have the same DACS in them?

The DP-103 was relased shortly after the DP-101 in late 1983. It was a very early second generation player. Other players from this period include the Technics SL-P7, SL-P8 & the Pioneer P-D70.

Second Generation players still used a single multiplexed DAC with no oversampling and analog filters. So most likely the DP-103 used the very same DAC as the DP-101 and Sony CDP-101. The only true 16 bit DAC available then.

You may want to peek inside your player and look for the DAC. If you find mostly Sony chips inside (including surface mount devices), it's a Sony based player.

Regards,
crooner

 

[Glenz75]

Speak of the devil! That Technics SL-P500 looks to be the twin of the MCS Series A 6801, or certainly darn close to being the twin. Of my vintage CD players it is my favorite, sounds great even to this day, and I love the sound the transport makes when reading the CD. Mine is circa mid 84, bought it for $9 at Amvets, looks like it was hardly ever used. As I said in the previous post it has one of the most logical track access/programming setups around. Does the SL-P500 have the pitch control as well?

No that Technics does not have a pitch control, although my SL-P8 which is older does have a pitch control.

I walked past one of those Micro Seiki players at a junk shop about a year ago...maybe I should have grabbed it...dunno why I didn't that day.. bummer... :sigh:

Crooner - I will have a look inside one of my DP103's and see what electronics is inside and post back about it. Do you know if they ever released that prototype Sony vertical player into the public ever?? Thats a "cool" looking player! :thmbsp:

Cheers
Glen

 

[crooner]

Do you know if they ever released that prototype Sony vertical player into the public ever?? Thats a "cool" looking player!

They showed this prototype at the Audio Fair in fall 1981 but it was never mass produced.

The player was also used during the world's first CD based broadcast.

Here's a pic of the early Sony and Philips prototypes:

 

[crooner]

There's some fascinating read on the subject at Sony Japan's website:

Sony Japan's History Page

Here's an early Sony optical digital audio disc player prototype:

 

[Yamaha B-2]

Crooner - Am most impressed with your early CD knowledge, and, especially, your collection of early CDs (!!!) and CDPs. If I run across any very early vintage CD stuff at the thrift shops I visit I will pick them up if cheap enough just to see if you (or someone else) want. Anything in particular you're looking for while I'm out there? Plan on making a run tomorrow.

 

[crooner]

Well, keep an eye out for a Technics SL-P10 please
There's also a Fisher front loading player I am interested in. Can't recall the model number.

Regards,
crooner

 

[Yamaha B-2]

I assume that is one you posted in the pic? Fair warning. If I find one for $5 I may just want to double my money on it.