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CD player reliability.... good and bad.

Since the mid late 80’s I have gone through probably 15 + CD players, some lasted me many many years, some were non working out of box, some lasted a week, some months, and as said some lasted years.
Is the shipping process causing some jolting of the unit, and innards get jolted and the tray or a small piece gets damaged? Or just the way they are made?

We take great care of our CD players, dust cover when not in use, don’t drop them, hit them, shake them.....yet they just stop working or things go bad, skipping, display goes out prematurely, tray rubs on something, or any number of issues...!! ??

BUT,....my cheap pickup truck CD player still works after 13+ years , dust, bumps, filth, exploding pops, lots of dust in my truck from my profession, dash, floor, everywhere, years of dust, caked all over, yet I put in a cd, and the darn thing still works.

But , recently it has started to act up, it plays everything I put in it, but sometimes won’t eject,...


anyway, why is it most CD players have a reliability problem. NOT all of them, but there seems to be a %10-15 of new players that arrive in non-working, or only last a short time.

Any thoughts......
128x128arcticdeth
jdmccall56
73 posts
 
I can’t think of one CD player I’ve owned that failed.  Maybe I’ve just been lucky.  My favorite is my current Denon DCD-1600NE.  It’s built real well...or at least gives that appearance, judging from it’s heft, looks and feel.
jdmccall56
73 posts
 
My longevity champ is my 18 year old Pioneer Elite DV-47Ai.  It’s a “universal” DVD player so maybe that doesn’t count:)
bjw54
25 posts
 
I have have owned 2 Lexicon RT-20’s for 15 years with no problems other then
having to replace a belt a few years back. I also purchased a Marantz SA-8260
to experience the then new sacd format. The player worked for about two years
then it stopped reading the sacd layer on my hybrid discs. To be fair, this was a
well known problem with this model as well as the model that followed it. I don’t remember, but it may have been the SA-8001.


arcticdeth's avatar
arcticdeth OP
1,549 posts
 
@jdmccall56. 
We have a pioneer elite dv-48av.
used for a little while as CD player, didn’t think it sounded that good, seemed like it made the music have less bass, and just not a good sound.  Great for movies, I thought it didn’t play well with music CDs. 
 My opinion.
jwillox
174 posts
 
Back in ‘85, I sold stereo for (then) Magnolia Hi-Fi. 
ADS was coming to the US (Braun in Europe), and the reps alway had cool deals on demo gear. I had no CD player at the time, so I ordered the CD3. Around $800 retail at the time, and I grabbed one for the around $230. Best DAC then, and sound was exquisite, warm and clear. 
It’s still works today, but needs a runner belt that opens the slider that contains the mechanism. Short of that it still works and still sounds great. 
They only reason “retired” it was to make room for an Oppo unit. 
Sometimes you “get what you pay for”. 
Modern transports and laser sub-assemblies can be manufactured for $.39 it seems. 
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