problem with levinson no 37?


I have a levinson 37 transport and I just purchased a used copy of the Sony, 20 bit, Miles Davis Kind of Blue. The Levinson is unable to read the disc but all of my other players have no problem with it (cheap bedroom player and car player). The disc appears to be in perfect cosmetic shape. I guess my question is, do you think the problem is with the disc or the player?
bbyer
I actually have not contacted anyone--even though I know a few people there. I assumed that it just did not play CD-Rs--and designed this way from the start. Most of my high end equipment (and even not so high end like my Sony DVP9000ES) does not play CD-Rs. Yes I know some people have gotten CD-Rs to play in this model Sony, but the manual specifically states it will not play them, and I have not been able to get it to play them. My $100 Dynaco DVD player, plays everything from CD-V to CD-RW and with no problems. I don't really care that much about whether or not the 37 plays CD-Rs because it resides where the collection is. I would care if my car couldn't play CD-Rs.
Rives: Have you talked to Madrigal? I think it's inexcusable that a company with their supposed high standards and reputation for quality has not remedied this problem. I certainly am annoyed that my car stereo will play a disc that my megabuck high-end rig can't spin! I have not heard back from Madrigal yet, but I just called them yesterday.
Good luck.
I burned another one last night. I got the E TOC BAD SPIN BAD DISC messages. Would not play. This was on the best burner I've used (Yamaha CDRW-F1), Mitsui gold CD-R, and burned at 1x with Nero. We use this for our masters and the quality is superb, but the 37 won't play it.
I used to have a No. 39 and I also had problems like the ones people are describing. I sent it to Madrigal, they did some work, but never were able to completely eliminate the problem. I remeber particularly having problems with "enhanced" CDs that had visual material on them. My impression was that the transport mechanism they use is fussier than most others with respect to redbook standards, but I never felt that was a good excuse.
I'm going to try it again. If I recall I got a BAD DISC error. It has been a long time since I tried it, and it's possible I have not done this with my new writter. Will let you know. My hybrid CDs read fine. I do have at least two Rhino discs that I can't get to read in this player, but they read fine in other players in the house.
Rives--You say that you can't get any burned CD-R to play in your 37? Do you get any of the messages I listed above? Perhaps there may be something related to the CD burner itself. Have you tried copies made on somebody else's computer? Have you had any problems, or has anyone else out there had problems getting hybrid SACDs to read?
That's weird to me. I haven't been able to get any copies to play in the 37.
Mstram: see my comment above. This is exactly what happened to me. The same discs would play perfectly first in my Marantz CD burner, and later in my Sony SCD-1. They still play perfectly in my Classe Omega. I never figured out what the problem was with the 37.
I just tried one of the above suggestions to copy the disc to a CD-R. The copy plays fine in the 37! I phoned Madrigal and they are having their engineers look into the problem.
I just purchased the remastered hybrid SACD of the Rolling Stones "Beggar's Banquet", and it wouldn't play in my Levinson 37/360S rig. The packageing states that this disc will play in any cd player or SACD player. I got the messages "BAD SPIN", "BAD DISC", and "E TOC". The disc plays fine in a cheap NAD cd player in my bedroom. That disc is only 35 minutes long. Anybody else out there with similar experience? Is Madrigal helpful at all on this problem?
Perhaps an odd solution, but I've had 2-3 CDs that my M37 wouldn't read, so I copied them to CD-R, and it then read the CD-R just fine. I have no idea why as Madrigal says that the 37 may not read CD-Rs, but mine has never failed to read one. I used Pioneer and Marantz CD recorders. Good Luck. Craig
As a follow up, I am using a Proceed AVP as a DAC, not sure if this would matter, the unit isn't even sending a signal to the AVP before giving the bad disc error.
Rives is exctly right. I had the same problem on a few CD's with the 37. It just would not play them--maybe one in a couple hundred. As I recall, it happened most often on CD's where I had used the track memory to play specific selections. I sent it back to Madrigal for a total overhaul and the problem was reduced, but never completely went away. Otherwise, a very nice unit.
I have a 37 and have had similar problems. However, it's usually with CD's that are longer than 74 minutes. I don't have that particular CD. I don't think it's the DAC, and I'm sure the 37 gives you a message like BAD TOC or NO DISC. You should contact Madrigal, and perhaps send them the CD and see what they can tell you.
The DAC you are using may not be able to read/translate the CD. I don't think the transport has anything to do with your problem.