Problem with Marantz SA-8260


I recently purchased a Marantz SA-8260 SACD/CD player. It does two things I don't like and I'm hoping someone here will know what I can do to fix it.

1. It does not recognize some older CDs in my collection. When they are loaded it tries to read the TOC, but eventually stops and displays, "No Disc".
2. It seems much more sensitive to disc cleanliness than my other players. It skips or stalls on CDs that other players have no trouble with.

Does anyone have any ideas (except purchasing a turn table)?
128x128macdonj
sounds to me like the laser needs replacing.

Intermittent reading... discs have to be ultraclean.

yep. sounds like that laser is about gone. That's what usually happens to CD players with time. My sony xa777 es needed that... cost about 300.00 incld labor. two lasers, red book and SACD, and the drive/sled itself.

your's may cost lots less though.
Macdonj,
Seems like you need the laser needs replacing. It will set you back about $200 inclusive of the labor, laser and mechanism.
Macdonj,
I have a lot of experience with 8260's over the past 5 years. You need to send your player to the nearest Marantz Service Center. You can go to Marantz.com and find the service center nearest your location.
You most likely have the TOC reading error problem that made the 8260 such a pain in the a**. This is easily corrected with a resistor, and I think some new firmware. Any Marantz Service Center can do this repair as they have the Service Bulletin. Some don't install the resistor, and unfortunately the problems come back. You can only check for this by removing the entire transport assembly.
The Service Center will also check for laser output.
Cost for the TOC fix is $200, which includes return shipping. If you should happen to need a new laser, that will up the cost a fair bit. The Service Center should contact you if you need a new laser, and then it's your choice.
The player will not operate correctly without the TOC fix. A new laser is somewhat optional.
SA-8260 players with read troubles have real low resale value. So you are somewhat stuck.
If you send the player in to Marantz, it's a good idea to also send along 2 or 3 discs that the player fails to read.
Hope this helps
Thanks for all the help, everyone. That's even more than I got from Marantz directly.
I hope you see this post
I had a mf cd player that started to act
just like that and all I had to do was open
it up and clean the lens of the laser with
a q-tip with achohol and thats it works fine
all this need new laser stuff is last resort
unless it is under warranty
I know some are not up to repair challenges but
I bet that is all it needs
they wont tell you this they want your money
Sorry, a MF cd player is not the same as a Marantz sacd player. Cleaning the laser lens won't cure a chip that's overheating and needs a resistor to drop the voltage a little. Also, you pretty much have to take the transport unit out of the 8260 player in order to have access to the laser in order to swab it with a Q-tip.
I think you need to
reread the problem statement
overheating chip o.k.
Like I said that just want your
MONEY
Well, it's what the thread is about, for one thing.
I have a lot of experience with this player. The symptoms described are pretty much what happens with a very high percentage of these players, and I gave the only real solution to the problem.
You gave a generic answer to any XYZ player, clean the laser first, if possible. That's the usual first thing to do, either with Q-tip or disc cleaner. If that's it, then you are done. But with this particular player it's usually not it, and it needs the service that I described.

Good enough?
Rapn3,
Sharri's response to the original thread is correct one - especially based on the issues that Macdonj has mentioned. These problems are what gave the 8260 a bad reputation despite being a superb player.

But Macdonj should still contact Marantz dealer and see if his player really needs the replacements. If it works with simple cleaning, like you said, then good for him.
I started having disc reading problems with my SA-8260 and I decided to try a Milty CD lens cleaner. I used it once a couple of years ago and I haven't had any problems since. YMMV.
My experience is just one data point. Since my unit was out of warranty I decided to take a chance that a lens cleaner would work since it would be a lot cheaper than shipping it to Marantz for repair. It happened to work for me but it may not work for everybody.
I wish somebody would invent something that would allow people to separate one sentence from the next. I'll work on that after I invent something to get the water off my windshield when it rains. I'm getting close on that one.
Well, to continue on.....
First time, that is after several months of frustration, I experienced the reading difficulties, I got a disc cleaner and cleaned the laser according to instructions. It worked. Well, it worked for about 30 minutes that is. Thereafter, repeated cleaning never did any good. I ended up taking the player to Marantz Service Center, and problem was fixed.

Thus, it's all rather simple. If the laser has some lint, dust, etc. causing the reading problems, then cleaning the laser should cure the problem. As stated above, this is the usual first step, as it's easy to do.
But if the problem is caused by the overheating chip, then cleaning the laser will do nothing for that. The overheating chip is a well known issue with the 8260 player. Marantz eventually acknowledged the problem and issued a service bulletin to the Service Centers. I always thought that since the problem was the Marantz design that they should have fixed the problem for free, but no luck on that.
At least the problem is not fatal like in the Philips SACD 1000.