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Thread: PIONEER PD-91 CD Player (1987/1990), how to dial in for optimal CD-R playback

  1. #1
    Join Date: Jul 2010

    Location: OREGON, U.S.A.

    Posts: 62

    Default PIONEER PD-91 CD Player (1987/1990), how to dial in for optimal CD-R playback

    thought i'd start a dedicated thread on how to enable the vintage classic PIONEER ELITE series
    PD-91, PIONEER's very first ELITE series CDP, to more reliably read CD-Rs.

    ((NOTE; the PD-91 is a notoriously finicky CDP in regards to CD-Rs, and, even after this adjustment, it can be rather crotchety about them, apparently due to CD-R brand/reflectivity/CD Burner/ETC. as such, while this adjustment IS absolutely beneficial to the PD-91's CD-R read tolerances, it IS NOT, unfortunately, a cure-all that will enable the player to read everything you throw at it. in fact, the player will often take 30secs./1min. to read the TOC, and/or sync to a track and begin play,
    on many CD-Rs. others, it will read just fine, usually taking just a wee bit longer to sync up than it would reading a garden variety Redbook factory CD. in fact, this adjustment speeds up the players
    handling of factory CDs, to the degree where the player will nominally read TOC and/or begin playback in less than a 1/2 second. just remember that this is a fussy machine, for whatever reason, with homegrown CD-Rs, and that your personal mileage will most likely vary with your copy
    of this magnificent, yet temperamental machine...))


    - PD-91, with top aluminum panel removed -

    ((NOTE, unless you have modded this player as i have, and bummed the alum top plate from
    from either the Japanese market PD-3000, or -5000, or from the U.S. PD-93,
    then your U.S. and/or EURO/WORLD version PD-91 will require removal
    of 16 screws, both rosewood panels, and the pressed sheet metal top bonnet
    in order to gain access to the player interior))





    now then. there is a series of Variable Potentiometers on the section of PCB directly aft
    of the disc transport cage/assy;






    there are only TWO of these that you want to mess around with.
    VR-3 and VR-4, FOCUS GAIN and TRACKING GAIN, respectively.

    BOTH are located at the far right, right beside the black-anodized heatsink
    vertically mounted on the central stay/DIGITAL section shield;



    you will want to adjust these, counter-clockwise, to the positions shown
    in that photo directly above.

    do this, while attempting to play a CD-R. it should sync/read the disc at those positions
    illustrated above. if not, then load another CD-R until it is successfully read.

    further adjustment MAY be necessary, if your 91's laser pick-up is tiring out.
    in fact, if it is too heavily worn, it may not read ANY CD-R, even if it still spins
    factory discs just fine. as always, your personal mileage may vary.


    also, please bear in mind that i am NOT a skilled Technician.
    i have no electronic service education whatsoever, and this advice is wholly based
    on my limited personal self-taught experience.

    that said, someone reading this out there just might know how to dial this player
    in for smooth CD-R operation better then i do, and may have had better success with it than
    me. if that person is out there, then, please, by all means, contribute to this thread...




    **** Catch the Spirit of a True ΩPIONEER ****



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  2. #2
    Join Date: Oct 2011

    Location: Germany

    Posts: 15
    I'm Reza.

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    Hello!
    What a wonderful piece of building art!
    Compared with the new CD player,It looks wonderful.
    Great sounding machine!Congratulations .
    Regards.
    Reza

  3. #3
    Join Date: Jul 2010

    Location: OREGON, U.S.A.

    Posts: 62

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    Quote Originally Posted by Vidiot View Post
    I used my old PD-91 for CD-R playback early on, around 1994 or 1995, and it worked fine. My opinion is that the problem you have is that the pickups go bad over time in terms of alignment and mechanical performance. I'm not convinced that they can be easily fixed; this is like an car transmission going bad. The engine may be fine, and the brakes work, but if the transmission is bad, the car ain't gonna move.

    This is a problem with tons of 20-year-old CD players, not just this one.


    well, i'm QUITE happy now...

    just last night, i opened her up again, and decided to take a careful inspection of the transport assembly.

    i removed the stabilizer cage, and ejected the disc tray, before POWER OFF.
    i went to inspect the LD pickup on it's floating electromagnetic linear motor mount, and... SOMETHING just did not look right about it.

    so, i went and undid the small PHILLIPS head screw and HEX-head bolt
    that holds the short shaft in place, that slides through a hole in the
    pickup body, and mounts into lugs on the linear motor's pickup mounting cradle, and removed the pickup from the player chassis.

    after inspecting it some, i carefully reinstalled it, making sure
    that it was firmly and correctly in place, and tightly locked it down
    with the copper retaining plate held in place by that PHILLIPS and HEX.

    i test it out, and, lo-and-behold, IT READS CD-Rs... every bit as fast (1/2 sec. or less) as it does factory discs!!

    in fact, i go into an orgy of CD-R pulling right on the spot,
    AND IT READS/PLAYS EVERY ONE OF THEM... in a 1/2sec. or less!!


    i think i just solved the problem.

    that copper retaining plate i mentioned, that secures the pickup
    retaining shaft in place, was not secured tightly when i first got to it, (the PHILLIPS screw was fine, but the HEX-bolt was loose)
    and, if the LDP, as a result, wasn't thrown out of place at some time in it's past,
    then it evidently amost certainly was, during shipment to my OREGON home, from the original seller, down in TEXAS.

    evidently, i can only assume,
    the pick-up was poorly installed in the factory, or, much more likely,
    a replacement was sloppily installed by a careless service tech
    at some time in this player's history.

    apparently, that threw off the alignment of the pick-up
    to where it had tre greatest difficulty handling CD-Rs...
    though it did not seem to affect the handling of factory discs,
    i suppose since they are so much easier for any optical drive to read.


    at any rate, it does not seem that the seller of this player, the self-proclaimed original owner, lied to me after all,
    and that this player WAS seldom used... at least since it's last LD pick-up replacement... if it actually ever had one, that is...
    **** Catch the Spirit of a True ΩPIONEER ****



    ♥Mamotte Shugogetten Fan♥

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamotte_Shugogetten
    "John"

  4. #4
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    Brilliant. Just brilliant - thanks for sharing.
    Alex

    Main System: Digital: HP Laptop/M2Tech Hiface/Logitech Media Server/FLAC; Marantz SA7001 KI Signature SACD Player and other digital stuff into Gatorised Beresford Caiman DAC Vinyl: Garrard 401/SME 3009 SII Improved/Sumiko HS/Nagaoka MP-30
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  5. #5
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    Is that chassis copper or copper plated?

  6. #6
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    Copper plated Much like the Marantz CD 63 KI signature
    Bests, Mark



    "We must believe in free will. We have no choice" Isaac Bashevis Singer

  7. #7
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    I should advise caution about twiddling with any of the gain/focus presets, as severe mislalignment will quickly destroy the laser, especially if it's getting on a bit. Some older Philips lasers (CD-M4 I think) could have their lives extended by a few tens of hours doing this, but when they subsequently failed, they went completely with no hope of return..

    That PD-91 was a stunner - Jimmy Hughes had one for a short while and it sounded lovely. i think it was unfairly overshadowed by the Marantz CD-94 and Sony 555ES at the time (it was slightly cheaper too I remember), but it deserves to be held in the same regard, and not just for its build quality either - I've seen enough copper plated tat in my life not to be fazed by this aspect at all..

    Not tat, but a copper lovers glory - the innards of my CD-M2 -

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  8. #8
    Join Date: Jul 2010

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    That's definately a CDM4 transport & probably the metal chassis version, same as my Krell DT10 Rare as hens teeth or horse feathers, however the laser from a CDM4/19 can be fitted to the metal chassis & these are pretty plentiful secondhand

    Just buy them now so you have a good few spares if you intend to keep your machine running
    Bests, Mark



    "We must believe in free will. We have no choice" Isaac Bashevis Singer

  9. #9
    Join Date: Jan 2009

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    Lovely CD player, my Dad used to have one, Chris on here owns it now.

  10. #10
    MartinT Guest

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    Nice work, Tasuke. I do miss my PD-91, it truly was a fab player and ahead of its time. Battleship construction, superb slick operation and a looker too.

    By the way, I don't know if you've done this already but my PD-91 really gained from a change to better output op-amps. I desoldered the originals and put turned-pin sockets in, then tried a few. I forget which I settled on but it could have been OPA-627 types, an old favourite for sound quality.

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