Location: Sussex By The Sea
Posts: 352
I'm Paul.
HI-FI SYSTEM:-
Revox B250 Amp.
Revox PR 99 mk2 R2R.
Revox B126 C/D Player.
Yamaha GT2000 T/Table with Shure MKIV Cartridge and Jeco VN-45HE SAS/R Stylus.
Bang & Olufsen Beolab18's and the 19 Sub Speakers.
A/V 5.1 System :-
Soundsend Wisa box.
Harmen Kardon front and rear satellite.
Legend 10.2 Silverback Active Centre.
My System:
Amplification - Sansui AU-alpha 707 DR
Turntable - Technics SP10 MK2-Technics EPA-250 Tonearm-Yannis Tome 423.5Plus tonearm cable-Eichmann KLEI Absolute Harmony plugs.
Ortofon Cadenza Black moving coil cartridge-Fritz Gyger S re-tip. Panzerholz plinth.
CDP - Pioneer PD-91
Speakers - Spendor D7 on Soundcare SuperSpikes
QED Silver Spiral speaker cable-airloc banana plugs
Mains - Ultra Pure silver plated un-switched socket-Missing link EPS 500 silver plated plugs-Hi-Fi Tuning gold plated silver ceramic 13 amp fuses
Listening is the act of aural discrimination and dissemination of sound, and accepting you get it wrong sometimes.
Analog Inputs: Pro-Ject Signature 10 TT & arm, Benz Micro LP-S, Michel Cusis MC, Goldring 2500 and Ortofon Rondo Blue cartridges, Hitachi FT5500 mk2 Tuner
Digital:- Marantz SA-KI Pearl CD player, RaspberryPi/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro, Buffalo NAS Drive
Amplification:- AudioValve Sunilda phono stage, Krell KSP-7B pre-amp, Krell KSA-80 power amp
Output: Wilson Benesch Vector speakers, KLH Ultimate One Headphones
Cables: Tellurium Q Ultra Black II RCA & Chord Epic 2 RCA, various speaker leads, & links
I think I am nearing audio nirvana, but don’t tell anyone.
Location: Pinner
Posts: 42
I'm Robin.
Hi all
As feared these are now unobtanium. Anyone considering buying one of these should know that the lasers fail after 20 years and are now impossible to find.
Location: Pinner
Posts: 42
I'm Robin.
...which anyone considering buying one should take into account...
Personally speaking, given the (non)availability of parts if something goes wrong with vintage CD players, I wouldn't want the potential worry.
Getting back into CDs for some weird reason, and took a punt on one of these.
New Audiolab CD Transport.
After reading a lot of very positive reviews took a punt.
Sounds way better than it has a right to at the price
Had it a few days, already sounding better than my modded 203 over i2s on Redbook CD.
Hooked up with a Wireworld Starlight 8 digital coax.
If it keeps improving the way it is I might invest in a more 'serious' digital cable.
Genuinely a bit taken aback by how this thing sounds, and not just for the price.
Say again, it beats my Oppo for enjoying CDs.
Wouldn't look at an old CD Player as a transport when this is around.
AC POWER
Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
AMPS
Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
SPEAKERS
Wharfedale Evo 4.4
DAC
PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
TURNTABLE
Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
PHONOSTAGE
Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
DIGITAL
OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
MUSIC PLAYBACK
Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
Ipad Roon Remote.
Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
SPEAKER CABLES
Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
INTERCONNECTS
All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables
Personally speaking, given the (non)availability of parts if something goes wrong with vintage CD players, I wouldn't want the potential worry.
Getting back into CDs for some weird reason, and took a punt on one of these.
New Audiolab CD Transport.
After reading a lot of very positive reviews took a punt.
Sounds way better than it has a right to at the price
Had it a few days, already sounding better than my modded 203 over i2s on Redbook CD.
Hooked up with a Wireworld Starlight 8 digital coax.
If it keeps improving the way it is I might invest in a more 'serious' digital cable.
Genuinely a bit taken aback by how this thing sounds, and not just for the price.
Say again, it beats my Oppo for enjoying CDs.
Wouldn't look at an old CD Player as a transport when there's quality modern stuff around.
AC POWER
Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
AMPS
Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
SPEAKERS
Wharfedale Evo 4.4
DAC
PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
TURNTABLE
Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
PHONOSTAGE
Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
DIGITAL
OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
MUSIC PLAYBACK
Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
Ipad Roon Remote.
Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
SPEAKER CABLES
Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
INTERCONNECTS
All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables
I think its worth noting that -
Lasers don't tend to fail, but they will gradually lose power with use, eventually passing a point where they start struggling to read. That's use not time so a 20 year-old CD player that has been unused or rarely used since new will still have a 'fresh' laser.
Lasers can also go out of alignment. If the player is dropping out for a split second then resuming playback it's more likely misaligned than dying, You need service manual and oscilloscope to fix it though.
The fault can be something other than the laser. For example failure to recognise it has a disc loaded can be a failed component or connector, not necessarily a laser issue.
A dying laser will not give worse sound quality. Either it will read or it will fail to an extent that the error correction cannot fix it and then you get an audible glitch. It's not like a stylus wearing out where it starts sounding a bit rough.
I think that by the law of averages there will still be PD91s out there that have only a couple of hundred hours use and their lasers should be good for a few thousand more hours at the very least. Not everyone who owns high end kit uses it a lot. The problem is being sure of that. I've always fancied one since they came out but I wouldn't pay more than £300 for any vintage CD player. Just not worth it.
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
My System:
Amplification - Sansui AU-alpha 707 DR
Turntable - Technics SP10 MK2-Technics EPA-250 Tonearm-Yannis Tome 423.5Plus tonearm cable-Eichmann KLEI Absolute Harmony plugs.
Ortofon Cadenza Black moving coil cartridge-Fritz Gyger S re-tip. Panzerholz plinth.
CDP - Pioneer PD-91
Speakers - Spendor D7 on Soundcare SuperSpikes
QED Silver Spiral speaker cable-airloc banana plugs
Mains - Ultra Pure silver plated un-switched socket-Missing link EPS 500 silver plated plugs-Hi-Fi Tuning gold plated silver ceramic 13 amp fuses