I just purchased a vintage CD player! [Archive]

Danny Tse

04-09-2009, 05:14 PM

I have always wanted one of these since seeing their ads in "Stereo Review" back in my high school/college days during the 80s. While not as old as the vertical loading CD players, this Technics SL-P550 goes back to 1988. Yes, you can actually watch the CD spin as it plays. Here's a photo of what I am getting....

http://i.ebayimg.com/13/!BPmDJk!CGk~$(KGrHgoOKiwEjlLmDn3YBJ0W+eYIB!~~_1.JP G

I will post more photos once it arrives.

steveinaz

04-09-2009, 05:16 PM

I had the SL-P1200 (?) in the day. Cool players, and very smooth sound as I remember....

thuffman03

04-09-2009, 06:22 PM

Nice looking player. Have fun listing to it.

Danny Tse

04-09-2009, 06:24 PM

I had the SL-P1200 (?) in the day. Cool players, and very smooth sound as I remember....

This CD player?

http://www.real-audio.ru/measurements/gallery/rs/sl-p1200.jpg

steveinaz

04-09-2009, 06:44 PM

No, mine looked closer to yours but the front skirted out more....can't remember the model...SLP...somethun'

Kinda cool watching the CD spin, gives you a turntable feel

steveinaz

04-09-2009, 06:58 PM

Maybe this one? Damn my memory is gone

Danny Tse

04-09-2009, 07:10 PM

Maybe this one? Damn my memory is gone

Most buttons I've ever seen on a CD player.

cnh

04-09-2009, 07:36 PM

This CD player?

http://www.real-audio.ru/measurements/gallery/rs/sl-p1200.jpg

That is one cool looking CD player....can I have one?

cnh

steveinaz

04-09-2009, 07:54 PM

Most buttons I've ever seen on a CD player.

I remember the buttons were on a canted front panel; I've a picture of that bad boy somewhere---I'll see if I can find it tonight.

Keiko

04-09-2009, 08:19 PM

This CD player?

http://www.real-audio.ru/measurements/gallery/rs/sl-p1200.jpg

That is a neat looking CD player. The base and feet look identical to my SL-1210 turntable.

Flash21

04-09-2009, 11:22 PM

Cool...you have just made me flash back on some of my old players...my first one was a Magnavox 1010 top loader...and I have my old Magnavox CDB-650 in its box downstairs...I should get it out and see how it's doing... :)

Danny Tse

04-10-2009, 03:22 PM

and I have my old Magnavox CDB-650 in its box downstairs...I should get it out and see how it's doing... :)

Ahhh....the audiophile Magnavox CD players. Those still command good money on the second hand market.

bikezappa

04-10-2009, 03:37 PM

I also like old CD palyers. I am still looking for Revox B 226 S player to complete my system of Revox equipment.

Flash21

04-10-2009, 03:43 PM

Ahhh....the audiophile Magnavox CD players. Those still command good money on the second hand market.
IIRC the CDB-650 sold for $349.99 in ~1986 (at least at the store I worked at)...according to an inflation calculator I found, that is about $679 in today's dollars.

heiney9

04-10-2009, 03:45 PM

That is one cool looking CD player....can I have one?

cnh

That was the digital version of the SL1200 turntable. A friend had 2 of them as a DJ. It had a super quick cue/start up and the slider on the right was a pitch control so if you were mixing you could vary the pitch on the fly. The big rotary dial allowed for extremely precise cue points within a second if I remember correctly.

They were cool as hell and expensive........we sold audio together at the same store and the accomidation pricing helped out a lot. he may even still have one.

Not sure how "audiophile" they are/were but they served a purpose

NJPOLKER

04-10-2009, 04:24 PM

This CD player?

http://www.real-audio.ru/measurements/gallery/rs/sl-p1200.jpg

Thats sure is a nice cash register.

skrol

04-10-2009, 04:28 PM

I started out with an SL-P7.

oifvet0608

04-10-2009, 04:31 PM

Since when did we start calling CD players vintage? By the way I was 5 in 1988.

dorokusai

04-10-2009, 04:34 PM

I had a vertical loading Kyocera a few years ago and it was cool but sounded awful.

cnh

04-10-2009, 04:37 PM

CD players have been around since a bit before you were born. When they first appeared they were outrageously expensive..kind of like the first Blu-rays were. It took QUITE a while before they dropped below 250 dollars?

If I'm not mistaken Sony introduced the first player in 1982--the CDP-101? That would make the CD player 27 years of age this year....old enough to be 'vintage'...I think!

cnh

skrol

04-10-2009, 04:38 PM

The SL-P7 was far from fine. What a difference when I replaced it with the Denon DCD-660 (I've still got it).

Flash21

04-10-2009, 05:09 PM

Just last night I listened to my "Classic Yes" CD, I was a bit surprised to see it was dated 1981, although I probably didn't buy it until the mid '80s...

WilliamM2

04-10-2009, 06:04 PM

Just last night I listened to my "Classic Yes" CD, I was a bit surprised to see it was dated 1981, although I probably didn't buy it until the mid '80s...

That was the year that the album/recording was released, not the year the CD was released. Many of my CD's have dates on them from the 1960's.

In 1982 or early 1983 when I first got a player, there were only about 30 titles available, none of them were Yes.

George Grand

04-10-2009, 06:16 PM

I had a vertical-loading TOTL Sanyo from around 1986. It didn't have a scratch and weighed a ton. That thing was around $900 when new. Motorized front door and all.

I had a modified Magnavox CDB-650 and that thing weighed a ton. Dark, yet pleasant sound. I had a Magnavox CDB-473 that I wanted to have Van Alstine mess around with. He wouldn't and called it a "Maserati w/Sears tires" because it had a remote volume feature. I have some kind of Sony ES in the Magic Closet that weighs more than both of them together. So does the Sony ES I use for a transport in my He-Man Rig.

The first cd player I ever bought was an ADC-16/1, purchased from Crazy Eddie around 1985. I stuck it in a closet cause I didn't have any cd's. I started using it in 1987.

cnh

04-10-2009, 06:21 PM

Crazy Eddie...now there's a blast from the past. Does anybody remember those T-Giving Adds with the dude dressed as the Turkey and speaking turkey throughout the commercial. A friend of mine bought his first real stereo system there--I tagged along and listened to a number of speakers. Can't remember what he got, it was the late 70s early eighties maybe. A Kenwood integrated amp, nice turntable and speakers--too long ago to remember well.

cnh

Danny Tse

04-10-2009, 06:35 PM

In 1982 or early 1983 when I first got a player, there were only about 30 titles available, none of them were Yes.

CD was not officially introduced in the US until 1983. The first CDs available to consumers were those from CBS/Sony of Japan, released on 10/01/1982. Here're some pics of my stash from these releases....notice all of them carried the catalog number "1"

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3166/2670684426_792c9a5c23.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3159/2669859045_5e4e188a54.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2164/2383650366_915f3c3ee0.jpg

Hmmm....I wonder how these CDs sound on that Technics. Will I need vintage speakers too? :D

George Grand

04-10-2009, 06:46 PM

You may need "digital-ready" speakers. A phrase at least one or two manufacturers employed during the transition period from vinyl/cd. Koss and Cerwin-Vega come to mind.

Hillbilly61

04-10-2009, 08:06 PM

Now since George mentions it, yes, "digital-ready" was the big tag line to get people to go out and buy new speakers. Kind of like how antenna manufacturers are currently saying "HDTV ready" (or something like that) and other material implying your current antenna might need replacing.

I remember auditioning a CD player for the first time. It was late 1983. A buddy and I came across one in Sears and had to try it out. It went for, as I recall, over $900 and was hooked to a stereo. They had 3 or 4 CDs just lying loose to use, as there was little fear someone would steal them. CD player ownership was simply too scarce for this to be a concern. I recall being blown away by the dynamic range and overall better sound than what a standard vinyl LP offered.

Danny Tse

04-10-2009, 08:40 PM

You may need "digital-ready" speakers. A phrase at least one or two manufacturers employed during the transition period from vinyl/cd. Koss and Cerwin-Vega come to mind.

I also remember Jensen having speakers that were "digital ready".

I recall being blown away by the dynamic range and overall better sound than what a standard vinyl LP offered.

Generally, CD players can run rings around the typical vinyl setup found in vast majority of homes. And this was before factoring in conveniences such as direct track access and remote control.

Gempler

04-10-2009, 09:22 PM

Crazy Eddie...now there's a blast from the past. Does anybody remember...
cnh

I remember Crazy Eddie. They would advertise that "his prices are insane!" And George Carlin did a bit about him asking if it was ok to take advantage of a mentally unstable person who sold electronics priced below market value.

I also remember they had a policy where you could haggle prices. And one day I figured out that the stock number on each component included the lowest selling price poorly encrypted in the number... which made it easy to shop there and cut to the chase of the lowest possible price and not feel that you were overpaying.

cnh

04-10-2009, 09:25 PM

I remember 'digital ready' speakers...bought a set in the 80s..some digital Monitors made by a subsidiary of whatever Energy was back then? Book Shelves!

Add, 'dynamic sound produced by new CD digital capabilities require 'special' kind of speaker...our engineers using computer modeling, bla..bla..bla...fill in the rest.....what did 'we' know then?

cnh

cnh

04-10-2009, 09:28 PM

I remember Crazy Eddie. They would advertise that "his prices are insane!" And George Carlin did a bit about him asking if it was ok to take advantage of a mentally unstable person who sold electronics priced below market value.

I also remember they had a policy where you could haggle prices. And one day I figured out that the stock number on each component included the lowest selling price poorly encrypted in the number... which made it easy to shop there and cut to the chase of the lowest possible price and not feel that you were overpaying.

That's right and one T-giving the guy did a commercial dressed as a Turkey in the AM hours where he goble..gobled the enter time to the cadence of the normal crazy Eddie routine. NOT one word of ENGLISH....all done in turkeyese....he had us on the floor dying from laughter. The most outrageous thing I'd seen to that point. Crazy out-did himself. Didn't know about the price codes..?

cnh

snow

04-10-2009, 09:48 PM

And one day I figured out that the stock number on each component included the lowest selling price poorly encrypted in the number... which made it easy to shop there and cut to the chase of the lowest possible price and not feel that you were overpaying.

That is pretty standard for businesses like pawn shops to include the price paid or pawn given in the inventory number so a sales clerk at a glance can haggle with a customer regarding price, for example lets say a pawn shop paid $20.00 for a amp the inventory number may read 56740020 the last two or 3 numbers after the double zero will be what they have into it so if the clerk has permission to sell for double or triple what they have into it he can sell it for $40.00 or $60.00 mininmum without having to look for a supervisor or manager.

REGARDS SNOW

nooshinjohn

04-10-2009, 09:56 PM

I want one of these...

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.phaselinearhistory.stereomanuals.com/images/phaselinear_cd-player.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.phaselinearhistory.stereomanuals.com/components.htm&usg=__XQ9QkRsF12UhW4OVRXZTL4FgmT4=&h=184&w=376&sz=9&hl=en&start=15&um=1&tbnid=dwptgTtoDfktGM:&tbnh=60&tbnw=122&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dphase%2Blinear%2Bcd%2Bplayers%26hl%3D en%26rlz%3D1T4ADBS_enUS275US276%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

oifvet0608

04-11-2009, 07:17 PM

Phil Dawson

04-15-2009, 07:15 PM

Danny Tse

04-15-2009, 07:29 PM

The Technics is not here yet.

Hillbilly61

04-19-2009, 02:25 AM

I still use my Sony X7ESD CD player a lot. I bought it used but originally it was about $2000 or so. It is a great player and sounds almost as good as the Lexicon Rt-20 that is now in my main system and it was recently in production (now out) with a list price of $5000. Some of the older players can sound great. Some are built like tanks.

A lot of older stuff is like that. While R&D and tooling costs will initially jack up the price of new technology, price decreases will also be had by cheapening the design. Figuring out short cuts or using cheaper parts, etc.

After CD players first came out, I recall one of the early improvements in the initial design was the use of dual D/A converters. Then, I think, increased sampling rates came next. At some point after that, there was a push to make 'em more affordable by cheapening up the design and/or using more integrated components etc. High end stuff, as with most high end anything, generally avoided 'cheap' solutions but their prices remain elevated too.