Hi,
My CD3.5 is approaching its 1 year anniversary.
All my previous CD players start to act up after 1-2 years. For example, my old Rega Planet started to have troubles with skipping and tracking. Previous to that, I went through various Sonys and Denons, which tended to have tracking problems after a couple years.
I assume that its the laser sled that needed adjusting, but I seem to be the only one with this problem, as my friends seem to keep their CDPs for years on end. A buddy's Yamaha CDP has lasted for 10 years and has only recently started to act up. An exception is a friend's Toshiba DVD player which is crapping out after only 8 months.
What gives? I don't smoke and I play CDs a couple hours a day max.
I'm curious as to other member's experiences with CD player aging.
How long is the typical CD 3.5 lifespan? I hope this one's a keeper as I'm currently in a financial downturn.
Best Regards,
Mike
Posted on: 26 May 2001 by Andrew L. Weekes
Mike,
Whlst there's never any guarantees in this world, I believe that the average life of the laser has been quoted as 6 years or so, at several hours a day.
When I worked as a service engineer I certainly changed some laser / sled ass'y's earlier than this but it was rare.
Many problems are mechanical, and can come from lack of, rather then excessive, use. Lubricants can dry and clog with dust etc. if not worked.
The CD player that runs 24/7 on the phone system at work usually needs replacing every 3-4 years, and that's a lot more use than average! The laser is always the failure, with inability to read discs / skipping.
Andy.
Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com
Posted on: 26 May 2001 by Steve Toy
My parents are using a 1987 (That's when they acquired it) Fisher CD player (model no. irrelevant) it still works and plays discs without skipping that other players reject, including my CD5, which obviously sounds MUCH better! 14 years and still no problems with the laser!
Posted on: 27 May 2001 by Sproggle
During my three months as a hi-fi sales assistant in the early '90s, I was astounded by the number of faulty CD players that we had to deal with. I'd guess it was 5-10% of all players.
My 9+ year old Rotel RCD965BX [an ex demonstrator which I bought directly from Rotel for less than half the RRP] still works perfectly. It hasn't skipped once.
--Jeremy
"Time is an illusion - lunch-time doubly so."
Posted on: 27 May 2001 by Sproggle
quote:
Have you already done the bearing mod to the Rotel to prevent it from skipping ?
No, I've never heard of a bearing mod for it. I hope my Rotel will last until I can upgrade it. 
Hmmm... I think I'll be really retentive and start an upgrading plans thread... 
--Jeremy
Posted on: 28 May 2001 by Mike Hanson
My first CD player was a Toshiba, purchased in 1984. It's currently lent to a friend, and he says it's still going strong. I think I'm going to get it back from him, though, just so that I can see how bad players were back then.
-=> Mike Hanson <=-
Posted on: 28 May 2001 by Mike Sae
IIRC, All my old CD players have used Sony transports. My CD3.5 is the first Philips I've owned.
Do Rotels use Sony or Phillips transports?
Could it be that Sony transports aren't as rugged as Philips transports? All this talk about old Marantzes and my experiences lead me to believe so...
Best,
Mike S
