Laser Life

Posted by: Martin D on 27 January 2001

Having just become the proud owner of the bloody amazing CDX, can anyone share their experiences or knowledge on laser life time ? I've read on the forum of many owners having their players on repeat for days on end. Anyone had a laser need replacing? Does the output from it reduce with time - maybe noticed by some discs not reading?

Can a life in discs / hours be calculated?
Cheers
Martin

Posted on: 27 January 2001 by Arye_Gur

I had a mission cd player, and when the laser dies, it was difficult to it to start the cd, if started, was jumping many times and loosed tracking. It is noticeable.

Arie

Posted on: 27 January 2001 by Nigel Cavendish

Martin

I have had my cd 3.5 for just over 3 years now, it uses the same laser/transport as the CDX, and I play it about 20 hours a week. So far no problems.

cheers

Nigel

Posted on: 28 January 2001 by Andrew L. Weekes

I don't know whether the implementation makes a difference to laser life, but in my first job as a service engineer I replaced laser ass'y's under warranty (<1 year) on a number of major Japanese brands (Sony, Panasonic etc.).

I've replaced large numbers on machines less than 2 years old, these days it's often not worth the cost on a cheap player (it's an expensive stylus!).

The CD player we use on our 'phone system runs 24 / 7 and usually lasts 3 years or so before the laser is worn out.

I assume, like gas lasers, the semiconductor lasers lose emission or become less coherent with age. The pickup that receives the reflected laser light can fail also (it's all part of the laser ass'y that is changed).

The eye pattern (the RF signal that comes from the laser ass'y) becomes blurred and fuzzy looking as the laser ages, and it's amplitude changes, so diagnosis is usually fairly easy. I'm not sure if this is the signal that Linn made accessible on some of their earlier players for dealer diagnosis?

Andy.

Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com