R.I.P. CD Player

I have been using, for the past several years, a Marantz CD changer (5-discs, model CC-38) given to me by a friend.  It's a good-sounding unit and, up until Thursday, worked flawlessly.

Thursday the tray stopped going in & out.

Took it apart, and found a broken belt as expected (and when I say "took it apart" I mean I had to strip it WAYYY down to get to that stupid little belt).  Checked a couple places online for Marantz parts but struck out.  Took the broken belt, on a hunch, into my local Ace Hardware and had them check their supply of plumbing 'O'-rings.  They had one the perfect size & thickness -- for 79¢!  Score.

Put it in last night, and the drawer now opens & closes just like it used to.  Yay.

However....

The CD player loads the disc, goes into "read" mode -- and never starts playing.  Have no idea what I could've done to cause that.  Guess I'll have to strip it down again....  Grrr.

Meanwhile, I used this opportunity to poke around online to see what new CD players are out there and both rated highly and affordable.  Found an Onkyo (C-7030) which seems to be well thought of, single disc player (I don't really need the fragile changing mechanism) and it was only $170 at Best Buy.  Amazon had the same model for $140 with free shipping -- and Best Buy say they will price match any online vendor.  So I took a printout into the store, and had them order me one for $140 (no stock in the store of course -- but it gave me an excuse to use up our $65 Best Buy gift card).  It'll be here in a week.

Anxious to hear if it has any audible differences (that I can hear anyway).  It has optical digital outputs, if that means anything.  I think that means it would use the DACs in my preamp -- I checked, it has optical digital inputs -- instead of the DACs in the player?  We'll see,  It'll be a fun experiment.

Meanwhile, listening to a lot of Pandora.

Sunday I stripped it down to nuts & bolts again, looking for a detached ribbon cable or loose power cable. No joy. The actual CD playing mechanism is tucked way up inside and behind the mechanism that swaps out between the five discs, so it ain’t easy to access. But I got there (felt like a Thai cave diver).

Everything works swell... except the one thing it’s supposed to do.

Grrr.

Good luck with that.
I have a Pioneer CDM-710 CD changer that uses 6-disc cartridges. It's probably thirty years old and is still working flawlessly. Great piece of equipment.

Just out of curiosity. Being the judgemental person that you are, how would you judge a person who owns an Apple computer which runs Windows? Is he more gullible than someone who runs the Apple OS on the same hardware?

When I was training to become an instructor for Cisco Systems I had to run a Windows emulator on my Apple laptop because the stoopid Cisco software wasn't designed to run under OS-X.

So I would describe a person who owns an Apple computer which runs Windows as practical and resourceful. I would never, ever connect to the internet while in Windows mode however. Way too risky.

_Howard wrote:

I have a Pioneer CDM-710 CD changer that uses 6-disc cartridges. It's probably thirty years old and is still working flawlessly.

I find the following Pioneer 6-disc CD changers online:

• PD-M403
  
• PD-M406
  
• PD-M423
  
• PD-M426
  
• PD-M552
  
• PD-M550
  
• PD-M530
  
• PD-M500
  
• PD-M60
  
• PD-M59
  
• PD-M40
  

Cannot find a CDM-710 however.

Oops. Typo. Should have been PD-M710

NoCoPilot wrote:

When I was training to become an instructor for Cisco Systems I had to run a Windows emulator on my Apple laptop because the stoopid Cisco software wasn't designed to run under OS-X.

So I would describe a person who owns an Apple computer which runs Windows as practical and resourceful.  I would never, ever connect to the internet while in Windows mode however.  Way too risky.

I didn't mean an ad hoc use of an emulator. I meant Apple hardware running Windows as its operating system. Some people do that, you know. So do you see these people as Gullible Windows Dunces or as Superior Beings of the Universe (Apple users)?

I used the internet (ARPANET) years before there was a world wide web. I have connected with CP/M computers and numerous PCs, including Widows versions, of course. I have never had a problem with infections from the internet. How about placing the blame for the problems on the assholes who create the problems, rather than blaming and insulting the victims?

Here's what happens when a chain store employee is told she has to follow the rules to the letter.

Got a text today, on my cellphone, telling me my new CD player is in, five days ahead of schedule.  Oh goody, I thought.

Swung by Best Buy on my way home after a frustrating day of unsuccessful shopping (don't ask).  Customer Service could not find my order.  She said, do you have the order number?  It came to me in an e-mail after the initial purchase, and two days ago I changed my AOL password (because of the stupid hacking thing) and -- for reasons unknown -- my iPhone has refused to accept the new password.

So no, I do not have the order number.

What name would it be under?  Gave her my name.

Not there.  Is there another name?  Gave her my wife's name, which is a different last name than mine.

Not there.  Is there a phone number on the order?  Gave her my cellphone number WHERE THEY HAD TEXTED ME IT WAS READY.

Not there.  Is there another number?  Gave her my home phone number.

Ah yes, there it is.  Is your wife with you?

Why, I asked.

Because the order is under her name and can only be released to her.

Even though we have the same address and phone numbers.

Even though I paid for the CD player with MY CREDIT CARD under MY NAME.

Nope, the "Rewards Account" is in her name and can only be released to her after they verify her ID.

Fucking bloody rules-following bitch.

Got the player picked up & installed.

I was able to hook up BOTH the RCA analog audio outputs AND the optical digital outputs, so I can switch between them.  I *think* what this does is switch between the DACs in the deck and the DACs in my preamp.

Both sound fine.  If there's a difference, it's subtle.  And if I had to describe it, I'd say:

1. The digital output is slightly higher gain, so adjusting the volume is required for direct comparison
   
2. The digital output has a slightly crisper low end, and less cluttered/better defined low midrange (200-1000Hz)
   
3. The analog output has a crisper, and louder high end (5,000 Hz and up)
   

So it's basically a tossup.  The differences are subtle -- I couldn't tell you which one I was listening to without switching between them -- and both sound fine to my ears.

I'll probably stick with optical just because.

Researching online, I'm always astounded when purportedly authoritative websites give information that is 100% wrong.

Adam Savage's Tested (he of Mythbusters fame) wrote:

There are a few different ways to connect devices to your home theater system to provide full surround sound. The most popular method is HDMI, a simple cable that carries both video and audio. The second most popular is an optical connection (also known as "TOSLink" and "S/PDIF"), which only carries the audio data and requires a separate connection for video, like component or composite cables. The other method is analog, which uses a different cable for each channel of sound coming from the device. Simply from their descriptions, it's fairly self-evident which is the superior connection--HDMI is more popular because it's an all-in-one digital solution.

The analog connection has the same benefit as vinyl to audiophiles: the purity of the sound. The sound isn't encoded in any way; the device, like an SACD player or a vinyl turntable, decodes the audio from the media itself (whether by needle or by laser), and sends that very signal straight to the receiver, the preamp, or the amp, and then to the speakers themselves.

It's a distinction that casual users rarely make, but it's the exact same reasoning that causes many purists to zealously guard their vinyl LPs and scoff at CDs, DVDs, and even lossless music downloads. It's more "natural." There's no electronic transmutation of data; the sound that the player picks up is the same sound that goes to the amp and the speaker.

If you're just setting up your home theater now, or you're considering upgrading your receiver or Blu-ray Disc player, use HDMI. It's convenient, simple, and easy to set up. If you're an audiophile and you want to get the most out of your collection of vintage albums, then you're probably already using an analog stereo connection right now.

CD player and preamp also have a coaxial digital option.

I can't tell any difference from the optical.

The thing I'm calling my "preamp" is actually a bit more than that; it's an integrated amplifier/home theater control station my son-in-law gave me.  It has adjustments up the gump stump.

I've been revisiting how I set it up initially, verifying it's in the best-sounding mode and the safest mode for my speakers (now that I've replaced all the drivers I'd blown over the years).  My speakers are three-way: woofer, midrange and tweeter.  I am not using a cross-over in them.

The midranges are capable of handling a lot of LF material, but... that's undoubtedly how I blew one of them.  The woofers are capable of handling a lot of HF material, but it's not ideal to send it to them.  The control center has a built-in 90Hz electronic crossover, and a subwoofer output.  If you set "subwoofer" to "yes" it removes everything below 90 Hz from the main speakers and sends it to the sub instead, which I have running through a separate amp.  You can control the relative levels of the sub and the main speakers.  

The unit also has all sorts of surround sound and hall acoustics simulators that I don't use.

I have one recent CD-R I made -- the soundtrack to Blade Runner 2049 -- which has awesome overwhelming LF output.  It always played at the limits of what my speakers could handle.  By playing with the levels and crossover I was able to get it to play cleanly at a volume which seems too loud to me.  The CD player is flat to 4 HZ and the amplifier is 10Hz to 100KHz.  Now that my speakers are fully repaired, I'd say I get a good solid response down to about 25 Hz.  At any rate, on BR2049 there are synthesizer swoops that rattle your testicles.

Anyway, stuff is sounding good.  Clear, precise, undistorted.  Even Joni Mitchell's "Blue" which is a hard album to reproduce without shrillness.  Her voice is recorded with close micing, making it stand forward of the mix.  It now sounds normal-sized and appropriate, and crystal clear.

And stuff that's better recorded -- like the binaural recordings i've been collecting -- are even more impressive.

New CD player has something called "ASb" for Auto Standby.

When turned on, the player shuts itself off when left stopped for 30 minutes.

Quote :

On the North American model, the default setting is "Off."

On the European model and China model, the default setting is "On."

Wonder why that would be so?

Differences between the old Marantz player and the new Onkyo:

Subtle, if any.  Possibly some SLIGHT clarity gains.

Frankly I think fiddling with my speaker setup did more to clarify the imaging.  I'd had the subwoofer control set to "both" instead of "subwfr" which means I was sending sub-90Hz signal to my midranges.  Not ideal.  Unsafe. The thing is, there's another setting for your main speakers, "Large" or "Small," which ALSO controls the 90Hz signal. Not sure which takes precedence, or whether they overwrite each other.

The remote control for my control center has the ability to control two other devices. The first code I tried for Onkyo worked.

Yay.