Who's got the oldest operating CD player?

[Matt J. McCullar]

I'm not sure who manufactured the first CD player (Japanese market?
European? American?); was it Sony, or Philips, a combination of two or more
companies?

I first saw a CD player (with a whopping huge price tag) in the early 1980s
and I forget who manufactured it. I think I saw it at a store called Video
Concepts in a shopping mall, and the only discs you could play on it at the
time were all classical music. Those weren't cheap, either.

These days the manufacturing processes have been debugged enough so that
it's not unusual for a tabletop CD player to last for quite a while. I've
been through at least two such players over the years. When these things
were brand-new in the early to mid '80s, they were economical to repair.

There are always some iron-horse items. Who has a first-generation CD
player that is still in use? How often have you used it? Who manufactured
it? Where did you get it?

Just for fun!

Matt J. McCullar, KJ5BA
Arlington, TX

 

[Dani]

I have a Hitachi DA-4000 three beam laser, single cd player, it will
even "play" Windows 98 cd!! You can hear the information from the cd
while it's spinning, cool! I paid $ 350 plus tax Canadian in 1985! It
still works great, but went almost totally dead, just needed a
thorough soldering, never failed since! I'll never sell it! Dani.

 

[James Sweet]

I'm not sure who manufactured the first CD player (Japanese market?
European? American?); was it Sony, or Philips, a combination of two or
more
companies?

I first saw a CD player (with a whopping huge price tag) in the early
1980s
and I forget who manufactured it. I think I saw it at a store called
Video
Concepts in a shopping mall, and the only discs you could play on it at
the
time were all classical music. Those weren't cheap, either.

These days the manufacturing processes have been debugged enough so that
it's not unusual for a tabletop CD player to last for quite a while. I've
been through at least two such players over the years. When these things
were brand-new in the early to mid '80s, they were economical to repair.

There are always some iron-horse items. Who has a first-generation CD
player that is still in use? How often have you used it? Who
manufactured
it? Where did you get it?

Just for fun!

Matt J. McCullar, KJ5BA
Arlington, TX

I had a Fisher CD player from I think 1985, it still worked fine but I gave
it away finally.

I had an old portable CD player too, one of if not the first one to come
out. It had a separate case it fit in with the battery holder, I think it
was made by Technics. Unfortunately it never worked while I owned it.

 

[UCLAN]

There are always some iron-horse items. Who has a first-generation CD
player that is still in use? How often have you used it? Who manufactured
it? Where did you get it?

I have an operating Sony CDP302 including original remote and manual.

 

[[email protected]]

I'm not sure who manufactured the first CD player (Japanese market?
European? American?); was it Sony, or Philips, a combination of two or more
companies?

I first saw a CD player (with a whopping huge price tag) in the early 1980s
and I forget who manufactured it. I think I saw it at a store called Video
Concepts in a shopping mall, and the only discs you could play on it at the
time were all classical music. Those weren't cheap, either.

These days the manufacturing processes have been debugged enough so that
it's not unusual for a tabletop CD player to last for quite a while. I've
been through at least two such players over the years. When these things
were brand-new in the early to mid '80s, they were economical to repair.

There are always some iron-horse items. Who has a first-generation CD
player that is still in use? How often have you used it? Who manufactured
it? Where did you get it?

Just for fun!

Matt J. McCullar, KJ5BA
Arlington, TX

I have a Revox B225 (1983) and an original very first Sony Discman
(also 1983), both in excellent operating condition and used daily. I
even have the remote for the B225.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

 

[GregS]

I have a Revox B225 (1983) and an original very first Sony Discman
(also 1983), both in excellent operating condition and used daily. I
even have the remote for the B225.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

I don't know the model or year, but it was early, I bought a Hitachi unit for
about $200. I also bought the service manual. I gave the unit to my sister who
should still be using it. I used it with a DJ setup at a couple times. I had
to hand hold it in one instance so it would not skip on a heavy foot stomping
song.

greg

 

[Andy Cuffe]

I'm not sure who manufactured the first CD player (Japanese market?
European? American?); was it Sony, or Philips, a combination of two or more
companies?

I first saw a CD player (with a whopping huge price tag) in the early 1980s
and I forget who manufactured it. I think I saw it at a store called Video
Concepts in a shopping mall, and the only discs you could play on it at the
time were all classical music. Those weren't cheap, either.

These days the manufacturing processes have been debugged enough so that
it's not unusual for a tabletop CD player to last for quite a while. I've
been through at least two such players over the years. When these things
were brand-new in the early to mid '80s, they were economical to repair.

There are always some iron-horse items. Who has a first-generation CD
player that is still in use? How often have you used it? Who manufactured
it? Where did you get it?

Just for fun!

Matt J. McCullar, KJ5BA
Arlington, TX

Sony and Philips both came out with players at about the same time
(late 1982). I have a Sony CDP-101 which was Sony's first CD player.
It's actually my only CD player right now. It doesn't have any
trouble playing CD-Rs, but for some reason it refuses to play a small
number of my pressed CDs. CD-R copies of those discs work fine
though.
Andy Cuffe

[email protected]

 

[Meat Plow]

Sony and Philips both came out with players at about the same time
(late 1982). I have a Sony CDP-101 which was Sony's first CD player.
It's actually my only CD player right now. It doesn't have any
trouble playing CD-Rs, but for some reason it refuses to play a small
number of my pressed CDs. CD-R copies of those discs work fine
though.
Andy Cuffe

[email protected]

I have a 1984 Philips that still operates as did in 1984.

 

[Mark D. Zacharias]

I have a 1984 Philips that still operates as did in 1984.

Sharp (Germany), Kyocera, Carver all had vertical units (they were the same
inside). in the early 80's.

So basic they didn't even have a counter, just a red LED pointer which gave
a relative indication of playing position.


Mark Z.

 

[Gary Tait]

My oldest player is a very late 80s/early 90s external NEC SCSI CD-ROM
drive,that has a base the drive its in, so the player can be taken
portable, although you need exteral power. There is a place in the base for
a supposed battery pack. It has a decent set of CD player transport
controls and track incicator, for a CD-ROM drive.

 

[whit3rd]

I'm not sure who manufactured the first CD player (Japanese market?
European? American?); was it Sony, or Philips, a combination of two or more
companies?

I've got a working Meridian MCD; the model dates from 1984, but
I'm not sure what the date on the unit is. Don't use it much,
though; mainly I just go with the iPod.

 

[Madness]

I'm not sure who manufactured the first CD player (Japanese market?
European? American?); was it Sony, or Philips, a combination of two or more
companies?

I first saw a CD player (with a whopping huge price tag) in the early 1980s
and I forget who manufactured it. I think I saw it at a store called Video
Concepts in a shopping mall, and the only discs you could play on it at the
time were all classical music. Those weren't cheap, either.

These days the manufacturing processes have been debugged enough so that
it's not unusual for a tabletop CD player to last for quite a while. I've
been through at least two such players over the years. When these things
were brand-new in the early to mid '80s, they were economical to repair.

There are always some iron-horse items. Who has a first-generation CD
player that is still in use? How often have you used it? Who manufactured
it? Where did you get it?

Just for fun!

Matt J. McCullar, KJ5BA
Arlington, TX

My oldest working unit is a Fisher AD-850. An unusual vertical-loader w/
a November '83 date on the back. It's about maybe 3/4 the width of an
average audiostack component. Reason being that the player has a
companion ADP-110 CD holder attached to the right side. Pull-out drawer
that holds maybe 6 CDs in full-size jewel cases. Except I have it loaded
w/ CD-R backups in paper sleeves (and it holds quite a few of those!).

The loading system is very interesting. There's a motorized door that
looks like an oversized cassette one. It opens forward to about 30
degrees revealing a slot at the top. You slip a CD in and push it down a
bit. Then the door begins to close and gradually moves the CD into play
position as it does. There's also a window on the half opposite to the
laser position so you can see the disc spinning. Upon ejecting, it opens
and pushes the CD back up, gradually, so that it can be removed when
fully opened (kind of like a slot-load CD-ROM).

 

[[email protected]]

repair.



Sony and Philips both came out with players at about the same time
(late 1982). I have a Sony CDP-101 which was Sony's first CD player.
It's actually my only CD player right now. It doesn't have any
trouble playing CD-Rs, but for some reason it refuses to play a small
number of my pressed CDs. CD-R copies of those discs work fine
though.
Andy Cuffe

[email protected]

Got a CDP-101 April 1 1983 for only $750 which was $150 below list.
Saw them a month later in Dallas selling for $1100. The CDP-101 gave
up the ghost and looked to be having fractures in tracks on the PCBs.
Didn't seem worth the bother to fix. That early DAC was nothing to get
excited about but is the same DAC in my PCM-701. Takes audio and makes
monochrome video to record on a Beta or VHS to record digital audio BC
(Before Computers) with the same sample and bit depth as CDs. Dang,
it's almost 25 years old. I remember seeing a vertical disc Hitachi CD
unit about that time.

There were 11 titles on 4-1-83, all on CBS / Sony. When somebody asks
why I have a Barbra Streisand / Andy Gibb disc, well, it was one of
the first 11 along with Also Sprach Zarathustra, Beethoven's 5th and
some others I forget. Never liked Springsteen which was one of the
first 11 but at the time, the discs were $18.50 and I was making
$11.50. Should have bought it anyway. The name of the format was not
finalized back then and were sometimes referred to as DAD, Digital
Audio Disc.

I DO have a 20 year old CDP-302 fully functional which has the most
outstanding sled servo I've ever seen. It uses a linear motor - no
gears - and is FAST to search anywhere on a 60 minute disc in 1
second. Works great after you clean out that garbage Sony oil and
replace it with synthetic Nye oil 2. I also remove Sony lube from the
300+ Sony VTRs we have at work.

BTW, was there EVER a CD player manufactured in the US?

GG

 

[Tim Schwartz]

Got a CDP-101 April 1 1983 for only $750 which was $150 below list.
Saw them a month later in Dallas selling for $1100. The CDP-101 gave
up the ghost and looked to be having fractures in tracks on the PCBs.
Didn't seem worth the bother to fix. That early DAC was nothing to get
excited about but is the same DAC in my PCM-701. Takes audio and makes
monochrome video to record on a Beta or VHS to record digital audio BC
(Before Computers) with the same sample and bit depth as CDs. Dang,
it's almost 25 years old. I remember seeing a vertical disc Hitachi CD
unit about that time.

There were 11 titles on 4-1-83, all on CBS / Sony. When somebody asks
why I have a Barbra Streisand / Andy Gibb disc, well, it was one of
the first 11 along with Also Sprach Zarathustra, Beethoven's 5th and
some others I forget. Never liked Springsteen which was one of the
first 11 but at the time, the discs were $18.50 and I was making
$11.50. Should have bought it anyway. The name of the format was not
finalized back then and were sometimes referred to as DAD, Digital
Audio Disc.

I DO have a 20 year old CDP-302 fully functional which has the most
outstanding sled servo I've ever seen. It uses a linear motor - no
gears - and is FAST to search anywhere on a 60 minute disc in 1
second. Works great after you clean out that garbage Sony oil and
replace it with synthetic Nye oil 2. I also remove Sony lube from the
300+ Sony VTRs we have at work.

BTW, was there EVER a CD player manufactured in the US?

GG

Hello,

There have been several US made CD players, such as McIntosh,
California Audio Labs (CAL) and Conrad Johnson. However, every one I've
seen has had Asian or European mechanisms in them, if not everything
else (all of the boards)as well. So, I've not yet seen a US made
mechanism. Even the Wadia that I saw open had a 'professional grade'
TEAC mechanism as I recall.

Regards,
Tim Schwartz

 

[msg]

[email protected] wrote:

The name of the format was not
finalized back then and were sometimes referred to as DAD, Digital
Audio Disc.

My JVC "R-X400 Computer Controlled Sterero Receiver" has a 'DAD' (and no 'CD)
source switch

Regards,

Michael

 

[clifto]

My JVC "R-X400 Computer Controlled Sterero Receiver" has a 'DAD' (and no 'CD)
source switch

I never noticed that! (Mine's on the floor, hooked to the computer.)

 

[Andy Cuffe]

My oldest working unit is a Fisher AD-850. An unusual vertical-loader w/
a November '83 date on the back. It's about maybe 3/4 the width of an
average audiostack component. Reason being that the player has a
companion ADP-110 CD holder attached to the right side. Pull-out drawer
that holds maybe 6 CDs in full-size jewel cases. Except I have it loaded
w/ CD-R backups in paper sleeves (and it holds quite a few of those!).

I have one of those, but it's not working. It has a problem reading
the TOC. It plays the TOC area all the way through as if it were an
audio track (it even displays the time and calls it track 0), but it
never actually loads the TOC. I have the service manual, but the
player is stored away at the moment.
Andy Cuffe

[email protected]

 

[Andy Cuffe]

Got a CDP-101 April 1 1983 for only $750 which was $150 below list.
Saw them a month later in Dallas selling for $1100. The CDP-101 gave
up the ghost and looked to be having fractures in tracks on the PCBs.

The main problem I've seen with the CDP-101 (the 2 I've worked on) has
been the STK ICs used to drive the lens (focus and tracking), and the
sled and drawer motors. On both players, the lens would start
chattering soon after it was turned on. One sometimes ejected the
disc while it was playing. The ICs are impossible to find, but I was
able to substitute an LA6510 power op-amp.

I DO have a 20 year old CDP-302 fully functional which has the most
outstanding sled servo I've ever seen. It uses a linear motor - no
gears - and is FAST to search anywhere on a 60 minute disc in 1
second. Works great after you clean out that garbage Sony oil and
replace it with synthetic Nye oil 2. I also remove Sony lube from the
300+ Sony VTRs we have at work.

I have a slightly newer Sony with the same linear motor system.
Technics, and even Fisher made some players like that too.
Andy Cuffe

[email protected]