How many years are CD players good for??

Kevin_Breeze · 08-07-2004, 05:44 PM

I read a post somewhere where someone was talking about how its not worth it to buy used CD players b/c laser's are only good for like 5 years or something to that effect??

(I am asking b/c I just bought a 3-yr old Cambridge D500SE)

ChristopherDAC · 08-08-2004, 12:02 AM

Nonsense. The laser on a LaserDisc player, the same type of device exactly, which typically got a heavier workout because it was used for playing movies [running two hours plus at a time next to a very heavy duty motor generating plenty of heat] as well for CDs, has generally been estimated at least 10 years lifetime. I have an LDP from 1991 which is still going strong on the original pickup, although it had to have the alignment corrected and the disc tray replaced [it had warped from sitting over the power supply]. This is not a concern at all.

DanFe · 08-08-2004, 08:15 AM

My brother still has a cd player I bought and then gave to him (I used it a lot for about 8 years and he uses it a lot now) in 1987 and it's still running great.

Kevin_Breeze · 08-08-2004, 09:50 AM

thanks for the input guys and not to downplay it, b/c it's great to hear how long certain players have been going, but I am hoping to get some actual techies in here with maybe some real data to back-up one side or the other...

Does the performance significantly start to degrade after a while? Are their maintenance procedures that should or could be done to prevent performance decline, or do certain parts of a CD player just generally go "kaput" after so many years??

Like i said the Cambridge D500SE I bought is 3 years old and I'd like to hope its good for at least another 5-7 years....

Leo Kerr · 08-08-2004, 10:40 AM

We have some laserdisc players that have been in constant use - ~9 hours/day for 364 days/year since 1988. That's 52,500 hours so far.

Actually, to be fair, those are some pretty amazing LD players - the antique Sony LDP-2000 players... complete with a LED bar-graph to indicate head position over the disc!

We've had CD players running similar schedules for 8-10 years.

Now, as a scary aside, averaged over the course of a year, the building RMS voltage is 128VAC. What it doesn't kill, it seems to make stronger!

Now, at home, I've an old Sony CD player that's seen conventional home-style usage for 14-15 years now with no problems. (That said, it may croak tonight.)

All that aside, I, personally, wouldn't buy a used CD player. Not, at least, for any real amount of money, unless there was something ----ed special about the thing!

Leo Kerr
lkerr1@alumni.umbc.edu

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Jack Briggs · 08-08-2004, 11:29 AM

The main argument against purchasing any used electromechanical device is that it has moving parts, and moving parts wear out. So, I wouldn't buy used turntables (unless of classic vintage as a collectable), LD or CD or DVD players, and tape recorders.

As for lifespans. I have a 1989 Sony CDP-670 (I think — just a pedestrian unit) that quit about two years ago.

Steve Berger · 08-08-2004, 12:11 PM

The early units tended to be well designed and actually built by the companies selling them. The current ones are assembled from outsourced assemblies and vendor parts with price , performance , and features as the only design qualifications. Reliability , durability , and serviceability are not considered "saleable" features and are pretty well ignored in most current designs. You may buy a "Nifty New Thingy" from a "Big Name Manufacturer" only to find out that is has a "FlungOneOut" chassis and "WhokNowsWho" circuit boards.

Unfortunately , most of the good stuff is over 10 years old and becomming unreliable due to age ; and the new stuff is mostly junk.

There is probably some good stuff out there but by the time you can determine which ones , they're gone and the manufacturer is selling one that looks exactly the same (even similar model numbers - on purpose) that they outsourced.

This is my 32nd year in servicing consumer electronics. A "Big Name Manufacturer" once said at a training class when asked why parts and manuals weren't available for their current TVs ; "If the average customer doesn't see an immediate , direct benefit , then we do not invest in that part of the company" and "since the average customer's set doesn't break in the first few months , manuals and parts don't need to be available yet". They are also the company who said "You can't sell failure" when asked about the obvious fragility of their newly redesigned VCR. They told us not to mention how much it would cost to fix the (273 moving parts) VCR evertime the customer put a tape in crooked. And they are a company noted for having pretty good products!

Kevin_Breeze · 08-08-2004, 01:10 PM

Hmm, it seems what you guys are saying is a contradiction. You and other's talk about your players lasting upwards of 15 years and than say you won't buy one used?? If someone is selling a 1-3 yr old player, than whats wrong with buying it if it has a good 10+ years left in it? Buying used can save you a lot of money and you may only be mising out 6-10% of its lifespan.

Just look at cars...talk about moving parts!

But there's still great value in buying a used car thats only a few years old with low mileage.

Granted this is under the assumption it was taken care of, but I think 99% of any higher-end type CD players will be well taken care of. I mean how many people abuse a cd player? What would you even do to abuse it? it's not like a car where you can drive it real hard. CD players only have one speed and sit comfortably in a rack in doors (hopefully)all the time...so as long as they can last upwards of 15 years, I don't understand the logic in refusing to buy used?

Leo Kerr · 08-08-2004, 02:23 PM

Well, there's always: you don't know how many PB&J sandwitches have been injested by the transport...

...you don't know if it was kept in a clean or dirty environment.

...you don't know if they fixed it with a guitar spring in the hope of it lasting long enough to sell the sucker to another sucker.

...and, to be perfectly fair, you don't know if it's going to be a stunning beauty that'll last you ten more years.

Cambridge isn't a name I recognize, so I can't judge. I'd be more inclined to buy a used Tascam over a used Sony, though.

But look at what Steve wrote. That early Sony LDP-2000 I referenced earlier outmassed my home LDP-4500 by probably fifteen pounds. My 4500 sounds like crap when it first spins up the disc. The 2000 only sounds bad when it decides the disc needs to be cleaned and ejects the disc. Those disc-eject motors and gears only run once or twice a year! (Gre-e-e-tch!)

Now, also, with specific point regarding CD-players.

1. I believe a cd-player with a digital out will perform just as well (sonically) as any other CD player with a digital out.

Leo Kerr