DAMN!! My 555ES is Freaking Out! (1 Viewer)

[Evan S]

Ok, found out they dropped the price on the 555ES at Oade from $800 to less than $600 recently...that kind of annoyed me seeing I got mine in December for the higher price but....

This is really annoying.

Playing my unit today for about 2 hours. I have never had a single issue with this player for more than 4 months now. Was playing Dada's "Puzzle". Went from track 4 directly to track 11 on the remote. Player started freaking out, trying to track song 11 and having no success. Tried to return to song 4 with no luck...still tracking. Pressed stop and then play again. Starting from track 1, it played fine. Now, using the tracking control on the front of the unit, I slowly advanced tracks. No problem from tracks 1-7, but when I get to track 8 or anything higher...it just tracks and tracks and tracks forever.

Thought this must be an issue with the Dada disk but got the same results using Bonnie Raitt's "Nick of Time".

Can you say frustrating? I'm keeping the unit off for the time being hoping tomorrow the laser will miraculously find a way to restore itself to the previous tracking setting, but has anyone else had this problem? I'm using the 555ES as a transport right now, so I can play CD's from my DVD player, but I no longer have SACD capability. Thank god for the 5 year warranty (sounds like I might be using that warranty far more times than I originally bargained for). Thanks for any help guys.

 

[KeithH]

Evan, I have never heard of this problem with the 'C555ES. Does it occur with CDs and SACDs? Have you tried a lens cleaner? I wouldn't expect the lens to be dirty after only a few months, but it's worth a try. Out of curiosity, is there plenty of headspace above the 'C555ES? I have noticed that it runs hot. I have about 3-4" of headspace above my two 'C555ES players. Could your player have overheated?

If you do have to send the player to Sony for a repair, I hope it is handled quickly.

 

[Evan S]

Keith, haven't tried it on SACD's yet, but I think because they use different lasers, I might be all set there. Didn't think of that. I have plenty of headspace on my unit, so that shouldn't be a problem at all.

 

[KeithH]

Evan, try some SACDs and see what happens. Again, I would try a lens cleaner on the player. Can't hurt.

 

[Evan S]

Weird.

As I thought, SACD's work fine. Tried both SRV's "Couldn't Stand the Weather" and Alison Krauss' "Forget About It" and both worked perfectly.

Used my lens cleaner on the regular laser. Not sure if it actually took though because it never gets past the TOC part. Not sure if the laser is getting cleaned in this setting.

Put both the Dada and Bonnie Raitt CD's back in. Bonnie was better. No longer froze on the higher tracks except for track #11, which it still couldn't get. The Dada, however, was the same. Froze up on every track past #7. Thought it was the redbook laser until I put in 5 other disks...some old, some new and they all worked without a hitch...no delay in tracking times, nothing.

Wonder why my player is having such a tough time with these two disks and what the odds would be that I would pick the two disks it DOES have a problem with and decide to listen to them back to back out of my collection of over 500+.

Also, for comparison's sake I loaded these two titles into my 12 year old Yamaha CDP-91 in my bedroom system and they both worked perfectly, no problems.

If the player is only going to give me problems for two disks, I would just as soon keep it in house, but I have a feeling I have only hit on the tip of the iceberg. Here's hoping not.

 

[KeithH]

Evan, interesting observations. My recommendation is that you simply watch the behavior of the player. The tracking problems could have to do with the angle of incidence of the laser on the CD, meaning that it might only happen at certain parts of a CD. It's just a thought.

I'd run the lens cleaner again since things seemed to improve with the Raitt CD after one run.

By the way, I bought the Alison Krauss SACD at a Compact Disc World in New Jersey yesterday for $15.99. I plan on listening to it tonight. I am not too familiar with Krauss, but for $15.99, I figured I'd give it a try.

 

[Evan S]

Keith, it's a wonderful disk. I simply cannot wait until Rounder records releases her new album with Union Station "New Favorite" on SACD...should be very soon according to correspondence with the website. She has a beautiful voice. Some of the songs are too mellow for my tastes, but the upbeat ones (the early tracks and a few at the end) showcase her golden voice to perfection.

It's a hybrid disk. Interested in your comparison between the Redbook and SACD layer differences. To me, they were not large at all. The Redbook sounds very good in comparison to the SACD and if it wasn't for the input level of the recording (redbook is louder) I would be hard pressed blindfolded to tell the difference. It's that close IMO.

 

[KeithH]

Evan, I should specify that I bought the Forget About It SACD yesterday. According to an Elusive Disc flier that came in the mail today, Now That I've Found You: A Collection is also out on SACD, though I haven't seen it. Anyway, I still haven't listened to the Krauss SACD yet, as I am going through a bunch of music I bought over the weekend. Once I give it a listen, I'll post my impressions.
If you are looking for an interesting mix of music on SACD, check out The SACD Stereo and Multi-channel Demonstration Disc from Sony and Groove Note at Elusive Disc:
http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo....item=1&mitem=2
It actually has music from Groove Note, FIM, Hyperion, and DMP, and it's excellent. The music is great, and it sounds great. Elusive Disc claims that quantities are limited, and in an e-mail ad I received last week, they claimed that it is an exclusive for them. Anyway, the only odd thing about the disc is that while there are 11 stereo SACD tracks, only three of them are included in multi-channel. Thus far, I've listened to the stereo SACD layer and am very impressed.

 

[Eujin]

Hey Keith,

I noticed that you have an Ah! Tjoeb in you set-up. How does it compare to the 555ES for redbook playback? I'm curious as the two are now fairly close in price and I'd like to be able to use one player for both redbook and SACD--I'm currently using a 775 and NAD 521.

 

[KeithH]

Evan,
I listened to part of the SACD layer on Forget About It last night and was impressed with what I heard. I'll try to do a comparison between the CD and SACD layers tonight. There was a discussion of this SACD running on Audio Asylum last night, and a few people offered similar comments as you in that the CD and SACD layers are very close.
Eujin,
I prefer the 'C555ES with CDs over the Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000. The 'C555ES is more detailed and as I compare the two players more and more, I find that the 'C555ES is smoother in the treble than the Ah!. In addition, I find that the 'C555ES gives a better sense of dynamics. The 'C555ES is quite an amazing CD player for the money. Some music sounds great on the Ah!, and some shows the player's weaknesses. As an example of the latter case, I listened to the remastered CD of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Damn the Torpedoes on the Ah! and 'C555ES recently. I find that Petty's vocals and the keyboard on "Refugee" can sound a bit harsh. This is especially true on the Ah! player. Although still edgy, the vocals and keyboard are smoother and much more pleasing on the 'C555ES. The '777ES is smoother still, but the 'C555ES comes close.
If I had to choose between the Ah! and 'C555ES, I'd go with the 'C555ES in a heartbeat. Aside from the convenience of a changer, SACD playback, and outstanding build quality of the 'C555ES, it is a great CD player. That said, I am going to hold onto the Ah!. There is talk on www.upscaleaudio.com of a 24/192 upsampling chip becoming available for under $300 in the near future. I'd like to try that out. Also, upscaleaudio.com is supposed to be offering an op-amp "Flavor Pack" for further tweaking that I would like to experiment with. Finally, I would like to try the power cord upgrade. So, I will hold onto the Ah! and tweak it here and there. Finally, I will consider other tubes too.

 

[Eujin]

Keith,

Thanks for the info. I think the 555 might be my next source upgrade. The only other thing I'm considering is the SACDmods.com upgrades for the 775, but I'm going to wait until the controversy dies down a bit on Audio Asylum before I make a decision. Again, much thanks for the insights on both players!

 

[KeithH]

Eujin, no problem. Glad to help. The mods on the 'CE775 intrigue me, but I would still take a stock 'C555ES, given the build quality and performance out of the box, not to mention the five-year ES warranty. You can always have the 'C555ES modified if interested (voids the warranty).

 

[Evan S]

Update: Played about 4 hours worth of music tonight on my 555. Wallflowers, Diana Krall, Stone Temple Pilots, Blues Traveler and Marcy Playground. Didn't play any SACD's. All 5 disks played fine without a hitch. Must be those two disks it hiccups with. Odd.

Keith, read your posts on AA about the Alison Krauss. I see I'm not the only one looking for "New Favorite" on 5.1 multichannel SACD. Should have more of a bluegrass flavor than "Forget About it" but with her voice, she could be hardcore rapping and I would still buy it.

 

[KeithH]

Evan, it is especially odd that you came across two discs that caused a tracking problem in one day. That would freak me out. Hopefully your player is O.K.

I didn't start the thread on Audio Asylum, but I did throw in a couple of posts. Based on what I have heard from the Forget About It SACD, I will pick up her others.