I have both BATs (Vkd5 & SE) and Meridian 508.24 that use Philips. I never had any trouble with any. The 508 is discontinued because they don't make the deck any more.
BAT VK-D5 CD Player Needed New Transport Assembly
I just got my 3 year old BAT VK-D5 CD Player back from the BAT Factory. The unit would not play CD's and they had to replace the transport assembly ($400) and also changed the tubes ($120). I was using my Meridian 508.20 CD player as a substitute player but the BAT VK-D5 is a much better sounding unit. Is this technical repair something that I need to worry about or just a chance occurance?