It was a boom box around 1992. |
I do not remember the model #'s of my first two cd players but the second two were a Hafler player and the JVC XLZ 1050 which was the first player I had owned that had an obvious sonic advantage over the others I had owned.
The first player I heard at a dealer that made my jaw drop was a Wadia ran through Levinson gear and Thiel 3.6's when they first came out.
Greg |
Still got it in the basement - on a shelf - collecting dust. I held off forever before buying one, so I missed the bad digital phase. It was still a cheapo NEC unit and doesn't have a digital out, or I would have converted it to a transport by now.
Enjoy,
Bob |
Back in 1986 I ordered a Technics SLP-100 cd player (silver) from the States as Canadian prices were double. Was so excited when I got it!! I remember it has super fast access to tracks, but boy.... sure sucked when it came to audio! Bled my ears for a few years with that piece of crap till it started skipping like a pre-teen with a rope. Cleaned the lens, re-lubed the laser slider track and then gave the piece of crap to a friend (poor guy... but it was free). Then I bought a Mission Cyrus PCMII. Great machine for its time. I'm up to a Meridian 602 with a 606 DAC. 10 year old gear that sounds STUNNING. If anyone has a spare laser for the 602 I will buy it. NOW! My machine doesn't skip, never has (knock on wood). |
It was a J@# model...Tried suing company later for emotional distress.
Out-of-court settlement was satisfactory, though...they bought me a turntable. |
Aiwa XC-30M in 1999. that was my first standalone CD player. Before that I had two different 'boom boxes' in the early and mid 90's. Oh yeah, also had one of the Sony discmans. I got that in '94 IIRC.
Just sold the Aiwa this past week. *Sniff* I have a Marantz CC-47 feeding an EVS Millennium DAC 1 at the moment.
Prior to my boomboxes I got all of my music off of the radio. Even when I got the boomboxes, I used to remember getting the cassette decks to record off of radio stations as I went to bed. I found the classical and pulic radio stations used to play some more non-standard fare at night, especially Sunday night. Then the next day I would listen to whatever I could grab onto a single cassette, and scan for some goodies. I could usually manage to find one new, undiscovered gem that way.
It was sort of a poor poorman's TiVo. .. well without categories. And it was radio. ..and without the timer. And without muliple stations. Well heck it wasn't like TiVo at all! At least I could fast-forward thru the parts I didn't like! I have some fond memories of my youth doing just that. Those were good times. No system. No music collection, except what I could tape off of the air. Man, that was music.
Aaron |
I got my first in 1987 at a cd specialty store (remember when that was different than a record store?) as a high school graduation gift to myself. I think the brand was A/D/C may be? It was a brand I had not seen before and have not seen since, but it looked cooler than the common brands available at Best Buy, etc, and I bought it on impulse. Cost about $250. I was not an audiophile at the time, so I can't tell what it sounded like, but it sure seemed better than cassettes and scratchy lps on the cheap lo-fi gear I had at the time. It died about 5 years later.
My first cds (purchased with the player--the store threw in 2 with the purchase of the player and I bought 2): Led Zeppelin-In Through The Out Door (symbolic because it was one of the first albums I bouhgt as a child), The Eagles-Greatest Hits, James Taylor-JT, and Rainbow-Down To Earth. Shortly thereafter I recall picking up Deep Purple-Machine Head and Dire Straits-Makin' Movies. Strangely, I still have almost all of these cds. Only the Deep Purple and Rainbow have been replaced with remasters (yeah, I'm still a Blackmore nut).
This reminiscing reminds me of a little rant of mine: It is my recollection that back in the early days of digital cds were about $5 more than lps and cassettes. I'm sure that was somewhat justified at the time by the costs of new manufacturing facilities. But now cds are cheaper to produce than cassettes or lps ever were and the big record companies have never let go of that premium. And they still can't make money?!?!? |
Philips (Magnavox) CDB-473 back in 1987. Did not take the CD format seriously back then and still have the same opinion today. My TT sounds far superior. |
Jposs, if your post was meant for me, yes the Dual loaded cds vertically like the old toasters.
1998993, I entirely agree. It was early, slow, and a piece of crap. |
My first CD player was a Sony CFD-S47 boombox that I've purchased about 3-4 years ago, now it is at work as I'm listening to UNTO ASHES on it. It seems I'm the last person in America to own a CD player. |
Yes, It was a mMagnovox 14 bit player that I bought at Service Merchandise. I still use it about once a week. It has issuesbut its not nearly as bad as some Sony's I have heard. |
It was a Sony player, something like a 505es. I believe it had favorable write ups in Stereo Review or High Fidelity. I bought it in 1985 and it was bright and glared horribly through the treble range, and where was the dynamic range they promised? I replaced it with an es608 in 89 which I still own and use in a second system. I still like the es608. |
Of course I remember it. It IS a NAD 521i. Hey, I'm 23 and new to audio, okay????
I guess if it counts, my dad has an old Technics CD player from the late 80's. I listened to that a lot. |
A DUAL model %$#@ or something. Purchased it at a NYC shop in 1983 I think. This Dual CD player was in the initial wave of CD product offerings and had this funky front door which when opened would accept the disc vertically. Took forever (45 seconds) to cycle open and close. The contraption looked like a shoe box. Still have it somewhere in the attic surely. Audibly it was torture!
Hey.. Ya got me thinking EBay's vintage audio section??
To Funny. |
My first player was an Alpine AD-7200. It was in the mid 80's and paid around $1K CDN for it. Kept it for several years and sold it. Used a Sony ?99 portable as makeshit until I purchased a used Sony. Had it for a few weeks and sold the thing. Had a couple more there after until I purchased the PD-65. Now having problems with lack of bass.
Using a cheap Toshiba dvd player at the moment. Can't stand the Pioneer at this point. Was discusted when I switched between the two. If I can't get it resolved soon I'll sell it to a non audiophile and purchase something else. Now between a rock and a hard place. Cheers! |
"Buscis2":
Yes, I sure do.......
Mines was an NAD 5255. I bought it in 1985, and I paid $600.00 (in 1985 dollars) for it. I used it in three different systems for the eight years that I had it. It died in 1993 (it has gotten a lot of heavy use during the time I've owned it). It was later replaced by a JVC XL-M509TN 6 + 1 CD Player/Changer. And compared to the NAD that it replaced, it turned out to be a piece of shit. No soundstage....... poor imaging....... no bass to speak of, and surely, no dynamics either. But things took a turn for the better three years ago when I took my Pioneer Elite DV-37 out of my home theater system and hooked up (just for the hell of it at the time, and it turned out to be the best decision I've made at that point). I was so surprised by how good its audio section was that it became a permanent fixture in audio system. Now, I think that the Pioneer was several notches better than my old NAD was. And while the Pioneer wasn't considered a world beater then, at least, I finally gotten my audio system back by then, and all was happily ever after after that.
But back to the NAD 5255????? I've gotten this player after a lenghty audition, and I've found out that I've liked the sound of it. The separation was astounding back then. It was one of the very few players that have had separate D/A converters for each channel back then (something that even a lot of more expensive players didn't even have). Before I've the NAD, I was set on getting a Luxman (forgot the model number for $50.00 more at another dealer). And to think that I've used it in three different systems before its untimely death in 1993. It was used in a Polk Audio/JVC/Luxman system back in 1985, a KEF/NAD/Nakamichi system in 1989, and a KEF/NAD/B&K/Nakamichi system in 1990. Man, that brings back a lot of memories, doesn't it???
And back then, my first CD's were the following:
(01). James Ingram -- "It's Your Night" -- 1983
(02). Jeffery Osborne -- "Don't Stop" -- 1984
(03). Culture Club -- "Colour By Numbers" -- 1983
(04). Stevie Wonder -- "Original Musiquarium" -- 1982
(05). Madonna -- "Like A Virgin" -- 1984
(06). Tina Turner -- "Private Dancer" -- 1984
(07). Phil Collins -- "No Jacket Required" -- 1985
(08). Stevie Wonder -- " In Square Circle" -- 1985
And now, my collection is approaching 1,000. And they are being played on a Pioneer Elite DV-37 DVD/CD Player. I'm still trying to scrape together enough pennies to get that Meridian 507 and then an SACD Player after that. If I don't ever get around to getting that Meridian, then I understand that there is always a Cambridge Audio Azur 640C or a Rotel RCD-1072.
--Charles-- |
Was yours one that loaded the CDs vertically, where you pushed a button and the tray came out to abour 45 degrees, you laid the CD in and closed the tray, kinda like a cassette? That was my first CD player, around 1985, and I loved it. Of course I was 12 and didnt know any better. I had that little guy up until midway through college when it died. |
Hello,
My first CD player was the Sony CDP-497 in 1996. And then a NAD C520. Finnally, I have now a REGA Planet 2000. |
sony cdp-501es in 1985 that i bought in japan prior to getting out of the navy. sold it in the early 90s when it started skipping. built like a tank and weighed a substantial amount as i recall. |
Year 1989, CD player: Technics SPL 333. Still working but it does not like non originals recordings. |
Mine was a Techniques $199, Best Buy special. Circa, 1988ish, it had the MASH circut that Zaikesman referred to earlier. I used it to play CD-R's until late last year until it finally took it's last breath and refused to to spit out a Miles Davis CD-R.
I can even tell you the four CD's I bought with my first player back in '88. Metallica, Aerosmith, Eagles, and ashamedly a Nugent colaberation with the guy from Lover Boy or Sticks or some such. |
Dopogue: Right you are! I didn't even remember that my first player was branded Magnavox, not Philips. And I had just read Nrchy's post! Guess I had some issues (at the time, and apparently still) thinking that my bitchin' mid-fi system had something in it made (only not really) by an old-line manufacturer of TV's... :-) |
It was a Dual. I don't remember the model number. It was terrible, but I quickly had a buyer. Then I got the Magnavox 2020, etc. |
Magnavox, My wife bought it for me for Christmas. I shook the box to try and guess what it was. Well that cracked the lazer lens and it never worked right. I still have it. I was too embarased to tell her I broke it. That was 1988 I believe. |
A Sylvania-branded 2040, which of course is really a Magnavox, which of course is really a Philips. By whatever name it was barely listenable, and yet better than others of the same vintage. Truly the Dark Ages of audio. |
Yeah, we didn't use any protection and I was really excited and came
right away. It didn't really work too well after that so I threw the thing
out. It wasn't till much later that I discovered girls. For you younger
(male, heterosexual) audiophiles who may be reading this; trust me, skip
the CD players and go right for the girls! Y'all can thank me later....
Marco |
I had the same Philips CBD-650 as Nrchy (circa '86 maybe?). Couldn't tell you much about how it sounded, as I wasn't an audiophile back then and didn't have a particularly revealing system. I do remember my brother getting an inexpensive Panasonic a few years later with the "MASH" circuit (described as '18-bit' I believe) and auditioning them both through my father's system and coming to the conclusion it sounded better than my player. I gave mine away to a friend years ago, and I don't know if he still uses it or not.
Speaking of my father, at the time he was still using his original player, the first Mission, that I believe was one of the earliest models available (bought in '83?), which for some reason I recall as having been specified as a '14-bit' machine. It had a very attractively designed, smallish but unusually solid chassis, with (I think) some heat sink fins on the rear (!), but was also trounced by my bother's Panasonic. My father couldn't hear any difference.
After the Philips I got an Adcom changer, and then my current (well, not a term that really fits them anymore) Theta separates. For some reason, I can also remember the first CD I ever got: Thomas Dolby's "The Golden Age of Wireless", which sounded so bad I think I listened to it maybe twice before getting rid of it. |
I held out for quite some time after hearing the best that CD had to offer ( Nak, ReVox, Kyocera ) in the early days. Even so, i bought a Sonographe model for next to nothing and that is the only reason that i bought it. If i remember correctly, this was really just a modified Magnavox unit. Conrad-Johnson took out the Magnavox DAC and installed their own, possibly doing a few other tweaks along the way. I think that one of my buddies is still using this unit in his bedroom system. From what he told me, it sounds better than the newer, cheap models that he's gone through. Sean
>
PS... Isn't it funny how far "perfect sound forever" has come since its' inception??? : ) |
I don't remember! My second CD player was made by Kyocera. My first CD was Peter Gabriel 'So' |
Am I the only one who got suckered into buying a Carver with a "Digital Time Lens" that was supposed to take care of all of the digitis? Taking it home and putting it in my system easily ranks as the biggest disappointment I have experienced in audio - so much so that I can't, off the top of my head, think of number two. My Pioneer direct drive TT with a Stanton 681EEE cartridge blew it away. But the saleswoman at Magnolia was so cute... |
Yep, I remember it, because I still have it. It's a DBX DX-5 single disc player. I picked it up some time in the 80's while stationed in the germany. |
I held out longer than most, listening to a Sota Sapphire/Alphason Xenon/Grado combination. But in about 1990 I realized there just wasn't any new music coming out on LP any more, and I caved.
I bought an Arcam Alpha, and it was ... well ... OK, I guess. I upgraded it with an Assemblage 2.6 DAC and it started to sound acceptable.
But, things change. I now have an Audio Note digital front end that runs with the big dogs, and I just agreed to sell that 1983 Sota, the Xenon, the Grado and a NYAL SuperIt for $500 to a new acquaintance who's just inherited a record reviewer's vinyl collection. I'm happy, he's happy, and the music quotient of the universe is increased.
Good digital rocks. 1984 Sony players rocketh not... |
Like Timo above, a Sony CDP 302MK-2, a lot of in betweens, current; CEC TL-2X / Modded Cal Alpha. |
An Hitachi which was given as a gift in early 80's. Still works perfectly today! |
The year 1989, the player, Luxman DZ111. I used it for 10 years, then it started to skip. |
I waited for a while and bought a Magnavox CBD 650. I don't even remember what happened to it, but based on the junk most of us had at first it's amazing that they caught on at all. |
I bought the first Sony CDP-101 in Columbia MO with the exception of one at the local NPR station. It was awesome, digititis and all. It's gone as it lost its internal control chip and its not worth fixing. Now its a Sony transport and a Musical Fidelity TRI-VISTA 21 DAC. What a difference! |
Mine was a Proton CD player, My first CD was the soundtrack
of Miami Vice, the best selection the record store had in the then new format. The Proton sound was very bright compared to My turntable a Dual(can't remember the model).
It broke about a year later, the company was no longer in operation so a Sony unit soon took over, then came a Technics, another Sony, Adcom and finally a Linn Ikemi. |
The news was a surprise to me when DGG announced they will digitalize all their recordings more than 20 years ago and it triggered a new era.
But I was a late converter. For the first 5 years, the sound was too bright for me to make a purchase. I waited and waited until Luxmann 105U and Ariston CD players became available. They were reasonably priced CD players can really sing at that time. Ariston was the choice in 1988 for about $650 in Taiwan. That was all allowances I saved in my undergraduate days. No other entertainment for me for the rest of my undergraduate days except playing tennis. Purchased a Carver 490T (very similar to Luxmann 105U) after I came to USA and ends up with BAT VK-D5 now. The CD library is now above 1,200. |
There are in my humble opinion no classic CD players.The 1st one I had was the Akai,the one that the door or lid opend up like a slot to put the cD in.1st CD was Stevie Wonder with the cut Part Time Lover. |
A Radio Shack 1985 model. I still use it in my kitchen with a pair of active AR speakers. |
An NAD 502(?) in 1985. Reasonably mediocre, but more listenable than most available at the time. I agree with Art Dudley, there are no classic early CD players. |
Yep! Mine was a Meridian 206B. Still have it and it is used regularly. Not as good as my vinyl front-end Platine Verdier, Allaerts MC1B and Schroeder model 2. However, still pretty musical and reliable. |
My first CD player? In 2001 I bought a used Rega Planet. Yeah I guess you could say I held out and waited a while.. |
I also purchased a Sony CDP 101 way back in 1983. However, unlike you I thought it was a quantum leap over turntables (Transcriptor Hydraulic Reference, SME 3009 and Shure V15 mk IV) and LPs. I never looked back. I also thought the CDP 101 looked great!
Now I am older and wiser (?), I have to admit, there was something magical about the old analogue sound. For instance, Dire Straits Telegraph road was simply wonerful (IMHO) on vinyl. I now have 2 CD versions, neither of which capture the fantastic sound I remember on vinyl. Is this a fact or simply old age creeping up on me? |
Mission PCM-7000. I thought I had hit digital nirvana. Problem was, digital nirvana was pretty bad at that time! Time and again, side by side comparisons with my far less expensive AR turntable showed just how much my expensive CD player was lacking.
Years later of course, digital has greatly improved. Better than the best vinyl set-up? Not yet. |
My first was a Denon DCD-1500 purchased in 1986. It's still going strong today at my friends house. Hav'nt listened to it in several years but as I remember it the sound was prettu decent for a $600 player. |
1987 JVC model who knows? But it had 4x oversampling hadn't had a real system yet so I guess ignorance is bliss sounded better than cassette tape. Digital is much better now that's for sure. |
Nakamichi OMS-1 purchased for $300 in 1988. I still have it and it works most of the time. Still sounds better than most of the mainstream junk out there. |
V1rowt8, I think you might have had the "Auto Off" function activated:-) |
