My CD player won't read CDR or CDRW

Clean your CDs before and after playing them. Although the compact disc has a much longer lifespan than does something like a cassette tape, it can be more fragile. Scratches, dust or other damage to the data side of the CD will cause many CD players to fail to read the CD or cause the CD to skip.
NomNom

This is a 20 year old thread 

On different players I have found that sometimes you just need to try it several times and maybe rotate the disc 90 degrees from how you initially insert it. If they played at one time at least you know that it is fixable and hopefully only a temporary inconvenience. Don't be afraid to pop the top and give things a good but gentle cleaning and lightly lube the drawer and pulleys. 


L

Have you cleaned the lens.

I too was not able to play certain CD-R's in my Krell 300cd.

I am however, able to play CD-R's in my Sony 9000es

Among other things, I burn CD's for a Software Company and through that experience I've learned that the color of the optical ink used to manufacture CD-R's plays heavily on the players (redbook OR ROM) ability to read them. I've had the worst luck with "blue" disks. I built a batch for Compaq Computers only to find that the CD-ROMS supplied with Pressario computers cannot read from blue ink.

Trial and error is the best method to discover what works for you and what does not. Just because a CD player claims it can read CD-R or CD-RW does not mean it can play EVERY TYPE. And likewise if a player claims that is cannot play CD-R, odds are there is a color of optical ink out there or a CD-R disk which it WILL read.

When mastering CD-R's, I always try to use the best media available and that which most closely resembles the aluminum "color" of standard redbook CD's.

The best CD-R's you can buy are manufactured by Taiyo Yuden. TY is THE original patent holder of CD-R Recordable Media Disc Technology & builds for many "big name" manufacturers (Sony, JVC, Philips, DIC, DOT, 3M, BASF, etc) so if you buy one of those companies CD-R's odds are you are getting a TY disk... and the quality of the disk is second to none.

If you burn alot of disks and can buy in quantity, the TY's are more expensive than others at about .74 cents per disk in quantities of 600 to 1000 but if longevity of the media you record and read-ability is important, it's a worth while investment.

Double check your CDRs to make sure you finalized properly.Your recorder will read and play them,but no othere payer can read them if they're not finalized.Read your instructions again.

I bought a $25 Sony portable CD player at their outlet, stuck it on top of three Vibrapods, got Radio Shacks' 1/8 to rca adapter,added some decent interconnects that were laying around, and wham!, CD-R for under $50. Now I can keep my Sony DVP-9000ES for a while. Try it, you might just like it. If not, you can always find some use for the portable.

I found that certain brands of CD-R's don't work well with high end equipment. Memorex completely sucks, TDK are very blue in color and many CD players can't read them. Maxell aren't bad. Sony CD-R's seem to be the most reliable. I thought you can't use CD-RW's for audio playback.

That's odd, my Krell 300cd--hich is very similar to the 250cd--reads both cd and cdrw without a problem. Might be the way you're closing the cd's when you burn them...

At the risk of sounding stupid, why update your CD player if it still sounds good? Isn't this a rather expensive route to go to just play a couple of CDRs? What exactly is your motivation? Are you dissatisfied with the Krell’s sound? Don't take this the wrong way this is not a slam, just curious... - Dan