Considering that the 777ES is primarily an SACD player, and yours apparently has stopped, I would say this is a major problem. I think shipping it back is the best solution. In fact, if still under warranty you might insist on a new one from Sony. They will probably refuse, but I consider this type of problem completely unacceptable for such a high quality product. Good luck. |
As a shot in the dark, you may want to get out a Q-Tip and isopropyl alcohol and attempt clean the lens. It may work and save you a real hassle in shipping.
I hope it works. |
Drubin,
I love my Sony SCD-777es !
I have experienced the same problem once in the past year.
It is caused by extreme heat resulted from extensive brake-in period playback.
Turn it off and let it cool down for an hour or so.
Also you have to make sure that the SACD transport is leveled. Stop by your local SEARS store an get an acrylic circular level (Cat # 939891).
Open the SACD player drawer and put the level on top of the gold weight of the transport and made the necessary adjustments.
I hope this helps.
Good Luck,
Frank P. |
Drubin, to my dismay, I've had the same trouble with my unit, while breaking it in. It just balked with certain SACD disks, wouldn't play them. But then I had no trouble with the CD version of the same disk. Possibly Tube guy is right in that the unit got too hot under continuous play. Haven't had the trouble since, touch wood!
Cheers, |
Thanks for you ideas, everybody. My unit is almost a year old and is fully broken in.
This morning, it seems to be playing SACDs, but the mechanical noise persists. It is both louder and more rapid at the lower-numbered tracks than towards the end of a disc. This should be a dead giveaway, I would think, to someone who knows how these things work. The noise is not present with redbook CDs nor with the CD layer of dual-layer discs. |
Drubin,
Did you tried what I recommended you(level transport & Shut it off for a while) ?
Be patient !
I felt the same when I first heard that mechanical noise.
I forgot to mention you that it is good to unplug the unit from the AC.
Good Luck !
Frank P. |
Yes, I powered down for two hours, re-leveled, and still have the clicking sound. |
I will echo my own response. Send it back to Sony. The player should be able to play 24/7 with no problems. :-) |
I agree, and that's what I'll do. Just hoping there was an easier solution. |
Drubin, I had a similiar issue with my SCD-1. It player for a while and then the signal stopped. The counter kept going as if it was tracking, just no signal. It tended to be intermittent so it was hard to figure. I first tried to clean the spindle but no luck. I finally sent it out and it turned out to be one of the motors. I had it replaced and all is right with the world again. I had Richard Kerns at Audiomod in Portland do my work. He turned it around in a week vs Sony and months. My warrents was voided when I had Richard modify my unit earlier, so I was reluctant to have Sony in there anyway. I might suggest you talk with him and maybe concider one of the modifications he offers, I promise you will not be unhappy with the results. You'll have a player you only prayed was avalible. Write me if you have any questions. J.D. |
I have the same problem with my 10 months old 777ES. A while ago it began stopping and resuming to play after a couple of seconds in SACD mode. As of yesterday it refuses to play SACD all together. Sometimes it says NO DISC and sometimes it reads the TOC, starts to play and then stops and says NO DISC. I also noticed on rare ocasions short pauses in the "red book" mode. Is this happening to you guys too? On another note, a friend of mine made a copy of couple of CDs for me. The CDs play fine in my car and in my portable CD player. The 777ES completely refuses to even acknowledge them. Is this common? These are the only two "copies" of CDs I have ever had (out of about 1200 total). By the way, all my CDs are clean and have no scratches for those who think I should clean them and give the 777ES another try. |
Interesting! With SACD I get the NO DISC message and also a hang in TOC read mode. I also get a lot of skipping with redbook CDs, a problem I never had with my Levinson or the two JVC CDPs I had before. However, I have had no trouble reading the few CDRs I've tried.
JD, just in case this turns out to be a major problem (not likely, but who knows), I think I should let Sony handle it under warranty. But I sure hope it doesn't take several months! |
Drubin, your problem is one that fortunately I have not yet had but that all of us who have had our Sony players modified live in fear of, I guess. JD, thanks for the tip on Richard Kern, and good to see you back. |
Olesno, this sounds very similiar to my problem. It was not the spindle motor but rather the transport motor on my machine. The early Sony SACD spindle motors had problems I was told, but mine was the other.
Drubin, I agree, if your still under warrenty just send it in. When I sent my player in I went to an Audio store "Audio King" who has a 30 day return poilocy and they suggested I try a player and bring it back before 30 days. Very cool! I tried the 9000... not impressed.
Rcprince, thank-you. |
Jadem6, how nice to have you back! All these reports give me the jitters and I keep on touching wood. So far the thing is working and slowly breaking in. The Audience mod is truly amazing. |
Thanks Detlof, it's great to feel so welcome. Yes it does give a scare but I figure I have over 4000 hours on my machine (givin burn in and play time) so I'm not complaining. The sound quality is so good that for me it's worth the problem I had. I sould say that is the only problem I've had, knocking on wood, and this player has been more reliable than any I've owned in the past. I was happy to see you got the Audience Mod too. Amazing is only the half of it! |
My unit is with Sony. Three weeks, they say. I will report back. -Dan |
Got the unit back yesterday, less than 4 weeks after I shipped it off. Not too bad. Paperwork is skimpy, but indicates they replaced a motor. Seems to be working just fine. No charge, of course.
Interestingly, I shipped it to Sony in Fremont, California. It was returned (UPS overnight) from Sony in Westwood, Mass. Like that garment bag of mine that once went from San Francisco to London by way of Bangkok. |
Good report Drubin, thanks for the follow-up |
These messages are very old! Has anyone experienced the "NO DISC" problem on the SCD777ES recently? I was so happy to have gotten a used machine on AudiogoN auction, but after a week, it started to randomly refuse to play CD's and SACD's after reading TOC. Sometimes it would wait for a long time before it started playing a track. Other times it would stop playing in the middle of a track. This morning it stopped working altogether - displaying "NO DISC" on every disc I inserted. The serial number is 800134, if it helps anything. |
Looks like you've got the same problem as noted above. In my case, it finally started happening, but a simple cleaning of the mechanism (which I had done at the same time as some upgrades from Richard Kern) fixed the problem for me. Others have not been so lucky, some requiring replacement of the sled motor or other repairs involving the laser mechanism. Check the archives, there's a lot of threads about this problem, both here and at Audio Asylum. |
Has Sony ever issued a statement regarding the serial numbers of the units affected, sort of like a re-call. I've had no problems with my SCD777ES at all and I've logged plenty of hours on it and love it. I'm running through a MicIntosh C2200 preamp and a McIntosh 2102 amp. The tubes really give the Sony a velvety feel, and I never use the filters I leave it on standard. |
NOW I am having a problem with my scd 1. "No Disc" diplays on the lcd panel even when you just put in a disc. Sometimes it works and sometimes not! It takes along while for the player to read the disc if it does work and now there is a skipping specially on the sacd. When you skip a track to the next one, it does the same thing.It seems that this is an issue with this players. I guess mine would need to be shipped out to sony service center at this point. |
Does anyone know which Sony service center has expertise in the repair of the SCD-1 / SCD-777ES series? I realize these units are outside of 10 yrs old but they are flagship products and at 55 lbs, full of outstanding electronic craftsmanship. I'm pleased with the sound, just want some reliability.
My prob is not the laser assembly, if it were that, my understanding is, I'd be out-of-luck. It appears to be an electronic component issue, so hoping it can be reliably repaired.
In other words...HELP! |
Laredo TX seems to be the main repair facility. Go onto the SONY website and they will send you a mailing slip. I had my SCD-1 serviced about 2 years ago but it took 2 trips to Laredo before they addressed the issue (non-playing CDs). They also updated the software. Good luck, Randy |
