How often does it skip? I had a Technics CD changer skip occasionally for no apparent reason. I think the laser was just fucked. I tried cleaning it and it didn't make a difference. Unfortunately the lasers won't last forever even if you take good care of them.
BudgetAudiophile
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Thanks for answering! When it skips it's usually unplayable. This morning I've had a CD (as far as I could see in good condition) that did not play at all. It barely indexed and did not start. Others skip every few seconds and sometimes it even gets less after a few minutes. Also the skipping isn't always at the same moment.
Apart from those it plays most CD's flawlessly. It indexes really fast, also playing starts fast and so is changing to random tracks. That's what I thought was kinda weird about it.
Sorry to tell you but that sounds like a dying laser. If you're determined to hold on to it you might be able to find an electronics repair shop that might fix it. It would probably involve swapping in a working laser. Honestly it would be cheaper to replace the unit. Those older players aren't very reliable after all these years. They are beautiful though.
Was affraid of that. Affraid being a big word. I really fell for the look of this player and / or players from that era knowing age could be a problem. I can pick up a replacement laser for this unit for 36 Euro's while the unit itself cost me around 60 Euro's. I have put some love into it already and this might be a sunken cost fallacy thing but you can't put a price on love ;)
Don't know what the experiences are with swapping lasers but I'll look around. Buying something else from this era might just result in the same or different problems anyway. I really can't see anything modern I like. I can even hate a beautiful machine for the font used on the buttons ;)
If you have the technical knowledge to replace the laser it might be worth it. It's a beautiful machine. I don't think it's that difficult. I've seen videos of people doing it before. Just make sure to do some research before attempting. I have a vintage Sony player that has the same problem as yours I've been meaning to fix as well. I'll let you know how that goes if I ever get around to it. My main player right now is a Denon DVD-1930CI DVD/SACD player. It's from 2008 and has held up so far.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I will look into it. I just have a small stack of CD's I can't play so I'll manage for now. 2008 is like brand new haha. Sony's look great so good luck!
Thanks! You as well.