Hello,
After fixing a couple CD players recently for my old man, my first ones, I think I got the virus... I am starting to like fixing these things, can even feel the urge to buy half the old dirt cheap broken CD players I find for sale.... not good...
First one was an old Philips swing arm 6 disc cassette changer. Next was a modern (year 2000) junk all in one compact stereo system. Fixed the built-in 3 disc carousel changer in it. Was a pain, horrible design to work on, brrr...
Old man said he wanted a changer to put with his Cambridge stand alone amp he was given. So, I bought a few, half a dozen old broken CD changers last monday, because there was a discount on shipping up to that day. 2 Euros flat rate for shipping. So I searched for all the decent looking broken dirt cheap vintage CD changers... bought 6 of them.
Then I asked the old man if he preferred a 5 disc carousel of a 6 disc cassette, or a 100 CD juke box.... to which he replied :
- " Changed my mind I don't want a big changer any more, 2 or 3 discs is enough. I also do'nt want an old player, I prefer a sophisticated top quality modern expensive unit ".
Didn't know there was such a thing as modern top quality sophisticated Audio CD player... this sentence seems to contradict itself eh ?
Or is there really top quality audio Cd players in 2021 ? Did some manufacturers decided to go that route ? Are they really that much better than the old 80's/ early '90's Philips transports and DACs ? Can a human hear even hear the difference ? Hmmm....
Anyway, OK, thanks dad, so now what do I do with my players ?! Grrr...
"luckily" half of them I won't even get, because the sellers said they refused to bother shipping them given the very low price of the player (I will be refunded eventually)... even though the website stated they would ship. Apparently the "will ship" icon shows up on people's ads regardless of their consent ! Not cool.
So I think I will in the end receive 3 changers in all, if I get the count right.
The first one I already received today ! Seller was extremely quick to send it and transporter unusually lightning quick as well, quite baffled.
So here it is !
Cost only 3 Euros, plus the discounted shipping at 2 Euros, so 5 Euros delivered, I am broke now
Let's fix it ! My third CD player repair.. let's see if I learned from my first 2 repairs... how long will it take me to diagnose and fix that one...
So, it's a Sony model CDP C305. It's a 5 disc carousel changer, marketed in 1990 it seems, from what I can find.
Even though it weighs bugger all, it doesn't feel flimsy at all, quite sturdy, and the carousel mechanism sounds "refined", and quiet. Nice VFD display on the right side. Overall I quite like it.
Popped the hood. First thing that got my attention was the transport : it is tilted downward, it's hinged. Usually it would be mounted horizontally and be lifted up, to clamp the disc... but here looks like it's hinged and rotates. Quite original I found ?
Symptoms : sellers said that it won't reads discs.
After a quick test, I found :
- The drawer won't open or close when I press the button on the front panel. I can't hear any motor / mechanical noise either, so presumably it's an electrical problem, either motor is dead, or its driver.
- If I place a CD on the carousel anyway, the player will do what it usually does : rotate the carousel 5 times, trying to read the discs. It fails to read the disc I put in it, so it just goes to the next slot and so on. Just like my previous CD player repair. Then of course one it has checked all 5 slots, it displays "No disc" on the VFD.
So that's what I have got !
I don't see it trying to spin the disc at all, not even a little bit. Also, I can't see the laser turning on. I do however see the lens moving up and down once, full span, it's blatant.
It it needs a need pick-up, then luckily it's still available and is cheap as often. 10 dollars shipped from china on Ebay, but of course as always... 1 to 3 months for shipping !
Could not find any ad in Europe for fast shipping sadly. So no choice but wait for months
The pick-up is easy to identify.. the label on it is readily visible as soon as you open the hood. It's a KSS 240A. Apparently also used on " Denon " Branded players, if I believe the ads on Ebay.
OK so let's try to fix this thing !
Luckily there is a nice, well done 23 page service manual for it :
https://elektrotanya.com/sony_cdp-c35_cdp-c201_cdp-c205_cdp-c305.pdf/download.htmlSo I guess first thing to do is remove the platter / drawer to get access to the transport and electronics underneath, so I can start checking things out...