Hello,

I thought I'd ask here before converting my CD player into an inverse
AIRFIX lifesize model.

My about 10 y.o. SONY har recently begun misbehaving, with progressively
worse skipping primarily when playing newish (Audio) CDs, the first
three (innermost) tracks mostly affected.

Last week I opened the cabinet for the first time since it was
assembled, discovering a very clean inside, with whitish grease still
neatly lubricating the interacting surfaces of the disk transport
mechanism. Only sign indicating use was on the inside of the cover above
the transformator, where a light deposit could be wiped off. I cleaned
the laser disk gently with ethanol, but found nothing else I obviously
could do anything with. Subjectively, I imagine a slight improvement in
the clarity of music played post-cleaning (but this may be a
placebo-like effect).

The skipping continued as before. Today I consulted a local SONY shop,
who informed they'd be happy to take it in and look at it (£42). If they
could do anything to it they would charge per hour (£36) spent fiddling
with it. If they decided they could do nothing with, it they would
generously deduct the "staring fee" against the purchase price of a new
unit from them. Needless to say, I left immediately.

Does anyone recognise this behaviour as signs of increasing misalignment
(or other correctable deviations from normalty) ?

If this is the case, can anyone recommend an independent workshop which
might adjust the player?

Or alternatively, does anyone know whether this may be done DIY-wise;
thus instructions of how to do it would be very much appreciated (very
often, specialist servicing jobs are surprisingly simple!).

Thanks for any input!

(And whilst typing the above, I've listened to one of my favourite
recordings, purchased the same year as the player - without any
skipping)

Cheers,

--
T Sandvik // to send e-mail, remove clothes

My about 10 y.o. SONY har recently begun misbehaving, with progressively
worse skipping primarily when playing newish (Audio) CDs, the first
three (innermost) tracks mostly affected.

Last week I opened the cabinet for the first time since it was
assembled, discovering a very clean inside, with whitish grease still
neatly lubricating the interacting surfaces of the disk transport
mechanism. Only sign indicating use was on the inside of the cover above
the transformator, where a light deposit could be wiped off. I cleaned
the laser disk gently with ethanol, but found nothing else I obviously
could do anything with. Subjectively, I imagine a slight improvement in
the clarity of music played post-cleaning (but this may be a
placebo-like effect).


Make sure all sliding parts aren't sticking at the end of their range.
And make sure any rubber belts are clean and grease-free. Apart from
that, there's not much you can do without technical skills and
equipment. And if you had those, you wouldn't be asking here :-)

Is it a particularly wonderful player? The current sub-£100 Sonys are
really very good.

My about 10 y.o. SONY har recently begun misbehaving, with progressively
worse skipping primarily when playing newish (Audio) CDs, the first
three (innermost) tracks mostly affected.

Last week I opened the cabinet for the first time since it was
assembled, discovering a very clean inside, with whitish grease still
neatly lubricating the interacting surfaces of the disk transport
mechanism. Only sign indicating use was on the inside of the cover above
the transformator, where a light deposit could be wiped off. I cleaned
the laser disk gently with ethanol, but found nothing else I obviously
could do anything with. Subjectively, I imagine a slight improvement in
the clarity of music played post-cleaning (but this may be a
placebo-like effect).


Make sure all sliding parts aren't sticking at the end of their range.
And make sure any rubber belts are clean and grease-free. Apart from
that, there's not much you can do without technical skills and
equipment. And if you had those, you wouldn't be asking here :-)

Is it a particularly wonderful player? The current sub-£100 Sonys are
really very good.

"ts" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I thought I'd ask here before converting my CD player into an inverse
AIRFIX lifesize model.

My about 10 y.o. SONY har recently begun misbehaving, with progressively
worse skipping primarily when playing newish (Audio) CDs, the first
three (innermost) tracks mostly affected.

Last week I opened the cabinet for the first time since it was
assembled, discovering a very clean inside, with whitish grease still
neatly lubricating the interacting surfaces of the disk transport
mechanism. Only sign indicating use was on the inside of the cover above
the transformator, where a light deposit could be wiped off. I cleaned
the laser disk gently with ethanol, but found nothing else I obviously
could do anything with. Subjectively, I imagine a slight improvement in
the clarity of music played post-cleaning (but this may be a
placebo-like effect).

The skipping continued as before. Today I consulted a local SONY shop,
who informed they'd be happy to take it in and look at it (£42). If they
could do anything to it they would charge per hour (£36) spent fiddling
with it. If they decided they could do nothing with, it they would
generously deduct the "staring fee" against the purchase price of a new
unit from them. Needless to say, I left immediately.


???? Seems reasonable enough to me....???


Does anyone recognise this behaviour as signs of increasing misalignment
(or other correctable deviations from normalty) ?

If this is the case, can anyone recommend an independent workshop which
might adjust the player?


They'll just charge the same sort of money without being able to offer a
deduction from the price of a replacement player, if necessary. (Even
repairmen and their families gotta eat occasionally......)

I think the clue is in the question. with the word 'skip' being the main
operator...... ;-)

With perfectly respectable little CD/R/RW/DVD-V/MP3 players costing as
little as £45 these days I can't see the point of getting the cheaper CDPS
even looked at if they go on the fritz (and you can't fix it with a laser
cleaning exercise).

Only my 2p....

"ts" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I thought I'd ask here before converting my CD player into an inverse
AIRFIX lifesize model.

My about 10 y.o. SONY har recently begun misbehaving, with progressively
worse skipping primarily when playing newish (Audio) CDs, the first
three (innermost) tracks mostly affected.

Last week I opened the cabinet for the first time since it was
assembled, discovering a very clean inside, with whitish grease still
neatly lubricating the interacting surfaces of the disk transport
mechanism. Only sign indicating use was on the inside of the cover above
the transformator, where a light deposit could be wiped off. I cleaned
the laser disk gently with ethanol, but found nothing else I obviously
could do anything with. Subjectively, I imagine a slight improvement in
the clarity of music played post-cleaning (but this may be a
placebo-like effect).

The skipping continued as before. Today I consulted a local SONY shop,
who informed they'd be happy to take it in and look at it (£42). If they
could do anything to it they would charge per hour (£36) spent fiddling
with it. If they decided they could do nothing with, it they would
generously deduct the "staring fee" against the purchase price of a new
unit from them. Needless to say, I left immediately.


???? Seems reasonable enough to me....???


Does anyone recognise this behaviour as signs of increasing misalignment
(or other correctable deviations from normalty) ?

If this is the case, can anyone recommend an independent workshop which
might adjust the player?


They'll just charge the same sort of money without being able to offer a
deduction from the price of a replacement player, if necessary. (Even
repairmen and their families gotta eat occasionally......)

I think the clue is in the question. with the word 'skip' being the main
operator...... ;-)

With perfectly respectable little CD/R/RW/DVD-V/MP3 players costing as
little as £45 these days I can't see the point of getting the cheaper CDPS
even looked at if they go on the fritz (and you can't fix it with a laser
cleaning exercise).

Only my 2p....

"ts" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I thought I'd ask here before converting my CD player into an inverse
AIRFIX lifesize model.

My about 10 y.o. SONY har recently begun misbehaving, with progressively
worse skipping primarily when playing newish (Audio) CDs, the first
three (innermost) tracks mostly affected.

Last week I opened the cabinet for the first time since it was
assembled, discovering a very clean inside, with whitish grease still
neatly lubricating the interacting surfaces of the disk transport
mechanism. Only sign indicating use was on the inside of the cover above
the transformator, where a light deposit could be wiped off. I cleaned
the laser disk gently with ethanol, but found nothing else I obviously
could do anything with. Subjectively, I imagine a slight improvement in
the clarity of music played post-cleaning (but this may be a
placebo-like effect).

The skipping continued as before. Today I consulted a local SONY shop,
who informed they'd be happy to take it in and look at it (£42). If they
could do anything to it they would charge per hour (£36) spent fiddling
with it. If they decided they could do nothing with, it they would
generously deduct the "staring fee" against the purchase price of a new
unit from them. Needless to say, I left immediately.

Does anyone recognise this behaviour as signs of increasing misalignment
(or other correctable deviations from normalty) ?

If this is the case, can anyone recommend an independent workshop which
might adjust the player?

Or alternatively, does anyone know whether this may be done DIY-wise;
thus instructions of how to do it would be very much appreciated (very
often, specialist servicing jobs are surprisingly simple!).

Thanks for any input!

(And whilst typing the above, I've listened to one of my favourite
recordings, purchased the same year as the player - without any
skipping)

Cheers,

--
T Sandvik // to send e-mail, remove clothes


It will be the laser dying - in fact if yours has lasted 10 years with
reasonable usage it hasn't done too badly. Most people don't realise that
the laser has a limited life.

As someone else says, some of the modern cheapies, such as bottom end Sony
or Philips, really are very good. Have a looker at www.richersounds.co.uk or
visit your nearest branch. They currently do three Philips machines for
under £100 or a Marantz for £120 (Marantz is basically Philips with improved
electronics.)

Unless you are desperate for a single unit and DVD don't (yet) replace it
with a DVD player - in general their audio quality from CDs still leaves a
lot to be desired.

--
Woody

"ts" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I thought I'd ask here before converting my CD player into an inverse
AIRFIX lifesize model.

My about 10 y.o. SONY har recently begun misbehaving, with progressively
worse skipping primarily when playing newish (Audio) CDs, the first
three (innermost) tracks mostly affected.

Last week I opened the cabinet for the first time since it was
assembled, discovering a very clean inside, with whitish grease still
neatly lubricating the interacting surfaces of the disk transport
mechanism. Only sign indicating use was on the inside of the cover above
the transformator, where a light deposit could be wiped off. I cleaned
the laser disk gently with ethanol, but found nothing else I obviously
could do anything with. Subjectively, I imagine a slight improvement in
the clarity of music played post-cleaning (but this may be a
placebo-like effect).

The skipping continued as before. Today I consulted a local SONY shop,
who informed they'd be happy to take it in and look at it (£42). If they
could do anything to it they would charge per hour (£36) spent fiddling
with it. If they decided they could do nothing with, it they would
generously deduct the "staring fee" against the purchase price of a new
unit from them. Needless to say, I left immediately.

Does anyone recognise this behaviour as signs of increasing misalignment
(or other correctable deviations from normalty) ?

If this is the case, can anyone recommend an independent workshop which
might adjust the player?

Or alternatively, does anyone know whether this may be done DIY-wise;
thus instructions of how to do it would be very much appreciated (very
often, specialist servicing jobs are surprisingly simple!).

Thanks for any input!

(And whilst typing the above, I've listened to one of my favourite
recordings, purchased the same year as the player - without any
skipping)

Cheers,

--
T Sandvik // to send e-mail, remove clothes


It will be the laser dying - in fact if yours has lasted 10 years with
reasonable usage it hasn't done too badly. Most people don't realise that
the laser has a limited life.

As someone else says, some of the modern cheapies, such as bottom end Sony
or Philips, really are very good. Have a looker at www.richersounds.co.uk or
visit your nearest branch. They currently do three Philips machines for
under £100 or a Marantz for £120 (Marantz is basically Philips with improved
electronics.)

Unless you are desperate for a single unit and DVD don't (yet) replace it
with a DVD player - in general their audio quality from CDs still leaves a
lot to be desired.

--
Woody

ts wrote:

Hello,

I thought I'd ask here before converting my CD player into an inverse
AIRFIX lifesize model.

My about 10 y.o. SONY har recently begun misbehaving, with progressively
worse skipping primarily when playing newish (Audio) CDs, the first
three (innermost) tracks mostly affected.

Last week I opened the cabinet for the first time since it was
assembled, discovering a very clean inside, with whitish grease still
neatly lubricating the interacting surfaces of the disk transport
mechanism. Only sign indicating use was on the inside of the cover above
the transformator, where a light deposit could be wiped off. I cleaned
the laser disk gently with ethanol, but found nothing else I obviously
could do anything with. Subjectively, I imagine a slight improvement in
the clarity of music played post-cleaning (but this may be a
placebo-like effect).

The skipping continued as before. Today I consulted a local SONY shop,
who informed they'd be happy to take it in and look at it (£42). If they
could do anything to it they would charge per hour (£36) spent fiddling
with it. If they decided they could do nothing with, it they would
generously deduct the "staring fee" against the purchase price of a new
unit from them. Needless to say, I left immediately.

Does anyone recognise this behaviour as signs of increasing misalignment
(or other correctable deviations from normalty) ?

If this is the case, can anyone recommend an independent workshop which
might adjust the player?

Or alternatively, does anyone know whether this may be done DIY-wise;
thus instructions of how to do it would be very much appreciated (very
often, specialist servicing jobs are surprisingly simple!).


There are some websites with details of adjusting CD players.
You need an oscilloscope, a DVM and plenty of time.
As an exercise, it will be amusing.

I found a CD player whose lens had fallen off and realigned it.
If I costed my time, I could have bought a nice, new, non-Sony one. :-)


When did Sony stop making CD players that cause headaches?
It must have been about ten years ago.

Roger.

ts wrote:

Hello,

I thought I'd ask here before converting my CD player into an inverse
AIRFIX lifesize model.

My about 10 y.o. SONY har recently begun misbehaving, with progressively
worse skipping primarily when playing newish (Audio) CDs, the first
three (innermost) tracks mostly affected.

Last week I opened the cabinet for the first time since it was
assembled, discovering a very clean inside, with whitish grease still
neatly lubricating the interacting surfaces of the disk transport
mechanism. Only sign indicating use was on the inside of the cover above
the transformator, where a light deposit could be wiped off. I cleaned
the laser disk gently with ethanol, but found nothing else I obviously
could do anything with. Subjectively, I imagine a slight improvement in
the clarity of music played post-cleaning (but this may be a
placebo-like effect).

The skipping continued as before. Today I consulted a local SONY shop,
who informed they'd be happy to take it in and look at it (£42). If they
could do anything to it they would charge per hour (£36) spent fiddling
with it. If they decided they could do nothing with, it they would
generously deduct the "staring fee" against the purchase price of a new
unit from them. Needless to say, I left immediately.

Does anyone recognise this behaviour as signs of increasing misalignment
(or other correctable deviations from normalty) ?

If this is the case, can anyone recommend an independent workshop which
might adjust the player?

Or alternatively, does anyone know whether this may be done DIY-wise;
thus instructions of how to do it would be very much appreciated (very
often, specialist servicing jobs are surprisingly simple!).


There are some websites with details of adjusting CD players.
You need an oscilloscope, a DVM and plenty of time.
As an exercise, it will be amusing.

I found a CD player whose lens had fallen off and realigned it.
If I costed my time, I could have bought a nice, new, non-Sony one. :-)


When did Sony stop making CD players that cause headaches?
It must have been about ten years ago.

Roger.

it sounds like the CD Player doesnt like the 'copy protected' CDs they now
sell.