Yamaha CD-1

[Rxonmymind]

Went to a sale and there was some audio equipment I really wanted but others were faster than I. Needing a CD player for my bedroom and seeing this was one of the last equipment left I went to go pick it up one handed like all CD players. Ooof. Nope. Grabbed it by two hands and lifted. Oof. Nope. I was laughing at this point. Then I got serious and with some effort got it off the shoulder height shelf. I thought what's in here bricks?
Sat down wondering what the heck this thing was.
Yamaha first CD player! 1983 & 40lbs. Wow! 
Found an outlet hopping it worked and bam, started right up. Found the box for it too. No manual though. Wondering where he kept this box as it looks brand new!

Anyway, brought it home and the CD by Peter White titled Confidential is like nothing I heard before. Best I can describe the sound is that it plays with "authority". Bass is large,  has oomph and solidity behind it while the highs are spot on. Music was IN the room bouncing around me. 

Oddly enough the volume I had to actually turn down on the receiver.
Another interesting feature was the slide out tray on the right. I was afraid to press open as I didn't see a slot. I kept looking and looking at it and finally after five minutes cringing I pressed it. Surprise! The buttons slide out with the tray. Cool.
Excited I have their first CD player. Even if I was embarrassed trying to pick it up.

[kvndoom]

That's a beautiful piece of history you got there.  Congrats!

[Frzninvt]

That unit will still easily outperform many of today's units.  I refuse to use a DVD player to playback my redbook CD's I use a DBX DX5 and Nakamichi OMS-7AII some of the better CD players ever produced.  I did have a Yamaha CDX-1110 at one point as well a very nice CD player.  Congratulations on your awesome find.

[Rxonmymind]

13 hours ago, Frzninvt said:

That unit will still easily outperform many of today's units.  I refuse to use a DVD player to playback my redbook CD's I use a DBX DX5 and Nakamichi OMS-7AII some of the better CD players ever produced.  I did have a Yamaha CDX-1110 at one point as well a very nice CD player.  Congratulations on your awesome find.

I'm finding that out right now. It's giving cd's a "solid" sound. I've had my share if crappy cdp where the bass was poofy and without meat and pretty much unbearable to listen too. 

This is a treat. 

The exception to the rule as you state on playing a CDs on a DVD player is perhaps the Sony S7000 which has two laser lens one for DVD and the other for redbook. Pretty cool. It's been good for me. But the Yamaha is in another league. I'm duly impressed.

Just to be clear I'm not a Yamaha fan when it comes to their house sound. Had the RX V -777 receiver for about a week and didn't care for the way it sounded on my Klipsch Bell's being a little too forward and sterile. However I've been impressed with their build quality through thick & thin. 

Perhaps this CD player will be my first Yamaha gear I keep. 

Thanks for chiming in.

[Frzninvt]

Yes I would agree on their more recent amplification sounding strident with Klipsch some of there older stand alone amplifiers do not though like the M-60, M-80, MX-600, MX-800, and the beastly MX-1000U.  Enjoy that CD player.  I really like my DBX DX5 because it has built in range expansion and compression that is very useful depending how the CD was mastered.

[Audio Flynn]

Although the DACs are better in today world the engineering is all mass market. In some older players the design was meticulous to minimize jitter. Very labor intensive assembly. Separate boards for different functions (transport, clock, DAC, Op Amps, display.)

 

I had an early Integra CD player that weighed over 30 pounds. The internal shielding of separate functions was quite detailed. My long decades quest was the less jitter the more I listened to digital. I like three box Redbook CD solutions.

[Rxonmymind]

14 hours ago, Audio Flynn said:

Although the DACs are better in today world the engineering is all mass market. In some older players the design was meticulous to minimize jitter. Very labor intensive assembly. Separate boards for different functions (transport, clock, DAC, Op Amps, display.)

 

I had an early Integra CD player that weighed over 30 pounds. The internal shielding of separate functions was quite detailed. My long decades quest was the less jitter the more I listened to digital. I like three box Redbook CD solutions.

 

Very true. According to one website where the tech dismantled one of these to repair a malfunction he stated there are19 different boards in here. 

Yikes! 

Although I wasn't able to get into the guts of the system I did take the top off. Surprisingly the lid itself is 1/8" aluminum. Don't quote me on the thickness but it's pretty dang heavy & thick for just being the top cover. 

 

By fortunate circumstances I'm finding there's a synergy between this CD player and the Marantz 2500. I've said it before once the Marantz was fully restored it's in the Yamaha orbit in terms of it's musicality. 

(On the other hand my vintage Sony Str 7055 is more in Denon orbit due to its rounded musicality and it's laid-back sound)

I'm wondering if that has anything to do with what I'm hearing. This CD player represented a time before Yamaha decided to brighten the sound and make their equipment sound a little too bright, and forward sounding. 

To me.

Now for the last couple days for I've been listening to CDs in their entirety. That is rare for me to do. On occasion some of the music by the artist makes me lift my head up. 

This has certainly been enjoyable. 

[willland]

Your great Yamaha score makes me really miss my beast(42lbs) Denon DCD-3520.  

 

Bill

[Audio Flynn]

8 hours ago, Rxonmymind said:

 

Very true. According to one website where the tech dismantled one of these to repair a malfunction he stated there are19 different boards in here. 

Yikes! 

Although I wasn't able to get into the guts of the system I did take the top off. Surprisingly the lid itself is 1/8" aluminum. Don't quote me on the thickness but it's pretty dang heavy & thick for just being the top cover. 

 

By fortunate circumstances I'm finding there's a synergy between this CD player and the Marantz 2500. I've said it before once the Marantz was fully restored it's in the Yamaha orbit in terms of it's musicality. 

(On the other hand my vintage Sony Str 7055 is more in Denon orbit due to its rounded musicality and it's laid-back sound)

I'm wondering if that has anything to do with what I'm hearing. This CD player represented a time before Yamaha decided to brighten the sound and make their equipment sound a little too bright, and forward sounding. 

To me.

Now for the last couple days for I've been listening to CDs in their entirety. That is rare for me to do. On occasion some of the music by the artist makes me lift my head up. 

This has certainly been enjoyable. 

 

 

Listening to the music without losing interest in my mind is the reduction of jitter induced listener fatigue.

 

The shielding and layout was amazing in those old high end players. I infer there are separate power supplies for different functions.

[Rxonmymind]

8 hours ago, Audio Flynn said:

Listening to the music without losing interest in my mind is the reduction of jitter induced listener fatigue.

 

The shielding and layout was amazing in those old high end players. I infer there are separate power supplies for different functions.

Interesting. I'd never would have suspected jitter as a culprit. (Obviously unless they just make a crappy CD and brick it 1000%.)

But I kinda see your point. We had one of those two pound $20 Thanksgiving special DVD players in our bedroom that would make a noise/vibrate due to the spin of the platter.

Embarrassing.

I told my wife it broke. Since then I haven't replaced it until now. The Yamaha will do sound duties while the Sony 7000(dual lasers) will be spinning DVD's. Without vibrating. 

Don't know if it has dual power supplies.

Here is a pic of it stripped down. 

 

[Audio Flynn]

49 minutes ago, Rxonmymind said:

Interesting. I'd never would have suspected jitter as a culprit. (Obviously unless they just make a crappy CD and brick it 1000%.)

But I kinda see your point. We had one of those two pound $20 Thanksgiving special DVD players in our bedroom that would make a noise/vibrate due to the spin of the platter.

Embarrassing.

I told my wife it broke. Since then I haven't replaced it until now. The Yamaha will do sound duties while the Sony 7000(dual lasers) will be spinning DVD's. Without vibrating. 

Don't know if it has dual power supplies.

Here is a pic of it stripped down. 

 

 

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis8hg6b-msb-technology-link-dac-iii-d-a-converter-12168-headphone-amps-dacs

 

This is way overpriced unless it includes the outboard Monolithic Power Supply.

 

I went have been through three versions of the MSB before upgrading to the Channel Islands who used to modify MSB DACs ( I have one). Also maybe 4 transports since 2000.

 

I tend to favor Burr Brown chips. I have never came across a deal to try a DAC with a Wolfson chip.

 

For now I use AQ Dragonfly for streaming and CIA for CDs. Firmware has allot to do with CD playback but design and build quality reduces the jitter.

 

Allot of great digital to experiment with old and new!

[thebes]

Super score!

 

Got this Yammie CDX  1100u in the house. Major beast.Drawer needs a new belt, but overall nice sound. A little rolled off, probably old caps by now, but not as fatiguing as most digital.  Double power supplies on a cd player. Can't beat that.

 

Of course they were chasing after the magic of vinyl, and to my mind, imo, they are still not there.

 

[Rxonmymind]

Decided to throw in a SACD. It plays! 

Sweet! 

Martin Taylor on acoustic guitar. Georgia on my mind. 

I'm laughing this CD player is on the sweet side and non fatiguing. Been listening to my collection of CDs for an hour straight in it's entirety. A rare occurrence. 

[Frzninvt]

On ‎5‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 7:20 PM, thebes said:

Super score!

 

Got this Yammie CDX  1100u in the house. Major beast.Drawer needs a new belt, but overall nice sound. A little rolled off, probably old caps by now, but not as fatiguing as most digital.  Double power supplies on a cd player. Can't beat that.

 

Of course they were chasing after the magic of vinyl, and to my mind, imo, they are still not there.

 

One of my favorites.  I purchased one brand new in 1988 and had it for many years before going to a Denon 2910 unit.  I have since moved on to other vintage CD players.

[muel]

Aww your killin' me with nostalgia!  My Yamaha CD-500 that I bought in 86 quit reading discs after about 12 years.  I was told there was no repair by a local tech but sat on the shelf for a long time before it was a victim of Spring cleaning.   

[Islander]

On ‎5‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 4:20 PM, thebes said:

Super score!

 

Got this Yammie CDX  1100u in the house. Major beast.Drawer needs a new belt, but overall nice sound. A little rolled off, probably old caps by now, but not as fatiguing as most digital.  Double power supplies on a cd player. Can't beat that.

 

Of course they were chasing after the magic of vinyl, and to my mind, imo, they are still not there.

 

 

CDs may not be the equal of well-recorded and pressed vinyl, but very good DVDs and Blu-ray discs can meet and exceed the sound quality of LPs.