My wonderful cdp is playing up. Oh lord, why oh why? It was totally rebuilt and checked out by my guy Ray in Holland. It was playing and sounding marvelous and then a few days ago started skipping. Doesn't seem to matter what cd's. Sometimes it plays right the way thru and other times it spits and misses notes, whole passages. Can't be the laser because the read-out stays steady the whole time. Ray is both upset and puzzled. He thinks it might be a bad solder joint on a voltage reg. I can't test for this or see anything. I might have to send it back :( Before I get to that extreem, anyone have any other ideas?
I have had some strange experiences with Japanese sourced CD players with those symptoms. By treating the loading belt with a rubber conditioner, often skipping symptoms disappear. I have no rational explanation for how or why this worked. I usually felt ridiculous even attempting it in front of a customer, but it had such a high success rate that it justified the attempt.
If you have any head cleaning kits remaining form your days with cassettes or R to R's, you probably have a rubber conditioner. It was the same stuff you'd use to clean a pinch roller.
Sound similar to the problem I have with my Mensa-mod Art Di/o, which is hyper sensitive to incoming voltage fluctuations. Any little change such as noise from a switch being turned on or off, or an appliance cycling on will cause the DAC to hiccup. When I flip the switched on or off on my VPI HW-16.6 RCM is causes a fraction of a second dead spot in the Di/o output. So I can see how a bad regulator connection might cause similar problems. Unfortunately, I can't be of much help in saying how to fix it because my problem is infrequent enough that I have never really taken the time to address it. I would think that something like a PS Audio Power Plant would isolate the noise and solve the problem, but I have never tried it to find out. (Of course if I was willing to put out the kind of money they get for the Power Plants I would probably just buy a new DAC instead). But just from a curiosity standpoint try to be aware of what is going on around you when the problem occurs. Over time you might seem to sense some kind of pattern that could lead you to a solution.
Thanks. I live in a very minimalisitic setting and there's nothing much to have an influence on the in-coming power. I will check out the rubber loading belt but I'm dubious. I am pretty sure it's a cold solder joint or one of the power regulators is not well. The odd thing is that sometimes it will play a whole cd all the way thru and at other times skip and spit constantly. Very weird. I fear I will have to send it yet again to be checked. I reckon I have spent as much on shipping as on the modding , over the years.
Shep I'm sure you did the obvious and cleaned the laser. Even a tiny eyelash hair will drive ya nuts. I had a similar issue with my CDP recently after changing the laser. Couldn't figure it out for a while. Hope it is that simple. Good luck.
charles
SMA