[jilgiljongiljing]

So I went grocery shopping yesterday and Goodwill store happens to be right next to it. So I figured I'd go in and see if I can find a cheap record player I can use for cleaning/vacuuming records since I dont have an RCM.

Unfortunately the one Magnavox LP player they had was not around, but I was looking around just to see what else was there and I found a few DVD players and a few Sony 5 cd changers. And on top of these was a nice looking JVC player.

This looked to be in good condition, no scratches, the display was clean, there was a little bit of dust but it looked like it was handled and treated well. The model number was JVC XL-Z444. It has stereo RCA outputs and one Coaxial output. I had to wait 15 minutes to checkout, but eventually got home and nervously tried the power button and cd mechanism. Yaaay! It worked! I proceeded to wipe the player clean and use compressed air to clean it and man it looks great, its in excellent shape.

Pity it didnt come with the remote, but I had a Logitech Universal remote whose software picked up the player instantly and I had no trouble.

Connecting the player to my main rig gave a warm clean nice sound. I was immediately struck by the blackness of the background and how instruments appeared from nowhere. But this was at a slight cost of decay, which was very quick and reverb on vocals and percussion instruments sounded a bit quick to fall off. Details are also not immediate and clear and feel slightly laid back. But otherwise, the sound is very clean, bass is not boomy at all, and th-e overall sound isnt harsh, its smooth, clean and round. Not bad at all.

The back of the player says 1988, Made in Tokyo, Japan. I am quite surprised that a 20 year old player sounded this decent and physically felt good. The tray mechanism is solid, the buttons have a great feel to them, and overall it feels well put together. Oh and it managed to read scratched cd's and play CDR's as well.

I bought it for 15$. The price of a cd nowadays. I am quite thrilled really. My only worries are obviously how long it will last, and whats likely to fail first and if its even worth setting right. Any info on this player is much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[NightOwl]

obobskivich has/had one of those. You may want to ask him.

 

[soundboy]

I got this Technics off of ebay about 2 weeks ago. It certainly works but I have yet to give it a serious audition....

You can actually see the CD spinning from above the disc drawer.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

The likely failure point is the laser system....once it goes there is no way to fix it since the transport has been phased out ages ago...that being said if it had light use it should last quite a while. It would be worth pulling the cover to see if the caps are still ok, if not a recap may breath some much needed life back in to it. The shortcomings you speak of are tied to the poor clocks used in these CDP's...a clock swap and psu would make a big difference with it (in conjunction with the recap/PSU rebuild)...That is if you want to sink any money into it...call it a learning experience

Do you know what scheme it uses ? 1 bit MASH ...16 bit Sigma Delta ? What is the actual model number ...you'll be able to find out more looking that up using your fav web crawler.

Good score for 15 bucks....

Peete.

 

[iriverdude]

yup can't see the point of vintage CDP's, mech go back and DAC's have improved considerbly. If you've got a half decent decent a new CDP will trounce vintage CDP's. Rather have a Rega Jupiter, if they improved isolation on the mech.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Can you get me a working Rega cdp for 15 bucks dude? Heck even a broken one would do. This was never meant to be a comparison of a "decent" modern cdp and vintage cdp. And I'd rather have a 2000$ player as well, but I got one for less than 1/100th the price, even mentioning that on this thread is just plain ridiculous.

Pricklely Peete, thanks, I'll look it up and post some updates. looks like soundboy got a solid lookin player as well. But I am very cautious about used electronics from ebay, somehow never have the courage to trust it based on a few pictures, especially vintage electronics.

 

[iriverdude]

yeah but could have bought a new CDP for £50, with year warranty and better sound quality than a vintage CDP. And will play CD-R's.

Somehow doubt you're so hardup looking at your signature. oh I do have a CDP but it's not as ancient from the 80's era.

 

[steviebee]

A very nice find & mini review, jilgiljongiljing.

And how does the Technics rate, soundboy?

As for vintage v modern....aint generalising, but my old Sony Discmen wipe the floor sonically with the modern equivalent I also have.

 

[soundboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by steviebee /img/forum/go_quote.gif And how does the Technics rate, soundboy?

I still haven't had the time to sit down and really listen to the Technics. I will update everyone once I get a chance.

As for the vintage vs. modern angle, it was never my intention to get a vintage CD player to get the maximum performance. In fact, I am even considering getting a new Onkyo DX7555 CD player as my reference. Still, for $50.00, I got something that's a conversation piece and it was certainly something I wanted when I was growing up but can never afford.

 

[steviebee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif it was certainly something I wanted when I was growing up but can never afford.

Nice when that happens - joys of adulthood eh?

 

[Uncle Erik]

Congrats on the vintage find! More people really should put the old stuff to use - it's almost always listenable, if not quite good. Prices tend toward the extremely favorable, too.

As for service, I'd do a few things. First, pop the top and clean the laser pickup. They get a buildup of dust over the years. Blow out all the dust bunnies/crap, too. Then I'd lubricate the moving parts. You might want to do a little investigation into what kind of lubricant it used, that could be oil, silicone, possibly a dry one like graphite. Next, I would at least replace the filter capacitors in the power supply. Those wear out eventually, but are usually easy and inexpensive to replace.

I wouldn't monkey too much with modifications, either. A good cleaning, lubrication and new power supply caps shouldn't run more than $10-$20 (assuming you DIY) and you might get another 20 years out of it. Maybe it'll even appreciate - you never know.

 

[soundboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by steviebee /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice when that happens - joys of adulthood eh?

Hehe....but there are also stuff that I want now that I am an adult, but can never afford. Maybe when I win the lottery....

 

[mark_h]

Some of the best chips were made over 15 years ago, same goes for the transports. The XL-Z555 used 2 x PCM56P - SM5807EP - YM3613B.

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iriverdude /img/forum/go_quote.gif yeah but could have bought a new CDP for £50, with year warranty and better sound quality than a vintage CDP. And will play CD-R's.

Disagree with you there. You need to get out to more junk shops

and listen to some vintage CDPs.

I don't know about the JVCs but anything from the 80s with an early Philips mechanism and multibit chipset takes some beating.

Unless you spend over 10K on a Teac VRDS transport, you'll find it hard today to get anything that comes close to the old Philips CDM-1 swing arm mech. This technology in consumer level machines has gone downhill steadily since the 1990s and todays multi purpose DVD-ROM transports are no match for 80s technology in respect of build quality, they just get around it upstream with better error correction.

Chipset technology now seems more to do with fashion cycles than anything else with the latest NOS Dacs using vintage Philips multibit chipsets, again 80s technology.

In absolute terms modern players can sound more detailed as many aspects like clocks which you mention have improved but old players still have a lot to offer if you can find a servicable one. I still have a 25 year old Marantz CD 63 in my main system which has a very musically satisfying sound even though it's using a TDA1540 14bit chipset. In terms of bass it kicks my 3 year old Pioneer multiplayer into the weeds.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Actually, I tried the player out again yesterday and listened to Donald Fagen - The Nightfly and Steely Dan - Aja and I must say I am very impressed with how it sounded on both those albums. Very clean, precise and neat. I will try and look inside this weekend and see how good things look on the inside.