from Russ (quote only brought up the last line?)
The reason I said it was a non-issue is because I actually took mine apart, and examined it. Mine, at least, has plenty of white lubricant, and none of it has dried up. Are you sure the lubricant in yours is dry?
runs much quieter, bottom plate is cooler, and most never skips since the lube job.
I had the opportunity to do some comparison listening today. One of my students brought in his Grado SR-80 and Headroom Airhead (new battery) plus some of his CDs. I brought in the D-25S, my MDR-F1, and some of my CDs. (I have a V-6 also, but left it at home 'cause I can't listen to it anymore.) The D-25S was powered by the RS 1.5mA adapter. We sampled a wide range of music. Both phones were well-broken-in.
We really couldn't find much distinction between the D-25s headphone jack and the line out into the Headroom. Maybe a bit deeper bass on the Grado. Hard to tell. No noticeable difference with the F-1, which is much less efficient. If there was a difference, it was not enough to warrant using the amp.
It was my first time with these Grados. Reminded me of the V-6, with the bass less deep and a bit fatter, much more prominent midrange, and very similar spitting sibilants and raspy cymbals. My student finds the high end irritating, and because of the comfort issues he can only wear the phones for an hour or so without needing a break. The soundstage was not there compared to the F-1; less air around the instruments and voices, but more bass all around (deeper for sure, but not as clean and fast, though). I thought the Grado build quality was worse than what I remembered.
He's ordering the D-25S today. I'm going to listen to some Senn 580 and 600 samples (the two 565 units I thought I found at Tweeter have proven to be broken and damaged beyond hope).
I just hit the "Buy It Now" option on Ebay. I was getting tired of waiting around for the auctions to end. So how impressed will I be with this player? Call me a rookie but I've always used the bass boost with my Aiwa XP-560 pcdp. I tried listening to some music without it and it still sounded good, but I liked the fuller bass with the equalization. I'm hoping that this pcdp will show me the light and show what all these audio enthusiasts are talking about when they say that a true pcdp hi-fi setup doesn't need any equalization to work as long as you don't have anemic cans. Mine are far from anemic (using Etymotic ER-4P) but I always used the bass boost anyway. Maybe it's the inferiorness of my Aiwa. Who knows. Anyone care to comment?
Well, with my 7506s and Porta Pros, I definitely don't need any extra bass. Quite the opposite, sometimes I wish I could turn the bass down a bit. But you might like more bass than me,
Herr Babelfish der Übersetzer, he wore a whipped-cream-covered tutu for this title.
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Here's an update for those of you who have been following my saga.
Previously:
Bought 25S via eBay. UPS messed around for 5 days straight. Finally got package. Discman was bent nearly in half despite it looking like a sturdy chunk of metal--as if it had been run over by a UPS truck. Inside box did not contain Sony box, only generic styrofoam and cardboard.
Update:
Silicon Salvage declined to make claim with UPS ("not worth it"), suggested I receive replacement unit at work and explained that they had trouble fitting the Sony boxes inside of their corogated cardboard and began shipping them bare. I requested that any other shipper than UPS be used but that my work address was fine and said that sending the box would really mean a lot to me as I tend to keep such things. Debbie (contact at Silicon Salvage) shipped the replacement via Fed Ex to my work address in the stock Sony box inside of another cardboard box.
Awaiting delivery--will update again when the tale hopefully concludes.
Meanwhile, if anyone is picky as I am about receiving the original packaging, I would suggest contacting Silicon Salvage before placing the order.
whilst returning my d-25s to its proper place (still attached to the wall-wart), empty of disc; i happened to hit the play/pause button. it let out a strange groan, of which i had not heard. popped the lid, hit the button again; silence. got one of my micro point pens, slid the microswitch, hit the button.
the lens rose from its home, turned to me and winked, then sat back down again. really quite anthropomorphic.
Originally posted by robert when mine started it's skipping thang, i peered through the slot in the top plate (didn't attempt to remove it). well: the rim end of the jack screw is packed with a dried white stuff; i suspect lithium grease.
Okay, I opened one of mine up today, and took another look. What looks like dried lithium grease is, in fact, perfectly useable lithium grease -- not at all dried out (though it does look like it's dried out when you're peering in the slot in the top plate). As the lens rides the screw, it redistributes the grease along the groove. I put the battery and a CD in with the bottom plate off, and watched the motor move the lens back and forth (skipping forwards and backwards with the track skip buttons). The grease is fine.
Now, as far as yours goes -- I suspect there was some contaminant in there causing the skipping, and you either knocked it loose with the q-tip, broke it up, or completely removed it. It takes only a VERY small piece of foreign matter to prevent the low-torque motor from moving the lens correctly along the screw. This could easily account for your player running hot and skipping frequently.
Or, yours might actually have had dried-out grease. But none of the four D-25S/D-25 samples I have now at my house has dried lubricant, including the used D-25 that has a Feb 89 sticker on the bottom. That one is nearly as old as coolvij...
Originally posted by kelly I receive replacement unit at work and explained that they had trouble fitting the Sony boxes inside of their corogated cardboard and began shipping them bare. Kelly
Why does that sound like complete utter bull@hit by SS? I ordered two units and rec'd both in the Sony branded box in a large enough carton to have tons of padding all around it. Sounds like their skimpering on padding and boxes. Sorry to read that you got totally screwed on your order. I think most folks here rec'd their units like i did.
Originally posted by Russ Arcuri As the lens rides the screw, it redistributes the grease along the groove. I put the battery and a CD in with the bottom plate off, and watched the motor move the lens back and forth (skipping forwards and backwards with the track skip buttons). The grease is fine.
That one is nearly as old as coolvij...
one "trick" i tried was to let it run overnight on the last track of the jarrett/peacock/dejohnette "inside out". it's a 78 minute disk. the lump of white stuff had diminished. the machine still skips occassionally, and there is a somewhat more persistent tick in the left channel. but it has got me buying disks at a frightful rate
. one i got today is "jim hall with basses". hall is in the left channel, most tracks. track 4 @2:30 his chording gets distorted. hmm. tried the disk in the pana 360. much less so. but sam rivers on "tangens" plays one track of strongly overblown flute. lots of resonance. no problem. might be just multi-bit versus single-bit. might be the hall disk, despite being 'direct stream digital', is a bit wonky. could be the 360 is masking the truth.
the skipping appears random: reversing back through the skip has yet to repeat the skip. although the skips seem to happen on off-center disks. of course, there aren't any such things, right?
in any case, i've contacted Silicon Salvage, and they've put a replacement in transit. i can't complain about the company.
Why does that sound like complete utter bull@hit by SS? I ordered two units and rec'd both in the Sony branded box in a large enough carton to have tons of padding all around it. Sounds like their skimpering on padding and boxes. Sorry to read that you got totally screwed on your order. I think most folks here rec'd their units like i did.
George
I really don't think SS is trying to screw or bull$hit anyone. Maybe they want to use a smaller box to ship them (about 90% of the volume of the outside boxes of my two that I received was either air or packing material). Since no accessories are included with the unit, all that extra packaging is somewhat wasteful, as long as they are still safely packed. It sounded like Kelly's was damaged by UPS, and it is quite possible that any amount of extra packing material wouldn't have saved it (I work for UPS and see damaged packages every day). I have heard several great stories about Silicon Salvage's great customer service both on the boards here and in several PM's. I do feel if more of the units are damaged in transit and it seems to be a result of improper packing, SS will revert to the old way of shipping them. That is the kind of people they seem to be.
The regular Sony box was used for three of mine; it holds the unit in styrofoam, and half the styrofoam is empty because of the missing battery, adapter, phones, etc. That box was liberally wrapped in bubble wrap and put inside another shipping box.
The fourth wasn't as well packed. The Sony box was missing, the styrofoam was cut in 2/3, and it was in bubble wrap inside a much smaller shipping box than the others.
So it probably isn't a bad idea to ask Silicon Salvage to use the normal box inside another. The Ebay orders are silly anyway, as the "ship now" price of $45 is likely to be exceeded by other bids. So just call them directly, order it for $45 plus $6 shipping, and insist on the full intact Sony box.
Herr Babelfish der Übersetzer, he wore a whipped-cream-covered tutu for this title.
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The 25S replacement arrived today via FedEx. It was packaged in its original Sony box which was inside of a normal corregated carboard box as promised.
I plugged the unit into a universal power supply purchased from Walmart and the player worked immediately without any problems.
I will probably post a more comprehensive comparrison between it and the Panasonic SL-320 this weekend after I've had some time with it. For now, all I can say is that it sure looks nice perched atop the Corda when I'm at work.
Enthuased by all your positive comments about the D-25, I drove my aged (11 years) D-35 to the Sony repair facility near Boston. The unit skips. The man behind the counter typed model number into his computer and said "We will attempt to repair it for the fixed price of $92.00.
I was surprised. Is this Sony's way of making us buy new gear? The man was a complete gentleman, but how do they arrive at such a price and do I have any alternatives?
Is this Sony's way of making us buy new gear? The man was a complete gentleman, but how do they arrive at such a price and do I have any alternatives?
i) sure
ii) perhaps. there's a gyro gearloose electronics shop i used to live near. i'm taking my machine up this weekend for a check up. (yeah, it's getting to be just a tad obsessive. if i were starving the kids to take care of it......) they said on the phone that they're a bit backed up, so it might be 2-3 weeks. last time i was there, lots of scopes and test gear. my research on the net indicates that tracking is often a matter of setting some bias voltages in the servo parts. there are test disks (e.g. pierre varney/vernay, can never remember) which allow a tech with a scope to find out rather quickly whether the problem is susceptible to adjustment, or needs parts. for an independent tech, there's not much point in pushing parts; they make money on their labor and get it out of there. if it is parts, then sony has us by the gonads. oh well.
will report on the physical. will be instructive. will also broach the subject of taking care of more of these orphans. also, for those with a lab, tech-wiz.com (or wiz-tech.com
) lists the D-25 service manual. i tried to order one, just for yucks, but i don't do the credit cards they do; and they haven't yet responded to my request for alternate payment. oh oh well.
24 jan -- got a reply. they refuse to accept alternate payment; have to use the site and their cards. just so all closet tweakers are kept informed.
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