u/Impressive-Ad-501

I have a vintage cd player (Pioneer PD-6700) and I wanted to upgrade it with external dac (SMSL SU-1).

First I had really bad connection. Audio was cutting out and input indicator was blinking.

I had only one old and cheap optical cable. I switched its direction and it did start working better but not perfect.

I went to buy new cable (also cheap), First it had again very much cut outs but when I blew the output connector with compressed air and got things working.

But now I noticed i still get few cut outs per album so problem still exists.

Is there a way to safely clean the optical output? CD player is decades old and I think optical out was never used before. Or can optical output just wear out and signal becomes too weak. Or are cheap cables just garbage?

Paulmanns controller supports Zigbee 3.0 and Ormanäs is too restrictive (yes we have already two).

We need need several controllers to light basic white led strips. Nothing fancy but Ormanäs with its built in controller is messy to install in this case.

So could we use Paulmann or other brands zigbee controllers?

And please do not suggest Home Assistant. We sunk endless hours trying make it to work and spend money for new gear but it was always just unreliable mess.

There is small hifi store selling brand called Advance Audio. It seems to be small european company.

I'm interested in MCX-400 cd player.

Any experience with brand? Reviews seem to be in languages I cannot speak so it is not mainstream.

Olin menossa Koivulan K-Markettiin ja automaatilla oli nuori pariskunta isohkon mustan koiran kanssa.

Kun yritin mennä kauppaan, koira alkoi haukkua minulle ja sen sijaan että omistaja olisi vetänyt sen kauemmaksi, hän päästi hyppäämään päälleni ja yritti mokoma vielä purrakin.

Mikä ihmisiä oikein vaivaa? Jos koira ei ole hallinnassa, sitä ei todellakaan viedä kaupan ovelle missä kulkee ihmisiä.

Itse olen normaalin kokoinen kamppailulajeja harrastanut mies niin koira ei silleen hirveästi pelota mutta jos kohdalle osuu vaikka pikkulapsi. Sitten poliisi vie koiran piikille ja omistajat itkevät epäoikeudenmukaista kohtaloaan.

Mutta jos törmäätte tapaukseen, pysykää etäällä ja jos tulee vaaratilanteita, soittakaa poliisille. Itse en heti älynnyt.

Original burger has been my "comfort place" to eat like many years. Nothing special but sometimes I don't want to think and just grab a burger and beer.

Now I noticed it has changed the name. Reviews are still same like mine edited last time 3 years ago.

So what is the story? New owner or just rebranding?

Is it still good place to go? You can also recommend something else. I don't need anything fancy. Just classic cheeseburger and beer. I don't need tons of options.

There are pair of Audience 42:s near my location for a decent price. It is said they pair very well with Mira 3 but does Brio 3 have enough muscle to run them.

My room is quite small. 4 x 3,5 meters and I don't play music very loud. I listen everything from jazz and rock to disco music.

At the moment I have Rega RS3 but they are too gentle for my taste. Audience 42 is said to be dynamic and punchy for its size.

But is Brio 3 too weak? Speakers go low as 3,7 ohms impedance.

https://preview.redd.it/z8yr1xhugn5h1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4e93dcabe886207952033f128db6fadb1481a703

We all know that guy that says everything new is crap and every vintage piece is better and will still run forever.

I am not that guy but I have two old cd-players I bought in recent years.

First one: Pioneer PD-6700

Bought this one maybe 1,5 years ago. Very fast and silent (like Pioneers usually are). Does not mind scratches on disk.

BUT. Button layout is awful and numbers on the screen are small. I am 45 so it is hard to use especially in low light. Remote is even worse to use and it needs to directed carefully to get it working.

Sound quality is ok but it is not fun at all to use. I also hate red led light when it is on stand by.

So I got newer one.

Second one: Marantz CD7300

I did like very much my CD4000 about 20 years ago. Best remote I've ever seen in cd player an nice large buttons on front plate.

I found this CD7300 with decent price because it had no remote control. Luckily there are cheap ones in Ebay and ali.

Sound is very good and it is much nicer to use than PD-6700. It is not as silent but it does not bother me.

But as we all should know cd players don't last forever. There are moving parts that need maintenance. Capacitors and laser pick up can die.

Soon I started to get reading problems. Cleaned the lens and oiled the part laser pick up slides on.

In service mode I get error 2 meaning it does not focus. Lens is clean so laser pick up is slowly dying. In some player you can get new one and replace it. With this you can at least buy cheap chinese part but you need to get it replaced too.

And now I have tasted that sweet Marantz sound signature so I don't want to go back to Pioneer any more. Luckily I did not sell it yet because laser pick up will fail completely some day.

There seems to be some hype with old cd players but in YouTube videos they don't speak about bad ergonimics or lovely player dying in your hands.

Old gear is not some magic unicorn. They can be fabulous or cheap crap but old is always old. I think 100 eur cd player is more consumable than a keeper.

And this 100 eur player might have cost me 550 eur to get new Marantz with HDAM output stage.

This has been discussed several times before but chains are closed and every situation is different. Oberon is also discontinued but rest of them are sold discounted so it is interesting topic once more.

My room is 4 x 3,5 meters and two walls are brick/concrete and another two are light siporex walls.

My amp is Rega Brio 3 and it gives 49 watts per channel and should easily drive 6 ohm speakers.

Current speakers are Rega RS3 but I would like to have more punch for rock and disco music than those gentle brits can give. I love them with Katie Melua and Norah Jones but I listen more Red Hot Chili Peppers and Dire Straits. I can't listen very loud so no need for high sound pressures.

I used to have floorstanders that went to low 40's but was not happy with higher frequensies. I still have Custom Design RS300 stands but I like the idea of slim floor stander.

So would Oberon 5 be too much? I like very much how they look. As far I know 3 has still some punch and is easier to drive but our cat likes to sit on top of the speakers and floorstander is sturdier.

I already cleaned the lens with IPA and added some light oil to that thing laser mechanism slides on.

I still get often reading errors. In service mode it gives me Error 2 meaning focusing error.

Mechanism is VAM1202 and those are available in Ebay. But I've read that those can be poor quality.

And can mechanism be replaced without special tools and skills?

https://preview.redd.it/x5wlr18uan4h1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e8492dda19bc2075765d253827109363591f3cd2

https://preview.redd.it/vmh9v18uan4h1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=04684b6c289ebdb7d9c479a576c9f0ca1f634489

https://preview.redd.it/0jiwbcnmwo3h1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e5c1c48f520c6345fccb0ff680e94bae7fda19da

Problem: There is no sound from tweeter

Tweeter works when connected directly and meter gives it 5,5 ohm resistance so it is not broken.

I ordered new Aydyn electrolytic caps and new resistors and soldered them on.

There is still no sound from tweeter. I can't find where the problem is. Speakers are OR 130Hi from 90's and tweeter is Peerless 811815. Speakers are not very valuable but they sound very good and I thought with new electrolyte caps they should sound even better.

Any tips? Many people recommend vintage speakers because they are easy to repair. Still looking the easy part.