The Fact that you said it actually plays Burnt CDRs is a near revelation to me! That is so rare full stop before 2000, let alone something from 1983!!!
Man, the industrial design in the 80's was sexy. My parents had an Akai 1st gen CD player with similar brushed metal buttons and backlit iconography. Seeing the likes of Akai and Teac get heavily commoditised in the non-professional market was sad. The 80's and early 90's just had very tactile hardware and is sorely missed.
Great content mate! Love these early CD players, where the manufacturers were still trying to figure out the design and transport mechanisms. This Hitachi is a gem and a worthy addition to any hifi collection. Keep pumping this sort of stuff out and you’ll grow into a good sized channel 👍 subscribed!
One of the things I have used over the years to breathe new life into brushed DC motors is naptha, commonly found as either Ronsonol or Zippo lighter fluid. It evaporates quickly and doesn't leave a residue. Flush the motor out liberally while turning the motor shaft. Then blow out with compressed air to make sure it completely evaporates. Provided the brushes in the motor aren't worn down past their service limit, this works wonders.
Interesting alternative to contact cleaner, wouldn't have thought about something like this. Another thing to check is a Techmoan classic: degraded belts. I suspect it has a whole motor to move a potentiometer because the output headphone amp is a plain analog AB class amp and likely no decent audio grade digital potentiometers existed back then (if at all).
This machine plays burnt CDs being SO early in the game? Goes to show that the idea that the older a player is, the less likely it is to play burnt CDs does not hold at all. It's a lottery. Other than that, I really like the design of this device. And a working unit of such an early model almost belongs in a museum, I'd say.
Today, they call that front-load vertical system a "toaster" transport. Kyocera also had one like that (which I bought like 15 years ago from a thrift and promptly re-sold when I heard that parts were made from "unobtainium" - which you undoubtedly understand). I think in the model number was a 9500, IIRC.
Beautiful unit, love the 80's styling with the display and big brushed metal buttons. Certainly a novel way of loading a disc, looks very graceful but I'd be unreasonably worried it would jam and try to snap the disc! There is another audio format that used a disc of varying speed, the "World Record Controller" invented by Noel Pemberton-Billing in the 1920's. As opposed to the CD, the World Record Controller increases the speed of the turntable as the record is played from the outside in. This keeps a steady linear speed, allowing more audio to be recorded while maintaining the same audio quality. However, due to the high price of the records, poor selection of recordings and the fiddly nature of the system, it wasn't very successful. Keeping a steady linear speed is why Edison created cylinder records instead of disc records, in theory the cylinder with equal distance for the stylus to travel each rotation has consistent audio quality while the disc's audio quality decreases as the stylus gets closer to the centre. In practice this isn't very noticeable as long as the recording doesn't get too close to the centre.
Reminds me of the prototype Sony CD player that can be seen in early news/promo videos for the CD. And yeah, Hitachi made a lot of equipment for other companies. VCRs and camcorders are a good example, they made them for RCA, GE and other companies.
My first CD player. I was in the Air Force and stationed in the UK when a friend picked up one of these thru the military market. It was '83 and he paid around $500. I bought it from him for $500. He threw in his entire CD collection. I soon understood why...it wasn't very musical. Maybe it being sold at discount in the overseas military market had something to do with it, ah memories...
I'm pretty sure my first CD player was a little white boom box in the early 90's. I haven't thought about that thing in a very long time... now I kinda wish I had it back.
If only… I’ve been looking for one. One of the thrift stores had an old Marantz CD player a while back but they wanted too much for it… for my purposes anyway.
Well,the chance you will find this functional and cosmetical in decent shape for cheap is near zero meanwhile. In fact those are often sold as rare vintage items with a collector price tag. 20 years ago they were cheap.
Had one when they were first sold. Cost £500. If I remember correctly. Looked impressive but the sound was harsh and grainy. Changed it for a Phillips player after a year as the Phillips had much better sound. Would not recommend one.
Those early CD players were quite strange. There were only a few models out, all made by two companies, and yet each one had it's very own approach both in layout and styling. There was a Marantz branded unit with that classic early 80s high end look, brushed aluminum, wooden side panels, everything w i d e (including the push buttons and fonts). This one's styling is not very typical for it's time I think, yes 80s, but more like something from the later part of the decade. Quite futuristic for the time, but I think the Marantz has aged better, as it still looks classy today, while I can't help thinking this one appears a little cheesy, but it might be because every cheap boombox in the late 80s and early 90s had that look, so it's not really the designers' fault I guess.
I agree; it's cheesy... but that's what makes me love it. It's like PowerMetal. lol I've always been a bit of a sucker for gimmicks because they give you the illusion that you're buying something your neighbor doesn't have. I feel like I'm eventually going to become Mr. Dink on that Nickelodeon cartoon Doug. "Very expensive!"
I had one of these back in the day - sounded dreadful. It actually used to give me a headache, as I think I’m right in saying it decoded each channel sequentially
I'm not about to swoon over first generation CD players because the improvements in d-a conversion can be rather dramatic. I bought an early Radio Shack/Realistic unit in 1985 and at the time I was blown away. Used it for years until I compared it to a cheap RCA branded carousel type changer 15 years later. Again, blown away, by how much better the sound quality was and how piss poor that early Realistic player sounded in comparison. Really disappointing how much audio content I wasn't hearing from the first generation player with early d-a conversion.
Well,from the first generation vertical loading style cd players the only one that imho realy sounded amazingly good was the Technics SL-P10. A friend of mine had one in the late eighties and it sounded exactly like his fat Denon turntable with a high end Ortofon MC under its headshell: dynamic,clean and clear from bass to top end. You could listen for hours and hours on high volumes to that one.
Any old CD player should be able to play some burned CD's. So long as it is a CDR that has a low burn multiplier, up to 4X and you should be fine. These CDR's tend to have a dark media layer. CDR's with a high burn multiplier (those discs tend to be a lighter colour) will play on modern players, but few, if any of the older CD players will be able to play them. It doesn't make any difference what speed you burn the disk at, either. It has to do with the colour (darkness and reflectivity). Older machines can't read the discs.
I do still have it but, that one is mine that I use in my house. Of everything I show, it's probably the only one that I bought specifically for me to keep. :( That said, I would be happy to contact you if I run across another one.
Those early CD players with the hard brick wall filters never sounded all that good. Too harsh, shrill for the most part. Those very early machines with the vertical front load were rare and did not last but a year or so until the Sony CDP 101 hit the market. The same can be said about the early Philips based top loaders. Are they a novelty? Yes. Do they sound good? Probably not so good.
Loved the video and the message at the end....next stop my local Goodwill.
Do it. Do it daily. It's fun! :)
i agree!
The Fact that you said it actually plays Burnt CDRs is a near revelation to me! That is so rare full stop before 2000, let alone something from 1983!!!
Man, the industrial design in the 80's was sexy. My parents had an Akai 1st gen CD player with similar brushed metal buttons and backlit iconography. Seeing the likes of Akai and Teac get heavily commoditised in the non-professional market was sad. The 80's and early 90's just had very tactile hardware and is sorely missed.
Yeah, they really cared. So much attention to detail!
Great content mate! Love these early CD players, where the manufacturers were still trying to figure out the design and transport mechanisms. This Hitachi is a gem and a worthy addition to any hifi collection. Keep pumping this sort of stuff out and you’ll grow into a good sized channel 👍 subscribed!
Thank you! I was really excited to find it.
Wow I remember seeing one of these in 1984. They cost $1500 then. I thought it was futuristic. Still looks good.
One of the things I have used over the years to breathe new life into brushed DC motors is naptha, commonly found as either Ronsonol or Zippo lighter fluid. It evaporates quickly and doesn't leave a residue. Flush the motor out liberally while turning the motor shaft. Then blow out with compressed air to make sure it completely evaporates. Provided the brushes in the motor aren't worn down past their service limit, this works wonders.
Interesting alternative to contact cleaner, wouldn't have thought about something like this.
Another thing to check is a Techmoan classic: degraded belts.
I suspect it has a whole motor to move a potentiometer because the output headphone amp is a plain analog AB class amp and likely no decent audio grade digital potentiometers existed back then (if at all).
This machine plays burnt CDs being SO early in the game? Goes to show that the idea that the older a player is, the less likely it is to play burnt CDs does not hold at all. It's a lottery. Other than that, I really like the design of this device. And a working unit of such an early model almost belongs in a museum, I'd say.
I have a Philips CD -101 cd player. 1984 vintage and it too plays CDR-s no problem.
Today, they call that front-load vertical system a "toaster" transport. Kyocera also had one like that (which I bought like 15 years ago from a thrift and promptly re-sold when I heard that parts were made from "unobtainium" - which you undoubtedly understand). I think in the model number was a 9500, IIRC.
Beautiful unit, love the 80's styling with the display and big brushed metal buttons. Certainly a novel way of loading a disc, looks very graceful but I'd be unreasonably worried it would jam and try to snap the disc!
There is another audio format that used a disc of varying speed, the "World Record Controller" invented by Noel Pemberton-Billing in the 1920's. As opposed to the CD, the World Record Controller increases the speed of the turntable as the record is played from the outside in. This keeps a steady linear speed, allowing more audio to be recorded while maintaining the same audio quality. However, due to the high price of the records, poor selection of recordings and the fiddly nature of the system, it wasn't very successful.
Keeping a steady linear speed is why Edison created cylinder records instead of disc records, in theory the cylinder with equal distance for the stylus to travel each rotation has consistent audio quality while the disc's audio quality decreases as the stylus gets closer to the centre. In practice this isn't very noticeable as long as the recording doesn't get too close to the centre.
Reminds me of the prototype Sony CD player that can be seen in early news/promo videos for the CD. And yeah, Hitachi made a lot of equipment for other companies. VCRs and camcorders are a good example, they made them for RCA, GE and other companies.
Wonderful video. Thank you.
My first CD player. I was in the Air Force and stationed in the UK when a friend picked up one of these thru the military market. It was '83 and he paid around $500. I bought it from him for $500. He threw in his entire CD collection. I soon understood why...it wasn't very musical. Maybe it being sold at discount in the overseas military market had something to do with it, ah memories...
I'm pretty sure my first CD player was a little white boom box in the early 90's. I haven't thought about that thing in a very long time... now I kinda wish I had it back.
I remember those. That's a good find! Now all you need is a Sony CDP-101.
If only… I’ve been looking for one. One of the thrift stores had an old Marantz CD player a while back but they wanted too much for it… for my purposes anyway.
It uses a very advanced and state of the art (for the time) Burr Brown PCM53 DAC.
Well,the chance you will find this functional and cosmetical in decent
shape for cheap is near zero meanwhile.
In fact those are often sold as rare vintage items with a collector price tag.
20 years ago they were cheap.
Truth. Working stuff in good shape is expensive. Fortunately, you can still get beat up stuff for a couple bucks… at least around here.
I never see cd players in the thrift stores around here anymore. The days are finding them cheap is over at least around here.
Had one when they were first sold. Cost £500. If I remember correctly. Looked impressive but the sound was harsh and grainy. Changed it for a Phillips player after a year as the Phillips had much better sound. Would not recommend one.
Those early CD players were quite strange. There were only a few models out, all made by two companies, and yet each one had it's very own approach both in layout and styling.
There was a Marantz branded unit with that classic early 80s high end look, brushed aluminum, wooden side panels, everything w i d e (including the push buttons and fonts).
This one's styling is not very typical for it's time I think, yes 80s, but more like something from the later part of the decade. Quite futuristic for the time, but I think the Marantz has aged better, as it still looks classy today, while I can't help thinking this one appears a little cheesy, but it might be because every cheap boombox in the late 80s and early 90s had that look, so it's not really the designers' fault I guess.
I agree; it's cheesy... but that's what makes me love it. It's like PowerMetal. lol
I've always been a bit of a sucker for gimmicks because they give you the illusion that you're buying something your neighbor doesn't have. I feel like I'm eventually going to become Mr. Dink on that Nickelodeon cartoon Doug. "Very expensive!"
love the message at the end
It looks like the 1st generation Technics player
The SL-P10? Yah, it does kinda. I wish they would have kept making them like this. I like seeing the disc spin.
I had one of these back in the day - sounded dreadful. It actually used to give me a headache, as I think I’m right in saying it decoded each channel sequentially
I think they had 2 different DAC chips that went into these... I'm told one sounded significantly worse than the other so I believe it.
I'm not about to swoon over first generation CD players because the improvements in d-a conversion can be rather dramatic. I bought an early Radio Shack/Realistic unit in 1985 and at the time I was blown away. Used it for years until I compared it to a cheap RCA branded carousel type changer 15 years later. Again, blown away, by how much better the sound quality was and how piss poor that early Realistic player sounded in comparison. Really disappointing how much audio content I wasn't hearing from the first generation player with early d-a conversion.
Well,from the first generation vertical loading style cd players the only one that imho realy sounded amazingly good
was the Technics SL-P10. A friend of mine had one in the late eighties and it sounded exactly like his fat Denon turntable
with a high end Ortofon MC under its headshell: dynamic,clean and clear from bass to top end. You could listen for hours
and hours on high volumes to that one.
This is super cool!
Thank you. :)
I bought the DA-1000 in 1983. I soon returned it because the laser tracking gave out a loud hiss. I replace it with Sony's first CD player.
That's definitely not good.
I have one of these that is skipping a little. Not sure if its worth it but to me the unit is cool enough to send off to my local shop to get fixed.
If you ask me, it's worth it if you like it and it makes you happy to look at. :)
Any old CD player should be able to play some burned CD's. So long as it is a CDR that has a low burn multiplier, up to 4X and you should be fine. These CDR's tend to have a dark media layer. CDR's with a high burn multiplier (those discs tend to be a lighter colour) will play on modern players, but few, if any of the older CD players will be able to play them. It doesn't make any difference what speed you burn the disk at, either. It has to do with the colour (darkness and reflectivity). Older machines can't read the discs.
That might be an interesting topic for a video, actually.
I have the Denon version of that cd player , the Denon DCD 2000 !!
Rad!
Interesting specimen.
Looks a bit like a microwave to me, but the front-facing tray is very interesting. The fact that it's got Death in it also helps! ;)
Yeah, I couldn’t help myself. 🤘
cool channel
Thank you. :)
Listening Death is spiritual healing for me.
🤘🏻😈🤘🏻
Love the form factor, though wouldn't try a 3 inch cd in it. Nope.
Facts
Do you still have this?? Would you want to sell it? I’ve been looking for one forever!
I do still have it but, that one is mine that I use in my house. Of everything I show, it's probably the only one that I bought specifically for me to keep. :(
That said, I would be happy to contact you if I run across another one.
Thank you That’d be great! I totally get it, it’s an awesome machine
I saw 2 of them for sale on ebay 1 from spain at 1100 usd and one from Romania 1700 usd haha
Those early CD players with the hard brick wall filters never sounded all that good. Too harsh, shrill for the most part. Those very early machines with the vertical front load were rare and did not last but a year or so until the Sony CDP 101 hit the market. The same can be said about the early Philips based top loaders. Are they a novelty? Yes. Do they sound good? Probably not so good.
I do appreciate the novelty though.