Btw, there is one Sony LD player that has a completely separate CD drive in it. It's own drawer and laser and everything. So you can play whatever video you want and then layer any sound you want on top of it. To be used for powering huge CRT cubes in clubs with smoke machines in front of large industrial fans. Some...80s sorta crap. Personally, I'd just use two machines for that but I guess there is a market for everything.

I can't remember the model number but I can find it. I bought an old model kit recently and it had a contest flyer thing in it where they were giving these players away.

My first and only player is a Sony MDP-600 and I must say I'm quite happy with it. After getting it repaired for an arm and a leg it works just fine (though as its my only player I have no other picture quality and the like to compare it to!) but I suppose since my collection is expanding quite rapidly, anyone have any suggestions for a better model? Price isn't much a factor as long as its not going to break and is of great quality sound/picture wise!

I had a Sony MDP-600 that worked well until a few weeks ago. I pulled the player out from its shelf and tipped it to connect audio and video cables to its second output jacks. I thought that all was right until I tried to play a standard play disc. Now, the player shakes and makes a noise as the disc attempts to spin up. The disc never reaches full speed and the player shuts down. I have not looked inside the player yet. Would anyone have any ideas as to what I may have done? The player was tipped at a ~45 degree angle from horizontal during my adventure with it.

The Sony MDP-600 is my second LD player. The first was a Pioneer CLD-980 single sided player which still works.

I was hooking up to the A/V jacks so that I could play LD's without digital sound. I have a few of those LD's and cannot play them with the way my 2 players (MDP-600 and CLD-D406) are wired right now. Both players send their optical audio into an SDP-E800 which switches the optical into one port on my AVR.

You've made a good choice going Sony, generally more reliable than Pioneer players and if you only have one then you want to rely on it.

I would stick with it, you're not really going to get more features, better build or better picture with most Sonys. With high end Pioneers you'll be spending a lot of money and may or may not get a working player. When Pioneers work they generally give a better picture than Sonys, although Sonys give better sound.

I only mess with Sony LD players these days after learning expensive lessons with Pioneer and am hoping to one day purchase a Hi-Vision capable Sony such as the HIL-C1EX. That should give a nice standard LD performance as well, all with Sony reliability and a good lookin Sony chassis (always liked Sony product design over Pioneer).

edit: I thought you got a 605! Okay the 600 is a good player, I had a couple but the drive door eventually stuffed up and I destroyed the players trying to fix em. Try looking at the older player from the 80s (605, 800), built like tanks and should give good performance.

Wait, are we saying this player was sitting at a 45 degree angle while playing?

Yeah, it's broke and I'm not surprised. Don't do that! Also, don't drive your car upside down or expect liquids to remain in containers that have been tipped on their sides.

Tres drole (very funny).

Please, no more flaming about Sony LD players. I already have read enough postings on this forum to know how bad Sony players are (?).

The Sony player had been playing fine until I did the pullout and 45 degree tip. I guess I should not have mentioned that it was a Sony. At least the Sony came to me in working condition. I had 2 CLD-D406 players shipped to me with a broken M-holder in each. Replacement of the M-holders still not fix either player.

Also, don't spit or throw mop water into the wind or urinate up a rope.

Update:
I pulled the Sony player out of its cuppy hole and opened it up. I inserted and played both a Standard play and an Extended play disc and had no problems with the player. It may have been the LD that I used to test it back when it was still on the shelf may have been bad. I just don't remember which movie the disc came from.

This thread can be closed now.

Sony comes through again. Most of the anti Sony stuff on here is bandwagon jumping propoganda. I am sure that Sonys are on average more reliable than Pioneers, even though Pios give a better picture when working generally, Sony's always give better sound.

Dear Mr "leftist special interest goverments (sic) that have seized power and no longer carry out the will of the normal people"

So you want a Sony Hi-Vision Player? I've kept an eye on Hi-Vision player sales for quite some time now. I think I might have seen one or possibly perhaps two Sony players NOT advertised as 'junk'.

Working Pioneer HV Players are pretty much 'dime a dozen' and far far far outnumber the junk units for sale. Just a slight statement on reliability; not at all based in any of my personal biases don't you think? And let's not be too narrowly brand specific here too; Panasonic NTSC players for example, also seem to have a very good reputation and reliability (not so much their HV players; of course).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all anti-Sony. I love Trinitrons; and back to HVLD, they made some of the best looking Hi-Vision releases ever (thinking 'Okinawa Underwater' and 'Hill's of the Seasons' for example). But sorry, the evidence indicates that Sony players are simply not as reliable as other brands (not just Pioneer). Then again having seen some of your overtly political comments on here, you're probably not much of a believer in things like evidence based science anyway.

If you want a lesson in critical thinking how about checking how many Hi-Vision units Pioneer produced vs Sony before you comment. I know HLD-X0 had many production runs and kept being produced well into the 2000s. That can't be said for Sony's units that were more one offs. Therefore you have less Sony units that are older.

Btw thanks for the link the other day, although that player was listed as working I would have preferred pics of it at least powered up or playing a disc.

Maybe I didn't point this out explicitly enough above. I thought it was easy enough to understand.

I'm well aware Sony made less players overall; hence a lower number overall can be seen for sale. Hardly rocket science.

But if you think (critically or otherwise - lol) about what I said above it was that out of all the Sony HV players I've seen on sale only around 2 were not advertised as junk. So about 95-98% of players on the market are not working. On the other hand I reckon at least 90% or more of Pioneer HV players are advertised as working. It's about the proportions; who made most overall doesn't matter, the point is that out of those made, most of the Sony players have not withstood the test of time while most of the Pioneers have.

I get that you've had an improbably bad run of luck with your Pioneer players; so I can have a little empathy for why you feel the way you do. But it is simply not correct to claim that Sony HV players are even close to as reliable as Pioneer ones.

For the record, I refuse to engage Sony trolls any longer. Let them starve.

I was simply saying that you should use your equipment flat. Any player that uses a disc without one of those snap on detent spindles will have it's design predicated on gravity pulling in the same direction at all times, down. It's not an an Apple TV or even a Discman. I'm glad your player snapped back. Clearly it's robust to some degree.

I also question his claim of that they have Sony LD players have perfect sound.

If that were the case, would not the high end audio companies who used LD players for CD transports use Sony LD players?

Instead they used Pioneer, Panasonic and Phillips.

I can't name one that OEM'd a Sony LD player.

Wonder why . . .

Link? Source? I've heard the Sony MDP-999 was a highly regarded CDP.

Sony just does audio right. Audiophiles have described the "Sony sound" as clinical, precise, some say cold but I want my initial source to be as pure as possible, I can "warm it up" on later stages and with the speakers I choose (Sony btw but very natural sounding).

The CD function has never worked properly on my Sony DVP-S7700 DVD player but when it did it gave a sound equivelant to the beautiful ES CD players I've heard and that surpassed my current workhorse, the well regarded 1989 CDP-991.

Pioneer however is more renowned for picture quality and car audio. It speaks in its products. Pioneer sound is acceptable when it works but it inevitably begins deteriorating as the laser gets weaker. Sony just keeps giving great sound year after year in my experience. 100% of Pios I've owned have had the sound break down after a short time, 100% of my Sonys have never ever had a problem with the sound, or playback in general once they spin.

Should I believe my actual experience (25 years of buying AV electronics) or some snob on a forum who spent a lot of money on a pioneer they struggle to maintain at every turn?

There could be a number of reasons why the boutique companies never OEMed a Sony. It could be that there's is more space inside the Pioneers, or it could be because Pioneer stuff was easier to get technical documentation on. It could Runco just got a good deal on Pioneers. It's impossible to say.

It will say though that unless Forper was buying $6000 LD players in the 90s then it probably wouldn't have been a good idea. Those companies usually focused on cosmetics and the analog audio, having little to any knowledge of video. Therefore it would have make the most sense to start with a player with the best video, even if the audio was junk, because they're throwing all the audio stuff away. If the Sony had better audio then the steel chassis upmarket version would have even better audio but still the same incredibly soft muddy crap video. Sony players often had better looking designs than Pioneer...but again, all that went into the trash. The video stage is what got kept, and on a Sony LD player that just isn't worth keeping.

For the record, I have a lot of Pioneer stuff but it's all LD players. I prefer Marantz, Harmon Karden, etc. Likewise I'm still a regular user of Sony MD players and TVs because they completely rule those areas. If I was into VHS I'd probably have Sony VCRs too. Every good company has its highs and lows which is why I'm loyal to NONE of them.

I respect this. It's your opinion and I completely agree Pioneer PQ on LD kills Sony. I have a lot of music discs and for me crystal clear audio and reliability are more important than PQ. All my stuff is Sony but there's a lot of Sony stuff I wouldn't touch. Sony is a huuuge corporation that has released probably over 100,000 products, there is gold in almost every category and also trash.


Cool, I did try Pioneer, I'm not loyal to Sony either, I just like their best products better than other products 99% of the time. If I could get a reliable Pioneer with decent sound hey I'm sold. Maybe I should just get an X0, but I get the feeling it could be a very expensive and painful experience to get it working 100% right..a HIL-C2EX will be a cheaper risk..

McIntosh MLD-7020 = Pioneer CLD-97
Theta Data II = Phillips CDV-400
Theta Data III = Pioneer CLD-D703/4
Enlightened Audio Designs T-8000 = Pioneer CLD-99 or CLD-D703/4
MSB LS-1 Gold = Panasonic LX-600
Marantz CDV-400 = Phillips CDV-400
Marantz LV-510 = Pioneer (not sure of model)
Marantz LV-520 = Pioneer CLD-D504
Onkyo DX-V801 = Pioneer
Yamaha LD players are mostly Pioneer
Denon LD players are Pioneers and Panasonics

If you can find a high end audio company that used an OEM Sony LD player for a transport, please share.

Sony itself = Highend
Though, if I get my hands one day on a (very cheap) Sony Player, I´ll try my luck, just to have once owned a Sony player

This Sony design (which I always thought was stupid), is the only configuration I'm aware of where the pickup moves in the opposite direction during CD playback versus LD playback. All of the Pioneer units, including the 2-drive units, the pickup moves in the same direction during playback, away from the LD spindle motor. During CD playback, this configuration moves the pickup toward the LD spindle motor.