I noticed that these seem to consistently sell for a lot of money on Y!jp.

Any reason as to why? I understand the 999 was the top unit, but in 1990, coming up on 30 years old.

Do they have a better than average reputation for reliability?

I do like Sony LD players when the trays don't jam, never had an issue with playback or audio like I have had with many Pioneer units.

Is the MDP-999 worth the Y50,000 most on Y!jp are asking? I just want a reliable player, doesn't have to have the best picture as I mostly play music discs.

Well it's pretty--silver finish with wooden side panels . .

http://laserdiscarchive.co.uk/laserdisc ... dp-999.htm

. . . specs wise, that page says it has a 52db signal-to-noise ratio. That would put it on par with the LD-S2, LD-S9 and CLD-99.

That being said, I've never seen one in action, and I wouldn't take a chance since I've had a Sony LD player before and the stories about their quality is all true in my experience.

Hmm, thanks, yeah I do think the look of Sony players and Sony product design in general is superior to Pioneer.

S/N ratios generally apply to audio don't they? Well that is impressive. And the original street price, wow!

I think I'm getting the consistent demand for this player in Japan now. In Japan there has been, in the last decade or so a real obsession with "the bubble" ie the Japan before the 1991 bust and the premium luxury products that were produced as part of it. I guess the 999 is seen as one of the last of these products coming out in 1990.

In this case, the signal-to-noise ratio refers to the video (the higher the better.)

Always liked this one. MDP-740D design wise... superb
Owned one... sadly the flap door problem occured. I hated that. Not into wooden panels myself but I liked it's look.
There was one offered to me just yesterday. mint but... door problem....
No ac-3rf out is a letdown...

BEAUTIFUL unit.

Yep that's been the ONLY issue with the two Sony players I've owned. Drive/door mecha.

Did you have to manually open the flap to use the player?

you've said it! opening it manually did the trick. I tried changing the belt back then... No luck. Changed the spring that holds the panel...No luck
Got tired of trying after reading this is/was a common problem. "sold" almost gave it away to be honnest" it to a friend who wanted a working player to enjoy his Star Wars Definitive collection.
He still has it in use... with the same problem. Not a big issue if you can live with it. I couldn't
As it happens there are two of this units offered offered to me just recently. I about it. but buying them for the looks wouldn't be a wise decision I guess.
If they work properly Sony players are nice IMHO. They are nice machines but nut to be trusted + getting spare parts is/was never an option. Sony customer support is not the best around if you ask me.
Once bought a STR-DB925QS receiever with dts & ac-3 (big thing back then) and it performed great! for one month. Then it would start crackling when you turned the volume dial. Offered it for repair twice. Never got a solution. Sold it asap to a Pawn shop in Brussels. Lost some money and decided no more sony for me. in 2007 i took the jump and bought a sony bdp-s350 blu ray player. Up and running until this day but replaced it with a cheap Panasonic 3d machine. Now waiting for the Panasonic UHD player

is it really 30kg or its a typo? That puts it in league with HLD-X0 in weight.

It seems like it really is that heavy.
http://page8.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h202817489
http://page14.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/a ... s475098086
I don't think two sellers would make the exact same typo in this case. An interesting player that I wasn't aware of for sure.

Looks like it has a vibration dampening plate on the bottom. That's why the X0 and S2 are so freakin' heavy BTW.

then it would be a b**ch to get it shipped from Japan.

There's always SAL...



Fair enough. I guess mileage varies with Sony. I've always had good experiences with Sony since my first walkman in 1990. Only exception was the tray doors on the two Sony LD players I've had..