I recently bought a CLD-2950 to supplement my DVL-919e which has an issue with digital audio cutting out sometimes.

The player was listed as working fine but this has unfortunately turned out to untrue. When first installed the player would not accept LDs. After loading the tray would retracked but a sound would emanate from the player like something was seizing up.

Simply opening the player seems to have solved this and the playback at that point did seem fine but at the very end of LD the picture first started ripping slightly and within about ten seconds after this the picture freezes up completely.
I have tried other LDs with the same result.

To me this feels like a fixable issue but I have zero experience in repair and would very much like to call on the expertise of people on this board.
Does anyone know where this issue comes from and how to fix it?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

seizing up would be the loading belt. an easy fix. the belt stretches after all these years makig it impossible to lift the mechanism assy. no worries, easy enough to replace.

the picture issue.... I'm sure someone around here might have a clue. are all connections tight?

As Kris said, the noise and transport / loading issues are related to the loading belt. You would need to order a VEB-1184 loading belt or equivalent to fix it.

As for the playback issue, this could be some obstruction related to the laser pick up assembly that could be anything from dried up grease on the rails to possibly something impinging on the ribbon cable that connects the pick-up (I had a sticky residue on my D701 that prevented movement on the pick-up that had the same symptoms you described).