the cheapest CD player from the 80s

[liammc00]

The CD player was sold under the Yorx name in 1988-1989 for about $100. Which was the cheapest to my knowledge as I couldn't find any listed for cheaper. Yorx is not known for high quality stuff but that being said this CD player still works perfectly all these years later with no help from me. Also the unit has a very good DAC made by Sony along with most of chips in the machine. The main microprocessor is made by Funai and I also believe this CD player was OEM by them as well as the date code sticker is exactly same one used on other funai made CD players from the 80s. Also the CD player was made in Japan as Yorx stuff came from eather Taiwan or China. I know a lot of people think funai only made junk but back in the 80s that wasn't the case at all. For more information YouTuber vwestlife did video on this CD

I got the CD player little wile back because of its neat design and it was only $4 from a Goodwill. I use the CD player hooked up to my 80s Fisher all in one stereo and for what it is sounds good. The CD player is very basic but pretty we'll made in terms of the electronics not so much the case as cut myself on the egdes as the were sharp as a nife. So ware gloves on this one or have cute finger's.

[Electronic M]

If it's cutting you get a file and file the edges dull enough to not cut...Sharp user accessible surfaces should only be tolerated on food processors.

[Tube TV]

I had much the same CD player in a cheap mini stereo. I think it was a Citizen or a Yorx. It actually played really well.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Very cool!

There was a magazine starting in the mid-1980s called "Digital Audio" (later called "CD Review" and published into the 1990s or later), that had an article about the first sub-$100 CD player, a model that sold for US$88 perhaps about the same time as your player was made. I remember the review saying it sounded pretty decent, and also commenting on its fiber board cabinet bottom (they called it "cardboard").

Your experience is yet another thing I love about the CD format. Decades later, with NO adjustments or parts replacement, and it sounds as good as new.

[DVtyro]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

Your experience is yet another thing I love about the CD format. Decades later, with NO adjustments or parts replacement, and it sounds as good as new.

One can find from service manuals that there are quite a few things that can go wrong with CD players and may need adjustment or replacement. Sadly, I have neither skills nor equipment to do such repairs, so when it stops working it goes into e-waste.

BTW, old ladder-style DACs could barely resolve 13 or 14 bits and had various A/D errors. These things have been largely fixed by the end of 1980s with brute force, then by the early 1990s with delta-sigma DACs. OTOH, 14 bits is good enough, this is how Philips wanted it.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by DVtyro

One can find from service manuals that there are quite a few things that can go wrong with CD players and may need adjustment or replacement.

I did not mean to imply that CD players never break, simply that it is possible for them to last for decades without any work needed.

My first real car CD player (from 1988-89, if I remember right) started having problems playing discs after several years. I had to replace the entire laser-optical mechanism, a US$70 part, but then it was fine again for several more years.

[MIPS]

I have the exact same Yorx player here.
Honestly if it had a front 1/4" jack and volume knob I'd use it for casual listening because the vertical loaders were always pretty to look at but they're so rare and expensive now.

[liammc00]

[QUOTE=MIPS;3246458]I have the exact same Yorx player here.
Honestly if it had a front 1/4" jack and volume knob I'd use it for casual listening because the vertical loaders were always pretty to look at but they're so rare and expensive now.[/QUOTE

I would say there rare but you can get them cheap if don't use eBay.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

I did not mean to imply that CD players never break, simply that it is possible for them to last for decades without any work needed.

I bought an Aiwa CX-NA888 bookshelf stereo system in 1999. The cassette decks worked a few years, then quit. However, the 3CD changer still works to this day. That doesn't surprise me, as I did not use the CD changer for quite a while after I bought the system; in fact, I did not use the CD changer much at all until the cassette decks gave up. Therefore, I am expecting the CD changer to work indefinitely.

Other than the cassette decks, this stereo system has worked very well since new, with no problems at all. I believe, however, the reason the cassette decks went bad as soon as they did was simply they wore out, probably due to my playing and reversing cassettes quite a bit, probably too much.

I had the system serviced the first time the cassette decks went bad, but the next time it quit I just left it alone, replacing the decks with a Radio Shack external single cassette player. That deck seems to be working well for now, but for how much longer may be anyone's guess. I say this because, even though the deck itself seems to be built very solidly and still seems to work, there are several rubber drive belts in the drive mechanism which may be on their last legs; given the age of this deck (it was new some time in the late 1980s; I purchased it on eBay some time in the '90s, IIRC), this is entirely possible. I don't know if I could find replacements for these belts today, and I do not trust my ability to replace them even if I could find new ones for a 30-year-old deck--even if I could find the proper replacements.

Another reason I don't use this deck any longer has to do with the AC power cord. It isn't worn or cracked anywhere I can see (yet, anyway), but as old as the tape deck is I wouldn't trust the cord any length of time. I am considering putting the deck back into service, however, since I have a sizable collection of cassettes I haven't listened to, literally in years. If it should eventually break down due to the drive belts wearing out or for any other reason, I will just "bite the bullet" and look on eBay for another used deck. I would think since most people are listening to CDs these days (cassettes date back to the '70s, when I was growing up), there could be quite a few used cassette decks on the used market today.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I bought an Aiwa CX-NA888 bookshelf stereo system in 1999. The cassette decks worked a few years, then quit. However, the 3CD changer still works to this day. That doesn't surprise me, as I did not use the CD changer for quite a while after I bought the system; in fact, I did not use the CD changer much at all until the cassette decks gave up. Therefore, I am expecting the CD changer to work indefinitely.

Other than the cassette decks, this stereo system has worked very well since new, with no problems at all. I believe, however, the reason the cassette decks went bad as soon as they did was simply they wore out, probably due to my playing and reversing cassettes quite a bit, probably too much.

I had the system serviced the first time the cassette decks went bad, but the next time it quit I just left it alone, replacing the decks with a Radio Shack external single cassette player. That deck seems to be working well for now, but for how much longer may be anyone's guess. I say this because, even though the deck itself seems to be built very solidly and still seems to work, there are several rubber drive belts in the drive mechanism which may be on their last legs; given the age of this deck (it was new some time in the late 1980s; I purchased it on eBay some time in the '90s, IIRC), this is entirely possible. I don't know if I could find replacements for these belts today, and I do not trust my ability to replace them even if I could find new ones for a 30-year-old deck--even if I could find the proper replacements.

Another reason I don't use this deck any longer has to do with the AC power cord. It isn't worn or cracked anywhere I can see (yet, anyway), but as old as the tape deck is I wouldn't trust the cord any length of time. I am considering putting the deck back into service, however, since I have a sizable collection of cassettes I haven't listened to, literally in years. If it should eventually break down due to the drive belts wearing out or for any other reason, I will just "bite the bullet" and look on eBay for another used deck. I would think since most people are listening to CDs these days (cassettes date back to the '70s, when I was growing up), there could be quite a few used cassette decks on the used market today.

Many of the cassette decks are plagued with snapped drive belts. They seem almost impossible to source. I have two high-end boom-boxes and both have bad belts.
Regarding AC power cords, I have several items that are 60 years and older that have the original line cord and plug undamaged and are perfectly safe.
If you don't trust it, unplug it if you're not using it!

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

Many of the cassette decks are plagued with snapped drive belts. They seem almost impossible to source. I have two high-end boom-boxes and both have bad belts.
Regarding AC power cords, I have several items that are 60 years and older that have the original line cord and plug undamaged and are perfectly safe.
If you don't trust it, unplug it if you're not using it!

I've heard eBay has cassette belt assortments...I probably should pick some up.

Speaking of eBay and cassette decks I got a DCC deck for Christmas and it ended up getting returned because it was under packed and USPS wrecked it.

[MIPS]

I've seen those bulk assortment of belts before. I've considered buying sets of flat, square and round but I've always wondered given how often it's a total pain to get the new belts on if these offshore replacements are going to last another 20 years or 5 years at most.

[user181]

Originally Posted by MIPS

I've seen those bulk assortment of belts before. I've considered buying sets of flat, square and round but I've always wondered given how often it's a total pain to get the new belts on if these offshore replacements are going to last another 20 years or 5 years at most.

That's a fair point, but at least 5 years of use is better than the product not working at all.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by user181

That's a fair point, but at least 5 years of use is better than the product not working at all.

+1. It's better than my main Philips turntable which for several years, on a monthly basis, got a new belt made of 3 rubber bands spliced together with superglue because I kept forgetting to order an actual belt and I wanted to listen to music NOW, not a week from now.... Despite the hastle of repetition, it worked surprisingly well.

[liammc00]

On most of those belt assortment kits that I have ever bought have been of inferior quality. The mixer of belt ingredients are not well done which leaves parts of the belt that are grippy and slice and along with that the thickness being not the same all around the belt. These things combine makes the belts no good for things that need accurate speed like a capstone on cassette deck or turntable plater extra. For other uses that are not speed critical the are fine. If you want good belts go to turntableneedles.com . They are more expensive but if need good accurate speed the are worth it.