technics cd player...

well, I managed to buy an ancient technics SL-P555 cd player from ebay for 6 quid...it'll be used for the bedroom - just that my gwoman was asking for one...I thought it would be better than the bog standard 50 quid one from richersounds..???

even tho this one is from around 1985...

http://www.vintagetechnics.com/cdplayers/slp555.htm

 

A mate of mine had/has that exact model. Not a bad unit at all. Still in use today I believe. It's actually from 1989 rather than 1985

 

My first CD player was a Technics,not that model,before that one,it was ok,no bass, depth,no nothing much really,but it was only £100 more or less and got me into CD.

 

I had a SL-P277 from the same era and my dad bought one the same day. I thnk they were on sale in 1990.

They were great early bitstream players. Sounded very good for the price and I know both are still working in systems.

 

I still have a Technics 5-CD Changer stored away somewhere. Used it for 3 years with 100% reliability. Neat looks and build quality. It has an error correction system that will play badly scratched CDs without any problems. Used to enjoy listening to it.

Its a shame that Jap companies have turned their back on hi-fi stereo in their persuit of AV.

 

Only the boring box pushing Japanese companies have turned their back on hi-fi. There are a zillion small makers here that make high end stuff - you just rarely see it outside Japan...

 

WOW! A poster all the way from Japan
Glad to know what you posted. It may be that big name companies are geared for high volume manufacturing and need mass markets.
Stereo hi-fi market is shrinking fast but hopefully will continued to be served by small, niche market companies.
How does quality and value of Japanese hifi comapare ?

 

Rotel is Japanese.

 

as is accuphase and reimyo....
cheers


julian

 

My Panasonic surround sound, wide-screen TV is also Japanese.

With the likes of Pioneer utilising their huge R&D budgets in the AV market and coming up with innovations such as i-link and HDMA, future stereo hifi could well be a subset of AV

 

I've got a Technics SL-P2 in the garage - circa 1985. It sounds pretty good actually, but it's a tad temperamental due to using a funny "linear" motor for the laser sled.

Twin DACs and remote, draw loading and headphone socket, and a very sleek casework, must have made this player stand out nicely in 1985:

 

I used to have a Technics SL-P777 (one up from the 555 and replacement for the 770 on the vintagetechnics site). I bought it in 1995 for the bargain price of £65 in perfect condition(later sold for more! ) . I think the RRP was £350 or more as the flagship 990/999 used to sell for £450. The 777 was battleship in size and features too, excellent build and looked great if you liked complex looking equipment. For its time the sound was quite good too - Lively but lacking in definition/refinement.

I also used to have a newer SL-PS70 (£300) which was the top model in Technics general range in 1990 - same range as the SL-P277(£160) mentioned by PumaMan. The sound was very different to the 777, being much more refined and laid back. I have now passed this to my brother, which still sounds decent in his set up.

 

Technics was a respectable name in hifi until 4/5 years ago. Then two years back Technics got gobbled up by Panasonic.

 

Urm, Technics and Panasonic have been owned by Matsushita since forever (afaik), and they've been using the same shops since the late 80s at the earliest, at least over here in the UK.

 

And Panasonic has always been an extremely well respected brand in the AV production (studios) arena anyway - producing some seriously high end AV suite hardware.

 

well, I got my cd player yesterday (after it got delivered to a neighbours house...) - well, it looks a bit rough round the edges, and it didn't come with a remote control (they said they would supply one in ebay), and there are no cables at all....but when I set it up, I was pleasantly surprised and the hifi remote was able to control it anyway...so, all in all, can't complain for 6 quid!

 

And their domestic stuff ain't bad either; our school (last time I looked - in, err, 1996) was running a first gen VHS toploader from Panasonic - 18 years old, one cracked door lid (due to Vincent's head being smashed into it by "Zippy", our IT teacher - don't ask!), 1 head drum and 3 services, but still running like a trooper.

Now that's quality!

The best bit was when you pressed play - lovely head drum spin up interference breaking through the audio channel - "vrrruuuop!"