Denon DCD-1800

[TLS Guy]

I now have this top of the line 1985 CD player from Denon for sale.

I bought this player about 10 or 12 years ago on eBay, and never liked it.

It was slow, did not play a disc with more than 14 tracks and did not sound that good.

Since I was still working then, and busy, I assumed that was the way those were.

I got it out with my Revox B225 which I bought new in 1984.

There was a member who wanted an eighties CD player built like a tank.

I found the performance of the above player not to my liking and so I fixed the Revox, B225 and sold it to the member for $385.00. He received it yesterday and is thrilled with it. He had a good deal, as one sold after that sale on eBay for nearly $700.00!

So before boxing up the Denon DCD-1800, I decided to investigate further today. I decided the players could not have been that bad. So I decided to put in on the bench. Fortunately a fix was possible without a service manual.

Anyhow it turns out there was a laser misalignment problem. This may be why it came up for sale, or occurred in shipping, more likely the latter, as I seem to remember the unit was not packed obsessionally.

I have tested this unit thoroughly and it now plays unlimited tracks and the functions are faster but not super fast. There is now only very slight ringing at 20 kHz, but the scope pictures look very acceptable, whereas before they were embarrassing.

The unit has a very few light scratches on the side panels. So light I can not photograph them. I rate the unit 9/10 cosmetically.

Here are the pictures.

On the bench connected to the dual channel scope showing a 500 Hz sine wave both channels, left is top, right is bottom. Note the player is playing track 27 and also showing the correct sub track index.

15 kHz tones.

20 kHz tones

You will note the trace is a little thicker indicating the presence of small amounts of harmonics from the brick wall anti aliasing filters. This was not present on the Revox, but this unit is giving a good result for a player from 1985.

The Audiogon Blue book value for this player is $120.00

So I will take offers. If there is no interest it will go up on eBay next week.

This unit has been thoroughly serviced tested and played today.

Note that this unit will not play computer generated CDs as is typical of players of that date. For some reason the Revox does, and I understand Macs of the period do, but I'm not aware of any others that do, from that period.

There is no digital out, as this unit was manufactured long before the AES/EBU/SPDIF standards were introduced.

The unit is heavy and truly built like a tank. It is heavier than the Revox.

The buyer, will need to pay shipping and professional packing. There is no locking of the CD mechanism, like the Revox has and I want to minimize the risk of the laser getting out of whack in transit.

PM me with any interest.

I'm going to be off loading other gear, that I will realistically never have a use for. All will be tested and serviced where necessary.

 

[TLS Guy]

I now have this top of the line 1985 CD player from Denon for sale.

I bought this player about 10 or 12 years ago on eBay, and never liked it.

It was slow, did not play a disc with more than 14 tracks and did not sound that good.

Since I was still working then, and busy, I assumed that was the way those were.

I got it out with my Revox B225 which I bought new in 1984.

There was a member who wanted an eighties CD player built like a tank.

I found the performance of the above player not to my liking and so I fixed the Revox, B225 and sold it to the member for $385.00. He received it yesterday and is thrilled with it. He had a good deal, as one sold after that sale on eBay for nearly $700.00!

So before boxing up the Denon DCD-1800, I decided to investigate further today. I decided the players could not have been that bad. So I decided to put in on the bench. Fortunately a fix was possible without a service manual.

Anyhow it turns out there was a laser misalignment problem. This may be why it came up for sale, or occurred in shipping, more likely the latter, as I seem to remember the unit was not packed obsessionally.

I have tested this unit thoroughly and it now plays unlimited tracks and the functions are faster but not super fast. There is now only very slight ringing at 20 kHz, but the scope pictures look very acceptable, whereas before they were embarrassing.

The unit has a very few light scratches on the side panels. So light I can not photograph them. I rate the unit 9/10 cosmetically.

Here are the pictures.

On the bench connected to the dual channel scope showing a 500 Hz sine wave both channels, left is top, right is bottom. Note the player is playing track 27 and also showing the correct sub track index.

15 kHz tones.

20 kHz tones

You will note the trace is a little thicker indicating the presence of small amounts of harmonics from the brick wall anti aliasing filters. This was not present on the Revox, but this unit is giving a good result for a player from 1985.

The Audiogon Blue book value for this player is $120.00

So I will take offers. If there is no interest it will go up on eBay next week.

This unit has been thoroughly serviced tested and played today.

Note that this unit will not play computer generated CDs as is typical of players of that date. For some reason the Revox does, and I understand Macs of the period do, but I'm not aware of any others that do, from that period.

There is no digital out, as this unit was manufactured long before the AES/EBU/SPDIF standards were introduced.

The unit is heavy and truly built like a tank. It is heavier than the Revox.

The buyer, will need to pay shipping and professional packing. There is no locking of the CD mechanism, like the Revox has and I want to minimize the risk of the laser getting out of whack in transit.

PM me with any interest.

I'm going to be off loading other gear, that I will realistically never have a use for. All will be tested and serviced where necessary.

Shameless Bump!

 

[Hocky]

Wow, I didn't even realize the CD's were main stream at all in 85. lol

 

[TLS Guy]

Wow, I didn't even realize the CD's were main stream at all in 85. lol

This 1984 Revox B225, I bought new, that I just sold is a superb player. It was the first really good player, and still up there with the best of them. Sometimes they go for over $1000 on eBay.

 

[TLS Guy]

Good value on built like a tank, CD player.

Another bump.

 

[TLS Guy]

Another bump.

This unit sold today, almost immediately on eBay, for the Buy it Now price of $120, which is the Audiogon Blue Book value.

 

[Alex2507]

This unit sold today, almost immediately on eBay, for the Buy it Now price of $120, which is the Audiogon Blue Book value.

You should have asked for more.

 

[TLS Guy]

You should have asked for more.

May be, but I don't like ripping people off. That was a fair value. It does not play computer generated discs and there is no digital out, as it was before the AES/EBU/SPDIF standards. So that was plenty.

I do think I sold the Revox B225 to cheap may be. That unit was perfect. It sold for $385. That does play computer generated discs. I sold it to a member here who promptly got himself banned! The Audiogon range was $200 to $500. Since the sale one has sold on eBay for nearly $700, but I think that is too high. They can fetch on eBay, up to $1200, but that is ridiculous for a 1984 CD player.

Now my Garrard turntables are a different matter, as they are highly useable and a very good collector item. I would want top dollar for them. But they are not for sale. I still enjoy them immensely.

And don't forget your AR motor was free!

By the way, next item up, are a pair of Altec Lansing 15" 411-8A woofers. I bought these new in 1974. I used them in a set of cabinets, I used for sound reinforcement in large auditoriums and occasionally for disco for special requests. I guarantee you would have never heard a disco sound like that. These drivers are rare, and for sealed cabinets only. Properly loaded they give the perfect rendition of the famous very snappy and tight West Coast sound of the 1970s era. The drivers were used by Altec in their Altec Santiago speakers.

If you are interested, I will help with cabinet design, HF driver selection and crossover design passive or active. Active is best, which is the way I always used them. I had to dismantle me speakers and dispose of the cabinets when I sold our Grand Forks home.

I will want $750 for the pair of those. Since you are a good carpenter, you might be interested.

 

[Alex2507]

By the way don't forget your AR motor was free!

The whole TT was free! I get to appreciate that pretty frequently.

It has to be a niche market for these old CD players. I guess the real attraction must be build quality and for some an imagined improvement in SQ or maybe it's real. I wonder how a Panny Blu-ray player would stack up against the units you tested on your scope. Have you put your Oppo on that scope?

I will want $750 for the pair of those. Since you are a good carpenter, you might be interested.

You're trying to torture my neighbors, aren't you? I still need for work to pick up before buying toys like that but thanks for the offer.

 

[TLS Guy]

The whole TT was free! I get to appreciate that pretty frequently.

It has to be a niche market for these old CD players. I guess the real attraction must be build quality and for some an imagined improvement in SQ or maybe it's real. I wonder how a Panny Blu-ray player would stack up against the units you tested on your scope. Have you put your Oppo on that scope?

No I haven't, but I have never used its analog circuits.

The Denon uses brick wall filters and you could see early ringing at 20 kHz. It sounded fine though.

The Revox though was special, and had no trace of ringing. It sounded gorgeous, and at least as good as a CD player being decoded by the DACS in my RME unit. These DACS are widely recognized as among the very best, and these units are part of the backbone of the broadcast industry.

I suspect the designer of the Revox, Roger Lagadec, avoided the ringing problem somehow. As usual for Revox, its analog circuits are second to none.

That Revox unit is remarkable for a first generation CD player, and any owner will know that its analog outputs give no quarter to any other CD player. That is quite remarkable for a first generation player. The Revox did sound better than the Denon.

 

[Alex2507]

By the way, next item up, are a pair of Altec Lansing 15" 411-8A woofers.

I just looked that up and found a pair selling for $450 each on eBay. I'm sure you won't have any trouble selling them. I'm amazed that speakers from that long ago fetch such high prices. No doubt your sales will make for some very happy audio junkies.

 

[TLS Guy]

I just looked that up and found a pair selling for $450 each on eBay. I'm sure you won't have any trouble selling them. I'm amazed that speakers from that long ago fetch such high prices. No doubt your sales will make for some very happy audio junkies.

The fact is that there are no 15" drivers of that quality, sensitivity and range made to day. For the purpose intended they are just with compare.

I don't know any other way to get that crisp punch and spl with relatively little power without them. In many ways things have gone backwards.

The other case in point are the KEF B 139 bass drivers, which I so useful and that I am so find of. They go back further than the Altec speakers. It is really surprising to me that no one has taken that design and brought it up to date. With the need for slim three ways it is a no brainer.

If I was a driver manufacturer, one of the first things I would do is get a pair of KEF B139s and improve them but keeping the T/S parameters in the sweet spot. That is what is so strange, the KEF B 139 was the first driver designed with the benefit of Thiel and Small's work. Raymond Cooke got a hole in one, with all the T/S parameters right in the sweet spot!

If we would just build on the best work of the past, we would be far further ahead than we are now. Good ones go for about $350 to $400 per pair, and they have to all be 35 to 50 years old. They still show up frequently and eBay is seldom without a pair for sale.

That shows the quality, as not a huge quantity were made.

 

[DanielP]

TLS Guy, I came across this thread via Google. I have a Denon DCD-1800R, purchased new in the mid-1980s and would like to ask some questions. OK?

 

[TLS Guy]

TLS Guy, I came across this thread via Google. I have a Denon DCD-1800R, purchased new in the mid-1980s and would like to ask some questions. OK?

What's on your mind?

 

[DanielP]

Purchased new in mid-1980s, last used about 20 years ago, always transported only after engaging the "lock shaft and red screw for transportation" on the bottom of the chassis. Now, at long last, I have plugged it in. Gets to "disc set", but then will not read the disc.

I'm attached to the machine, and wonder if you have any thoughts about getting a diagnosis on the problem and possibly repairing it (vs buying a new, higher end player).

 

[TLS Guy]

Purchased new in mid-1980s, last used about 20 years ago, always transported only after engaging the "lock shaft and red screw for transportation" on the bottom of the chassis. Now, at long last, I have plugged it in. Gets to "disc set", but then will not read the disc.

I'm attached to the machine, and wonder if you have any thoughts about getting a diagnosis on the problem and possibly repairing it (vs buying a new, higher end player).

The first thing to do is clean the laser lens.

I think if that is not the problem, repair is likely not an option for that machine.

 

[DanielP]

OK.

In medical school, the process was "see one, do one, teach one". Having never done a craniotomy on a Denon CD player, do you know of any resources that could help me to get inside the Denon skull and clean the lens?

 

[TLS Guy]

OK.

In medical school, the process was "see one, do one, teach one". Having never done a craniotomy on a Denon CD player, do you know of any resources that could help me to get inside the Denon skull and clean the lens?

Try a cleaning disc first.