During that time, the introduction of Bang and Olufssen's cd players were beautifully designed and the rage of Europe. There are really great cd players today from affordable to the very high end. The CD will not go away, as so many people enjoy their sound and clarity.
Anyone remember buying DEFECTIVE CD's and DVD's when they were initially released? I had a few, and thought it was a FAD that would eventually die so I kept all of my vinyl. Still have all my vinyl, and I'll never give up my CD's either. I'll never subscribe for music, or rely on the CLOUDS which will also have a charge on them in the future. Every company these days wants subscriptions. A virtually continuous flow of money EVERY MONTH. HELL NO. NOT FROM ME.
8:00 *It´s from a HiFi Dealer / Repair Shop from West-Berlin named ZUMHOLZ.* It was sold for 948 DM (Deutsche Mark) on the 21. March 1984 for cash. The orange letters means: _"You know it.... we repair really everything. Because we can!"_
This Phillips player WAS sold in the United States as a Magnavox. It was EXACTLY like the Phillips unit. As one who was able to contrast this unit against the Sony CDP-101, I can attest to the fact that not only was it built better than the Sony, but it sounded FAR superior. The Sony’s 16-bit DAC was lousy, and it made the CDP-101 sound harsh with very a distorted top end. The problem was that 16-bit DACs were barely doable in the early 1980’s and the ones that Sony made were not very linear. The 14-bit Phillips DAC was much better. If you were an audiophile in those days, you bought the Phillips/Magnavox unit. I loved mine and kept it for about 7 years before I heard anything that I thought sounded better. I replaced the unit with a Luxman in the early 1990s.
I stumbled across this video and couldn't believe it. My first player was the Magnavox. The audio shop where I bought it said Phillips had excess units and allowed Magnovox to sell under their name. It had cost up to $1,000 in Europe. I think I paid about $200 and got my pock of three CDs. It sounded great. Very well built. Eventually, I passed it on to my brother who is still using it.
I bought a cd100 in 83 it cost me just under £400 at the time a lot of money for me as I only earned £179 a mth I ordered the player without having ever seen one or hearing one I still have my original demo cd
@@billdang3953 Yes, exactly, it somehow has a bit of a throwback to the 70s as well due to the buttons, but because it lacks the wood panels on the side, it looks very modern.
Nothing wrong with the audio performance of these players, they sound lovely! Dual ceramic TDA1540 14bit with oversampling DACs, unlike the Sony that used a 16bit single DAC, time share split between the channels. Nice video 👍 :)
That Sample-and-Hold technique was used right up through the early 90s by various audio manufacturers. I have several Roland synthesizers that use a good (for the time) Burr Brown DAC to multiplex anywhere from two to SIX analog outputs.
@@johneygd the bit depth affects dynamic range. 14 bits still gives you 16,384 discreet levels to describe the specific voltage level of each sample, whereas 16 bits give you 65536 levels to describe that same voltage level of the sample. The number of samples still remains at 44,100 per second. So it's actual dynamic range, which means you'll get a slightly higher noise floor, whether you can hear that realistically I'm not sure. I'm sure some people might claim to with the right recording ;)
In the UK You got a copy of "Now That's What I Call Music 4" a single disc that was exclusive when You purchased one of these. I still have mine, and the player still works.
Philips did a lot of innovation in those days. Based on the CD-100 they also made a CDROM player. It had a different undertray than the CD-100 which contained an extra circuit board and a large bulky SCSI connector to connect it to the computer. I am not sure if it was ever sold on the open market or if it was just a pre-series. I got mine from the Philips surplus store somewhere in 1991/1992 and by then it of course was outdated, but other CDROM players were not that widely available either. Imagine a single-speed CDROM, it required the full 70 minutes of audio disc play time to read the entire CDROM. But then, computers were not that fast anyway.
Great to see one again. 🙂 The empty slot on the top right in the binder should have contained the transport screws that the owner would have removed before use. They would sit in the bottom of the player to secure the laser arm during transport. Looks like they got lost along the way. 🙂 My own Philips CD 150 had them as well.
That unit uses the original CDM1 transport. It was all die-cast metal, and utilized the single beam laser swing arm system. Built like a tank, and used in a lot of high end CD players of the period. Unlike the Sony, which had a separate dc motor with belt and gear train to drive the laser sled, this unit used a linear motor attached directly to the swing arm. As I recall, the Sony CDP 1 used a single DAC that was switched between channels. This unit used dual 14 bit DACs that were combined with 4x oversampling to yield (theoretical) 15 bits resolution. In actual practice, it was less than that, but so was the Sony. It took some years to perfect the circuits, with the second generation machines having quite a bit better performance.
The voice coil motors were interesting, certainly mechanically less complex, and more than adequate for CD audio. But when CDs got repurposed for CD-ROM, the moving mass was a liability. I do have a Media Vision Reno 2x portable SCSI CD-ROM that uses a Philips pickup mechanism, but that was about the last time it was viable. Not that anyone was thinking about sub-100ms random access in 1980. ;-) It's just an interesting consequence of each manufacturer's engineering approach.
Wow the "owners book" is super fancy! So many brochures with colourful graphics and theory, and a demo disc even! Btw, the empty slot is not for extra fuses, it's for storing the transport screws...oh well guess they're gone for good by now ':D Thanks for this nice video!
Those brochures need to be scanned for posterity. So neat to see the contemporarily literature. I bet hardly any of those lasted, even with this magnificent binder they gave you. A couple of moves to different homes, and they are gone in the shuffle. No doubt this binder with the demo CD and all didn't last long, next model I'm sure they dropped it. Heck for 948DM its nice they give you a binder with demo CD and manual. Conversion from DM to USD to todays inflation and this thing was nearly $850 new. About $350 stateside at the time. I assume the Magnavox rebadge was similarly priced.
At 9:06 in the manual, there is a Dutch chapter calling a CD "plaat", which is a Dutch word mostly used to refer to a vinyl record. Amazing that Philips initially called it the same!
Interesting to see this significant player again. The styling is very much of its time - it would have gone well with the Panasonic VHS recorder I had then. I imagine it will sell for considerably more than its original price. It would have made more, I expect, if you hadn't added scratches by scraping the box all over it and roughly handling all the original documentation! A view of the back panel would have been appreciated. I imagine there will be alternative RCA and DIN connections. If you show more care and a steadier camera hand in future productions, I might 'Like' and 'Subscribe'.
The 120V version was sold here as the Magnavox FD1000SL. As a matter of fact all of these players are equipped with multivoltage power transformers. The service manual shows how to wire them internally for the desired mains voltage. Oh and there was Marantz version as well. In champagne color, the CD-63.
Oh yeah, and bending the pages of the brochures backward around the vinyl sleeves... throwing the old foam packing around... >< C'mon man, this is a piece of history that has been cared-for over the last almost FORTY years. Try and be respectful of that. Don't get all ham-fisted and ruin it now. It makes me a little concerned about how careful they are with "reconditioning" the stuff they buy and re-sell.
@@nickwallette6201 that and missing really obvious info -- "I don't know what this was for" -- it literally says "store transport screws here", missing the date printed on the invoice, etc
I have the Marantz one which is basically the same but gold colour model cd63-I bought it new in the UK in 1984 when the first discounts came in but still very expensive. You can program it to play in any order by pressing select then store for each track. At the time disks were not normally more than 15 tracks but if you play one it will play past 15 but isn't programmable. Disks were few and far between in 1984 and had to be ordered. Meridian made or rather modified a black version which had upgraded electronics. Mine still works but I have a spare Philips one that doesn't-common fault is dust in the switch that detects the lid is closed and also the pcb was duel sided and the through rivets failed electrically-fixed by soldering a wire through the rivet. There was also a front loading version with the same kind of bar led display. The first model CD at the chain store I worked had the later Hitachi DA1000 which has a door that opens frontways that was prone to damage-I have a broken (no TOC) one but ironically the door works!
I bought one of these in 1984 in UK. It stopped working soon after the warranty expired. I obtained the technical manual for the device and tried to fix it myself, but there were too many specialist test and setup tools I would have needed to go though all the faultfinding procedures so I cut my losses and replaced the player with a new front-loading model instead, which by then had come down quite a bit in price.
The most common problem I've found on these is a pair of bipolar electrolytic capacitors in the turntable motor feedback. Change them and the player will work again. There's also a very hard worked 100uF capacitor in the PSU that dies early.
Really enjoying these videos. I've read a few places where people raved about the great analog sound of this player. I have never heard one, so I have no clue. You mentioned in the narration that it's not an audiophile player, which, based on how new the technology was, seems more plausible. How would you describe the sound?
This are DM948,- (DM are the old currency name Deutsche Mark - will still used in West Germany), 3-Beam Laser are at Sony Tracking System? This is a Philips Laser it move left and right in Sinus wave of 22kHz and found out the track. The Arrow Bow Tracking do this with a Motor like in a Harddisc.
The year was 1984, of course. It's hard to believe that the first Sony Discman would appear by the end of that year-a marvel of engineering compared to the Philips.
I was born in late 60's but never heard about any CD player back in 80's As a teenager i was using mono reel to reel machine later cassete tapes tobrecord music from radio and vinyl redirds. I dont remember exactly but i got my first CD player around 1990 ...
Totally right, the design aesthetic is the same. The first gen of the older laserdisc players were also top loading by Philips .They have a neat look to them, it's unique, but was not convenient to deal with. Nothing could stack on top, or sit under the tv like a hifi setup. Had to have enough room to flip the top up..
I had the same issue with mine. Sold it on eBay as defective, but still got a very high price. Must be a known issue and easy to fix. Sure it is belt-driven?
I sold both versions when the CD player was launched. CD players caused great controversy when they were launched. Some people preferred the softer sound of the Phillips machines whist enthusiasts said the Sony gave much higher clarity and detail. The Linn Turntable brigand hated all CDS with a vengeance. To my ears you could tell that the Philipps had lowered resolution then the Sony CDP101.
Yeh, I remember all the CD hater Linn fans. Even Ivor Tiefenbrun himself was very vocal about it. And then Linn introduced a CD player, and shut a lot of them up. Linn still makes the LP12 turntable, but most of their other products are digital now.
Great videos. thanks! I agree though, doing stuff like setting the box on top and sliding it all around on top of the cd player made me cringe.. reminded me of a curb your enthusiasm episode about putting a coffee cup directly on a wood table.. respect the wood! Ha
This looks identical to the first Magnavox CD player that I had. And, iirc, it was also a 14 bit unit. I wonder if they were the same unit, but just branded "Magnavox"?
Just curious: what happened if your CD had more than 15 tracks? I understand that back then most of them didn’t, but anyways just curious how the player would react, and if even would recognise/read the disc at all.
Nice, I had the second player Marantz produced, same swing arm laser assembly, pity it died. Maybe I should have tried to fix it, however years ago, it had zero value.
Marantz CD-73? That’s a nice machine. I have a CD-54, which was an updated CD-34, which in turn was Marantz’s version of the Phillips CD104. It’s my second one - I (in hindsight rather stupidly) gave the first one away. They seem rather collectible now, and sound superb. Maybe not as good as a decent modern player, but they have a more ‘analogue’ sound, which I like immensely.
Hi I am from Neel Mukherjee from India i have a Philips discman which works inconsistently. I sent it for servicing a few times but nothing changed. Would be interested in setting this right if I send the discman through Fedex to you in the USA ? Shall appreciate a reoly.
The original Philips CD DID NOT HAVE a table of contents. It actually moves the laser and looks for the track number. This is the second version of the CD-100. The next version which i believe is the cd-200 did the same thing. The unit you have is a 1983 version. The first version of this unit was made in 1981, and it also had a dual bar graph audio level meter mounted on the top where you currently have air vents towards the back. The one you have is mint! The fastest reading CD player was the Sony CDP-102, and Sony knew about Philips sluggish read. If you think about it, in 1981 people thought it was cool that it could locate the track, nobody cared if it was perfect or if it took a second, it was better than cuing a record! It also has to be able to read japan discs which are not exactly the same.
If it was made in 1981, it was a prototype. Philips dates the CD launch in Europe for 1st of march 1983. CDs from Sony and Philips are the same, following Redbook standard, which means the disc had to have a TOC.
@Monochromatik-Vision coming to think of it, I think it's the CD-rw format it was refusing. Long time ago I played my last CD on my CD-101, it's in storage now, will bring it back soon as eye-catcher (operational).
@Monochromatik-Vision A specific adjustment needs to be done on the player to be able to deal with CD-RW, I remember buying a portable CD-player that specifically stated to be CD-RW compatible. Here's the tachnical rationale: What types of devices read CD-RW discs? Written CD-RW discs have slightly different optical characteristics (lower reflectivity and signal modulation) than prerecorded (pressed) and written CD-R discs and therefore are not as widely compatible. They can be read only on MultiRead-compliant CD-ROM drives, CD-R/RW recorders and MultiRead-compliant DVD-ROM drives and recorders. CD-RW discs are, in addition, compatible with some consumer electronics devices including MultiPlay-compliant portable, car and set-top CD audio players and MultiPlay-compliant DVD-Video players and recorders. Again, all CD and DVD devices that read CD-RW discs do not necessarily display the MultiRead or MultiPlay logos. If in doubt, consult with the hardware manufacturer.
@Monochromatik-Vision I think it has to do with the difference reflectivity of CD-R and CD-RW discs. I have a Philips five-disc carousel CD Player that won't play recordable CDs and I think that is the reason. Since then, I've followed the rule that unless the Instruction Manuals specifically says it will play CD-Rs and CD-RWs it won't.
I had a fairly early DVD player, that played CDRW just fine, but not CDR at all. I just assumed the more focused laser for DVD simply caused less interference scattering from the less reflective RW or some such, and therefore read those discs easier. But IDK really.
Yup, repairing it is a rite of passage for working on old gear. Repairing the CD100 is much simpler as the LSI revolution reduced the component count so much and put delicate capacitance/inductance oscillators and decoders etc on a single IC rather than stretched out over several metal cans as in the old LaserVision - I'm guessing the reason why CD took so long to get to market after it's prototype, waiting for the whole bunch of LSIs to shrink the player from the size of a filling cabinet to something you could hold on one hand. Crazy to think the Sony Discman was only 18 months after the original Philips CD100 went on sale - and that is a work of miniaturisation.
As with the cdp101 of Sony super complex build players and they all need major overhauls by now if you wish to keep enjoying them. These were both (the Sony cdp101 was even first hair before the Philips actually ) released. They both posses cast laser pick ups what not. The dacs are nothing to write home about ,IMHO still sounds more than enough for most golden eared audiophiles that thjnk they can hear major differences. Issues are the electrolytic caps,by now totally need to be replaced if you wish these to be reliable . The hardware itself,easily will outlive uss a few times over when maintained properly. Most audio guys don't even know how to hold a soldering iron unfortunately let alone restore one of them properly.
How can it be the first ever CD player sold in the EU. When it was launched there was no EU. You mean Western Europe and it wasn't all Western European countries. Yes it's D Marks.
Well there's an opinion. The Sony is pretty standard as all the players would look like from that moment onwards. The Philips was based on the then still silver matt look of the hifi in that era. Many appreciate that look, but it all comes down to your preference.
Outdated and shitty, indeed. But it's a thing of its time and there aren't many left. I like it because it looks different. I also have the Sony CDP-101 and the Hitachi DA-1000R - they all do the same job, play a CD, but they do it in completely different ways. They also sound totally different, the Hitachi sounds most like what I'd expect CD to sound like, the Phillips is smoother almost rounded off edges (good for jazz/classical) the Sony is overly bright and harsh, but can be tamed with some component swapping. No one listens to music on these things as they sound terrible compared to modern DACs with the same source.
No it doesn't violate the spec that has been written by Philips itself, with some annoying interference from Sony. Philips included Sony, to prevent another Video2000/BetaMax vs VHS disaster and come with a new world standard for digital music. A unique Dutch way to jointly introduce a standard and create a win-win.
About the little slot questioned at 12:05; it might be to hold the transport screws. My brother got one of these in the late 80’s and still has it :) The player has screws with paper tags warning you to screw the transport mechanism down during shipping. Hopefully you ship using them? I had to look away when the box was placed on the CD player … This looks like a very nice example, and even better with the binder, contents and box. Cool.
During that time, the introduction of Bang and Olufssen's cd players were beautifully designed and the rage of Europe. There are really great cd players today from affordable to the very high end. The CD will not go away, as so many people enjoy their sound and clarity.
Anyone remember buying DEFECTIVE CD's and DVD's when they were initially released? I had a few, and thought it was a FAD that would eventually die so I kept all of my vinyl. Still have all my vinyl, and I'll never give up my CD's either. I'll never subscribe for music, or rely on the CLOUDS which will also have a charge on them in the future. Every company these days wants subscriptions. A virtually continuous flow of money EVERY MONTH. HELL NO. NOT FROM ME.
Pay subscriptions are one thing, hw about pay for play which is what it will likely become, wouldn't that be a cash cow for music company insiders?
8:00 *It´s from a HiFi Dealer / Repair Shop from West-Berlin named ZUMHOLZ.*
It was sold for 948 DM (Deutsche Mark) on the 21. March 1984 for cash.
The orange letters means: _"You know it.... we repair really everything. Because we can!"_
Watching this makes me feel old but I will always love CDs
Because they are great!
This Phillips player WAS sold in the United States as a Magnavox. It was EXACTLY like the Phillips unit. As one who was able to contrast this unit against the Sony CDP-101, I can attest to the fact that not only was it built better than the Sony, but it sounded FAR superior. The Sony’s 16-bit DAC was lousy, and it made the CDP-101 sound harsh with very a distorted top end. The problem was that 16-bit DACs were barely doable in the early 1980’s and the ones that Sony made were not very linear. The 14-bit Phillips DAC was much better. If you were an audiophile in those days, you bought the Phillips/Magnavox unit. I loved mine and kept it for about 7 years before I heard anything that I thought sounded better. I replaced the unit with a Luxman in the early 1990s.
For a pioneering CD player (i.e., one of the very first), the Magnavox was a great sounding unit. I wish mine hadn’t died.
Yes indeed, it was marketed both as the Magnavox FD1000 _AND_ as the Marantz -FD63- (sorry, i meant *CD-63*) in various markets.
@@BertGrink Marantz CD63?
@@piotr433 Yes; sorry i mixed it up.
I stumbled across this video and couldn't believe it. My first player was the Magnavox. The audio shop where I bought it said Phillips had excess units and allowed Magnovox to sell under their name. It had cost up to $1,000 in Europe. I think I paid about $200 and got my pock of three CDs. It sounded great. Very well built. Eventually, I passed it on to my brother who is still using it.
I bought a cd100 in 83 it cost me just under £400 at the time a lot of money for me as I only earned £179 a mth
I ordered the player without having ever seen one or hearing one
I still have my original demo cd
Where did you get your CDs records from. I never heard of CD back in early 80's we were using reel to reel cassete tapes and vinyl records.
That industrial design with matte silver looks very good.
Looks very modern and would fit very well with a silver Yamaha A-S1200 integrated amp!
I thought similarly in that it is most unusual to se a silver face CD player introduced during the black face audio component era.
@@billdang3953 Yes, exactly, it somehow has a bit of a throwback to the 70s as well due to the buttons, but because it lacks the wood panels on the side, it looks very modern.
Beautiful design.
Nothing wrong with the audio performance of these players, they sound lovely! Dual ceramic TDA1540 14bit with oversampling DACs, unlike the Sony that used a 16bit single DAC, time share split between the channels. Nice video 👍 :)
That Sample-and-Hold technique was used right up through the early 90s by various audio manufacturers. I have several Roland synthesizers that use a good (for the time) Burr Brown DAC to multiplex anywhere from two to SIX analog outputs.
I will never understand how you could “fake” god 16bit with 14bit dacs trough the use off oversampling,mmm.
@@johneygd the bit depth affects dynamic range. 14 bits still gives you 16,384 discreet levels to describe the specific voltage level of each sample, whereas 16 bits give you 65536 levels to describe that same voltage level of the sample. The number of samples still remains at 44,100 per second. So it's actual dynamic range, which means you'll get a slightly higher noise floor, whether you can hear that realistically I'm not sure. I'm sure some people might claim to with the right recording ;)
In the UK You got a copy of "Now That's What I Call Music 4" a single disc that was exclusive when You purchased one of these. I still have mine, and the player still works.
having the successor Philips CD 303, still running fine, never had been serviced.
Hang on to it! So cool to have this gear in this day and age. Can only imagine in the future...
Impressively well preserved in all its components. Rare to see now a days
Thank you very much to get this one and make this video , you satisfy my curiosity in teenager era.
Philips did a lot of innovation in those days.
Based on the CD-100 they also made a CDROM player. It had a different undertray than the CD-100 which contained an extra circuit board and a large bulky SCSI connector to connect it to the computer. I am not sure if it was ever sold on the open market or if it was just a pre-series.
I got mine from the Philips surplus store somewhere in 1991/1992 and by then it of course was outdated, but other CDROM players were not that widely available either.
Imagine a single-speed CDROM, it required the full 70 minutes of audio disc play time to read the entire CDROM.
But then, computers were not that fast anyway.
Great to see one again. 🙂 The empty slot on the top right in the binder should have contained the transport screws that the owner would have removed before use. They would sit in the bottom of the player to secure the laser arm during transport. Looks like they got lost along the way. 🙂 My own Philips CD 150 had them as well.
That unit uses the original CDM1 transport. It was all die-cast metal, and utilized the single beam laser swing arm system. Built like a tank, and used in a lot of high end CD players of the period. Unlike the Sony, which had a separate dc motor with belt and gear train to drive the laser sled, this unit used a linear motor attached directly to the swing arm. As I recall, the Sony CDP 1 used a single DAC that was switched between channels. This unit used dual 14 bit DACs that were combined with 4x oversampling to yield (theoretical) 15 bits resolution. In actual practice, it was less than that, but so was the Sony. It took some years to perfect the circuits, with the second generation machines having quite a bit better performance.
VERY COOL Info! Thanks so much for sharing and watching!!
The voice coil motors were interesting, certainly mechanically less complex, and more than adequate for CD audio. But when CDs got repurposed for CD-ROM, the moving mass was a liability. I do have a Media Vision Reno 2x portable SCSI CD-ROM that uses a Philips pickup mechanism, but that was about the last time it was viable.
Not that anyone was thinking about sub-100ms random access in 1980. ;-) It's just an interesting consequence of each manufacturer's engineering approach.
Philips made CD players for Rotel.
Wow the "owners book" is super fancy! So many brochures with colourful graphics and theory, and a demo disc even!
Btw, the empty slot is not for extra fuses, it's for storing the transport screws...oh well guess they're gone for good by now ':D
Thanks for this nice video!
Those brochures need to be scanned for posterity. So neat to see the contemporarily literature. I bet hardly any of those lasted, even with this magnificent binder they gave you. A couple of moves to different homes, and they are gone in the shuffle. No doubt this binder with the demo CD and all didn't last long, next model I'm sure they dropped it. Heck for 948DM its nice they give you a binder with demo CD and manual. Conversion from DM to USD to todays inflation and this thing was nearly $850 new. About $350 stateside at the time. I assume the Magnavox rebadge was similarly priced.
I owned one of these 14bit players before upgrading to the Hitachi DA1000 - a true 16bit machine for the time. Exciting times 👍
At 9:06 in the manual, there is a Dutch chapter calling a CD "plaat", which is a Dutch word mostly used to refer to a vinyl record. Amazing that Philips initially called it the same!
Interesting to see this significant player again. The styling is very much of its time - it would have gone well with the Panasonic VHS recorder I had then.
I imagine it will sell for considerably more than its original price. It would have made more, I expect, if you hadn't added scratches by scraping the box all over it and roughly handling all the original documentation! A view of the back panel would have been appreciated. I imagine there will be alternative RCA and DIN connections. If you show more care and a steadier camera hand in future productions, I might 'Like' and 'Subscribe'.
Nice device. It is valuable, because it is history and everything is included, even the original box. 👍
The date IS on the receipt - "datum" - March 21, 1984.
948 Deutsche Mark in 1984 is about $$340.00 USD, or about $900.00 USD in 2022.
Well how about that... Good eye and research - thank you!
I'll take Roxy Music, King Crimson, Rush, Dimeola and Jarre.... all very worthy of being among the first CDs.
I love these cds
They are here still today
The 120V version was sold here as the Magnavox FD1000SL. As a matter of fact all of these players are equipped with multivoltage power transformers. The service manual shows how to wire them internally for the desired mains voltage. Oh and there was Marantz version as well. In champagne color, the CD-63.
The Marantz CD-63 was also available in a black version.
Puts box STRAIGHT ON TOP of mint vintage audio component!
saw that, made me cringe a bit, but it's not mine... I own my fathers CD-101 with pride!
Oh yeah, and bending the pages of the brochures backward around the vinyl sleeves... throwing the old foam packing around... >< C'mon man, this is a piece of history that has been cared-for over the last almost FORTY years. Try and be respectful of that. Don't get all ham-fisted and ruin it now.
It makes me a little concerned about how careful they are with "reconditioning" the stuff they buy and re-sell.
@@nickwallette6201 that and missing really obvious info -- "I don't know what this was for" -- it literally says "store transport screws here", missing the date printed on the invoice, etc
I have the Marantz one which is basically the same but gold colour model cd63-I bought it new in the UK in 1984 when the first discounts came in but still very expensive. You can program it to play in any order by pressing select then store for each track. At the time disks were not normally more than 15 tracks but if you play one it will play past 15 but isn't programmable. Disks were few and far between in 1984 and had to be ordered. Meridian made or rather modified a black version which had upgraded electronics. Mine still works but I have a spare Philips one that doesn't-common fault is dust in the switch that detects the lid is closed and also the pcb was duel sided and the through rivets failed electrically-fixed by soldering a wire through the rivet. There was also a front loading version with the same kind of bar led display. The first model CD at the chain store I worked had the later Hitachi DA1000 which has a door that opens frontways that was prone to damage-I have a broken (no TOC) one but ironically the door works!
There was also a black version of the Marantz CD63 :D
@@BertGrink not seen one in black other than Meridian.
I bought one of these in 1984 in UK. It stopped working soon after the warranty expired. I obtained the technical manual for the device and tried to fix it myself, but there were too many specialist test and setup tools I would have needed to go though all the faultfinding procedures so I cut my losses and replaced the player with a new front-loading model instead, which by then had come down quite a bit in price.
The most common problem I've found on these is a pair of bipolar electrolytic capacitors in the turntable motor feedback. Change them and the player will work again. There's also a very hard worked 100uF capacitor in the PSU that dies early.
very nice review .. 1984 feeling
No backside view? Would be interesting to see if this had DIN for the output.
There is no DIN just phono pair and a fixed power lead. DIN tended to be on older stuff from the 70s in the UK at least
@@kelvinhoughton7953 pretty strange. Because DIN was still normal in Philips machine in 83/85 ( in Italy, together with Scart)
Never owned a top loader but always liked the look of the Musical Fidelity Frog Eye
Really enjoying these videos. I've read a few places where people raved about the great analog sound of this player. I have never heard one, so I have no clue.
You mentioned in the narration that it's not an audiophile player, which, based on how new the technology was, seems more plausible.
How would you describe the sound?
I worked on these players in the 80's, quality machines..
This are DM948,- (DM are the old currency name Deutsche Mark - will still used in West Germany), 3-Beam Laser are at Sony Tracking System? This is a Philips Laser it move left and right in Sinus wave of 22kHz and found out the track. The Arrow Bow Tracking do this with a Motor like in a Harddisc.
The year was 1984, of course. It's hard to believe that the first Sony Discman would appear by the end of that year-a marvel of engineering compared to the Philips.
The Sony one looks much more modern like it could almost have been produced today while this Philips player has more of a 70´s look.
If anyone wants to know the price converted... It was bought for 948DM ($333 USD) in 1984 which in todays money is $1011 USD.
sooooo beautiful
The whole package is very cool. How much did you end up selling it for?
No video on the back! 😔
4:48 TOC... you mean the table of content I guess ;-)
I was born in late 60's but never heard about any CD player back in 80's As a teenager i was using mono reel to reel machine later cassete tapes tobrecord music from radio and vinyl redirds. I dont remember exactly but i got my first CD player around 1990 ...
i had that cd player well made lock the lazer in place taking it some wear
The top loader design has nothing to do with vinyl record players, but is rather in line with their V2000 video recorders of those days.
Totally right, the design aesthetic is the same. The first gen of the older laserdisc players were also top loading by Philips .They have a neat look to them, it's unique, but was not convenient to deal with. Nothing could stack on top, or sit under the tv like a hifi setup. Had to have enough room to flip the top up..
Still got one of these - it powers up but doesn't spin the disc at full speed. Belts worn most likely.
I had the same issue with mine. Sold it on eBay as defective, but still got a very high price. Must be a known issue and easy to fix. Sure it is belt-driven?
What happens when you play a cd with 16 tracks or more? 😆
The top row of leds go out, but it carries on playing how3ver many tracks are on the disc.
It lets out the magic smoke.
A black hole forms
It just stopped showing tracks above the 16 LEDs, but it would still play the “extra” tracks.
You had to buy an expansion unit that sat beside the original. This allowed for an additional 9 tracks.
Would love to read those brochures, scan them!
Yes, scan them! ;)
I sold both versions when the CD player was launched. CD players caused great controversy when they were launched.
Some people preferred the softer sound of the Phillips machines whist enthusiasts said the Sony gave much higher clarity and detail.
The Linn Turntable brigand hated all CDS with a vengeance.
To my ears you could tell that the Philipps had lowered resolution then the Sony CDP101.
The Linn turntable brigade still do, don’t they?
@@arnolddill Yes I'm a grate respecter of Linn. Brilliant company.
@@arnolddill The Linn brigade just hate digital.
@@jeremytravis360 flat earthers
Yeh, I remember all the CD hater Linn fans. Even Ivor Tiefenbrun himself was very vocal about it. And then Linn introduced a CD player, and shut a lot of them up. Linn still makes the LP12 turntable, but most of their other products are digital now.
I have CD100 and the booklet in my home
"From center to outer" is not tangential, it is radial.
Great videos. thanks! I agree though, doing stuff like setting the box on top and sliding it all around on top of the cd player made me cringe.. reminded me of a curb your enthusiasm episode about putting a coffee cup directly on a wood table.. respect the wood! Ha
I immediately thought not a place I would buy from. No respect for the gear. That box on my gear delicate top like that = spaz-out.
Great video, I can believe someone put thumbs down. 👍
This looks identical to the first Magnavox CD player that I had. And, iirc, it was also a 14 bit unit. I wonder if they were the same unit, but just branded "Magnavox"?
Magnavox is a Philips subsidiary. Philips couldn't sell his products with its own brand in the US because of Philco.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnavox
Ooh! It has a stop button.
the Sony does too, but it's labelled Reset 😄
what if there's more then 15 tracks?
Just curious: what happened if your CD had more than 15 tracks? I understand that back then most of them didn’t, but anyways just curious how the player would react, and if even would recognise/read the disc at all.
WOW una belleza antigua.....
Nice, I had the second player Marantz produced, same swing arm laser assembly, pity it died.
Maybe I should have tried to fix it, however years ago, it had zero value.
Marantz CD-73? That’s a nice machine. I have a CD-54, which was an updated CD-34, which in turn was Marantz’s version of the Phillips CD104. It’s my second one - I (in hindsight rather stupidly) gave the first one away. They seem rather collectible now, and sound superb. Maybe not as good as a decent modern player, but they have a more ‘analogue’ sound, which I like immensely.
the 948 Deutsche Mark would be about 960€ or Dollar in todays money!
Is that an original CD player with a helium-neon laser?
As I remember the first CD was released for Abba. If to say about pop music. Some classic music cds were as well.
The first CD was Eine Alpensinfonie (with Karajan conducting)
@@mateuszorlinski7334 I said about pop music as it has been written above.
Hi I am from Neel Mukherjee from India i have a Philips discman which works inconsistently. I sent it for servicing a few times but nothing changed. Would be interested in setting this right if I send the discman through Fedex to you in the USA ? Shall appreciate a reoly.
DM 948. 948 Deutchmark that is. With inflation calculated to $ 1450 in 2021
Why some CD players have 1 bit dac?
Yes, a slightly different system, I have a Philips CD630 player, from 1990, & the specs say 1 bit DAC with 27 times oversampling.
@@NOWThatsRichy It's worst than 16 or 24 bits? I think it's worst
The original Philips CD DID NOT HAVE a table of contents. It actually moves the laser and looks for the track number. This is the second version of the CD-100. The next version which i believe is the cd-200 did the same thing. The unit you have is a 1983 version. The first version of this unit was made in 1981, and it also had a dual bar graph audio level meter mounted on the top where you currently have air vents towards the back. The one you have is mint! The fastest reading CD player was the Sony CDP-102, and Sony knew about Philips sluggish read. If you think about it, in 1981 people thought it was cool that it could locate the track, nobody cared if it was perfect or if it took a second, it was better than cuing a record! It also has to be able to read japan discs which are not exactly the same.
If it was made in 1981, it was a prototype. Philips dates the CD launch in Europe for 1st of march 1983.
CDs from Sony and Philips are the same, following Redbook standard, which means the disc had to have a TOC.
It looks much nicer than the sony.
Found one of these in a thrift store once.
The Sony CD player was far more advanced then the Philips
It was also far more expensive.
While the Sony might have been more advanced than the Phillips, it merely sounded like crap.
wondering it can play CD-R or Not ?
@Monochromatik-Vision nope
@Monochromatik-Vision coming to think of it, I think it's the CD-rw format it was refusing. Long time ago I played my last CD on my CD-101, it's in storage now, will bring it back soon as eye-catcher (operational).
@Monochromatik-Vision A specific adjustment needs to be done on the player to be able to deal with CD-RW, I remember buying a portable CD-player that specifically stated to be CD-RW compatible. Here's the tachnical rationale:
What types of devices read CD-RW discs?
Written CD-RW discs have slightly different optical characteristics (lower reflectivity and signal modulation) than prerecorded (pressed) and written CD-R discs and therefore are not as widely compatible. They can be read only on MultiRead-compliant CD-ROM drives, CD-R/RW recorders and MultiRead-compliant DVD-ROM drives and recorders. CD-RW discs are, in addition, compatible with some consumer electronics devices including MultiPlay-compliant portable, car and set-top CD audio players and MultiPlay-compliant DVD-Video players and recorders. Again, all CD and DVD devices that read CD-RW discs do not necessarily display the MultiRead or MultiPlay logos. If in doubt, consult with the hardware manufacturer.
@Monochromatik-Vision I think it has to do with the difference reflectivity of CD-R and CD-RW discs. I have a Philips five-disc carousel CD Player that won't play recordable CDs and I think that is the reason. Since then, I've followed the rule that unless the Instruction Manuals specifically says it will play CD-Rs and CD-RWs it won't.
I had a fairly early DVD player, that played CDRW just fine, but not CDR at all.
I just assumed the more focused laser for DVD simply caused less interference scattering from the less reflective RW or some such, and therefore read those discs easier. But IDK really.
Wasn't the Meridian CD player based on this unit?
yes (or the very similar cd101) with upgraded electronics and black spayed case-if I recall it had faster search times
Yes.
Still for sale?
Just wondering what it does if there are more than 15 tracks.
explode. so be careful to use a cd with 16 tracks or more.
it keeps playing until the end but you can only program play order up to 15
Actually Philips CD100 sounds much better than Sony CDP-101.
wow
Anyone else out there own a Phillips Laservision Player?
Yup, repairing it is a rite of passage for working on old gear. Repairing the CD100 is much simpler as the LSI revolution reduced the component count so much and put delicate capacitance/inductance oscillators and decoders etc on a single IC rather than stretched out over several metal cans as in the old LaserVision - I'm guessing the reason why CD took so long to get to market after it's prototype, waiting for the whole bunch of LSIs to shrink the player from the size of a filling cabinet to something you could hold on one hand. Crazy to think the Sony Discman was only 18 months after the original Philips CD100 went on sale - and that is a work of miniaturisation.
high tech propably cost your salary back then.not 5 buck on free market or take it or it go trash
and if the CD have more than 15 tracks? i can't select them?
You can play them just as every other tracks. You just can't program them.
@@vresi i know i can play, i said select them
@@djmhyde I know you said select and I answered your fucking question.
Any music fan likes cds or lps making his/her collection
Very fidlely. People were probably so excited to get it but very disappointing when more up to date players were released shortly after...
You guys need to work on your miking as your voice changes a lot
It almost sounds like it keeps switching between mono & stereo
Yeah, that's just what happens when you use a camera with stereo mics. As you move around it, your voice is picked up differently.
As with the cdp101 of Sony super complex build players and they all need major overhauls by now if you wish to keep enjoying them.
These were both (the Sony cdp101 was even first hair before the Philips actually ) released.
They both posses cast laser pick ups what not. The dacs are nothing to write home about ,IMHO still sounds more than enough for most golden eared audiophiles that thjnk they can hear major differences.
Issues are the electrolytic caps,by now totally need to be replaced if you wish these to be reliable . The hardware itself,easily will outlive uss a few times over when maintained properly. Most audio guys don't even know how to hold a soldering iron unfortunately let alone restore one of them properly.
Philips invented the cd standardt. Sony only copied the proces.
The first players where also made by Philips..
Ma come fai ad appoggiare la scatola sul lettore CD? Si rovina! Nooo
How can it be the first ever CD player sold in the EU. When it was launched there was no EU. You mean Western Europe and it wasn't all Western European countries. Yes it's D Marks.
There was an EU long before this player. It just wasn't as expansive, in terms of members as well as regulation agreements.
@@AltCutTV No the European Union was founded November 1, 1993 before that there was no European Union
At that time it was not the European Union (EU), it was the European Economic Community (EEC).
@@EuroScot2023 yes.
"European Union : Customs union established 1968"
the sony 101 looks fantastic and timeless while I think that the design of this player looks totally outdated and shitty^
Well there's an opinion. The Sony is pretty standard as all the players would look like from that moment onwards. The Philips was based on the then still silver matt look of the hifi in that era. Many appreciate that look, but it all comes down to your preference.
Outdated and shitty, indeed. But it's a thing of its time and there aren't many left. I like it because it looks different. I also have the Sony CDP-101 and the Hitachi DA-1000R - they all do the same job, play a CD, but they do it in completely different ways. They also sound totally different, the Hitachi sounds most like what I'd expect CD to sound like, the Phillips is smoother almost rounded off edges (good for jazz/classical) the Sony is overly bright and harsh, but can be tamed with some component swapping. No one listens to music on these things as they sound terrible compared to modern DACs with the same source.
It is violating the CD spec which is to handle up to 99 tracks.
They will handle as many tracks as you like. Just won’t show on the track display array that’s all.
No it doesn't violate the spec that has been written by Philips itself, with some annoying interference from Sony. Philips included Sony, to prevent another Video2000/BetaMax vs VHS disaster and come with a new world standard for digital music. A unique Dutch way to jointly introduce a standard and create a win-win.
About the little slot questioned at 12:05; it might be to hold the transport screws. My brother got one of these in the late 80’s and still has it :) The player has screws with paper tags warning you to screw the transport mechanism down during shipping. Hopefully you ship using them? I had to look away when the box was placed on the CD player … This looks like a very nice example, and even better with the binder, contents and box. Cool.
Lovely design.