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From: jonu@tekchips.UUCP (Jon Udell)
Newsgroups: net.audio
Subject: Re: Take the CD challenge!
Message-ID: <85@tekchips.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 12-Aug-85 19:43:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: tekchips.85
Posted: Mon Aug 12 19:43:27 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 18-Aug-85 23:47:02 EDT
References: <3339@decwrl.UUCP> <436@petrus.UUCP> <1295@houxm.UUCP> <1029@ulysses.UUCP> <2362@amdcad.UUCP> <447@amdimage.UUCP>
Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Lines: 87
Summary: Don't get a Technics CD player

In article <447@amdimage.UUCP> steve@amdimage.UUCP (Steve eidson) writes:
>               So we went to several local shops (no high-end
>stores, we weren't interested in how much we could spend), and found 
>one that had the two players my friend had taken a shine to (Technics
>SL-P2 and Yamaha CD-X2). He had narrowed his choice for drawer
>mechanics and programming features. He preferred the Technics at first
>because of its styling and programming, but both our minds quickly
>changed after an A/B test (through the same pre-amp, amp, & speakers)
>using a digital recording of the Nutcracker.

   This looks like a good time for me to throw in some comments on the
two CD players I have owned: a Magnavox 3030SL and a Technics SL-P2.
I liked my Magnavox very much, although it was a little short on features
and a few of them bugged me.  It appeared to have very good shock 
resistance - I kept it on a desk, directly above a heavy file drawer
which I was able to open and close without causeing mistracking.
Unfortunately, some uninvited (and unwanted) guests 
liked it (and the rest of my stereo) too, and that's the last I saw of it.

   The first time I looked at the SL-P2, I liked it's features.  However,
I had brought along a copy of Stravinsky's Rites of Spring (Telarc), and
heard some funny noises that I had never noticed before.  Besides, I really
had my heart set on the new Magnavox 3040.

   When the 3040 finally reached the stores, I was disappointed.  It
sounded good, but I didn't like the lack of features (on the remote, 
especially) or the control panel layout.  However, we still heard funny 
noises on the Telarc disk.  After listening to them a few times,
we decided that the noises were squeaking chairs in the orchestra (how's
that for an example of the benefits/drawbacks of digital recording?).
This led me to reconsider the Technics, and I bought one the next day.

   After six weeks without a CD player, I was in paradise again.  However,
after only a few hours of use, the SL-P2 started to mistrack.  I traced
the problem to disk defects - there were several places where paint on the
label showed through on the music side.  This upset me, both in that I
had a defective disk, and in that my new player couldn't track it, while
my old player could.  I took the player back, and received another.
(Tower Records readily exchanged the disk for me, and I'm not even sure
that I bought it from them!)

(Aside:  >The most unfortunate thing is that most salesmen don't know
         >what the hell they're talking about.
  Most salesman are also so used to selling to people who don't know
  what they're buying, that they don't believe you when you tell them
  that your CD player doesn't work.)

  The new player was better (it could track the defective disk), but it
still did not track as well as the Magnavox had (I had to move the heavy
drawer to the other side of the desk).  This has lead me to believe that
companies that use 3-beam tracking do so not to EXCEED one-beam tracking
of other companies, but to MATCH it. 

   Three-beam tracking also leads to a more complex machine, with more 
parts to break, as I soon found out.  The SL-P2 broke (started making
mechanical clicking noises and skipping every 2 or 3 seconds) June 2nd 
(2 and 1/2 months after purchase).  I returned it to the store (probably
the same chain Steve was at).  They promised to mail it to me at my new
address as soon as it was returned by Technics (2-4 weeks).  After many
calls to California about the machine, they finally called Technics and
found that they were waiting for parts (from Japan! #$&@).  9 (Nine) weeks
after a took it in, they claimed it was ready, and would be mailed to
me Monday morning (Aug 5).  Well, its now Aug 12, and as of 1:00 pm, the
machine has not arrived.

   In short (I apologize for being so long-winded), I would not recommend
a Technics player.  I also fail to see how a store that claims "After the
sale, it's the service that counts!" can continue to sell the brand (mine
isn't the first machine with which they've had this experience).



Jon Udell


(Maybe Steve (or anyone else down there) could show a copy of this to a
salesperson at the store.)


-- 

   Jon Udell

   jonu@tekchips      until mid-September
   --------------------------------------
   udell@shasta
   t.tedium@lotsb