DOES IT WORK?? Vintage HIFI CD Player Philips CD960 ep 2
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- čas přidán 4. 01. 2024
- Picked up a dusty Philips cd960. Here are my first impressions as I push the buttons, open it up, check the functionality, and start learning about this absolute unit from the company that breathed a digital revolution into existence. Please correct any mistakes or inaccuracies in the comments. Cheers.
- Hudba
I really like that a younger person have so much fun and joy with an old Philips/Marantz cd player. I'm an old dutch vintage Philips audio lover, still using my Fa890, Cd850 and Fb821. Over 30 years old but with a little love playing like new. Please restore this nice little unit and enjoy it's nice sound.
I'm making another video of the 960 getting a deep clean, while we wait 4-6 weeks for replacement belts to arrive from Germany. Thanks for watching :)
In 1987 I lived in the home town of Philips and I knew many people who worked for Philips including my dad. Thanks to him, I could go to the employees store and use some money saved from my first job to buy the top-of-the-line Philips stereo system (which as it turns out was built by Marantz). In 1988 I wanted to add a CD player and in that time the CD960 was the top-of-the-line CD player according to the Philips catalog. But it cost almost twice as much as the CD-473 second-in-line and it sounded the same and had pretty much the same features. So I got the CD473 (made in Belgium) and didn't regret it. But I also wondered what made the CD960 (made by Marantz - see the MZ serial number label; yours is from 1987 by the way) so much more expensive. Thanks for posting the video that shows that it's obviously very different. They used the same chipset and the same CD drive (probably CDM-4) as other Philips CD players but that "linear skating" drawer and the Japanese electronics make it look totally different from the CD473. I hope you can get the drawer repaired and that it will give you many years of listening pleasure.
What a cool bit of nostalgia! I appreciate the people responsible for bringing this cool technology to market, so thanks and cheers to your dad! The cd-473 is a very cool looking player...kinda looks like the kid brother of the 960. I'm currently making a video about the cleanup and repair of this amazing machine, so stay tuned for that!
To my knowledge. Its has the cdm1 transport wich i think is some of the best philips made. 1541 twin dac wich also is one of the best dacs ever made.
Personally i prefer the 1540 14 bit with oversampling removed. But the 960 is better than 99% of everything!! You could buy. Here in the Netherlands they go for 400..500 euros easily when restored.
Its simply a great player.
I really like the style of that player. Good score
Me too, thanks! The front lip was strange at first glance, but after using it a bit, I find that it is pretty ingenious. You don't have to bend and point, you simply rest your hand and press, as if you were playing a piano...very cool. And the mushy tracking buttons that I mentioned have turned out to be a great design choice...when fast forwarding, they have just the right feel vs a hard click button.
You’ve done your research. A very good sounding player
Transport CDM 1 D/A TDA 1541A single crown !💕
Good find ! Hopefully it works. Philips built some good CD players. Back then
Thanks, it works very well, minus the 4 broken belts! The replacements just arrived from nanocamp in Germany and I am shooting the next episode...stay tuned and glad to have you here :)
@@diybriguy that’s great ! Once you get it fully restored you’ll have a good cd player . Believe or not Philips & Sony had a joint partnership with the developement of the CD 💿.
I harbor some skepticism about the 90's players being better blanket statement in the comments. Manufacturers were largely racing to do more with less by that decade. I spent about the same for a working Philips CD-60, fairly recently, as I really wanted a Belgium made swing arm transport (this is purely from a romantic standpoint, for the love of interesting/historic machines) That said, the 1541A DAC sounds great to my ears... as it does connected to my AD1955 based Emotiva preamp's dac. I honestly can't discern the difference between them, and that's with pretty revealing Magnepan MG-IIIa speakers. I can also tell you that this thing reads the table of contents and starts playing WAY faster than anything modern that I've come across. That thing's a keeper, especially with that metal CDM-1, the lay people popping in don't know what they're talking about haha. Enjoy man!
Indeed, most of the CDM swing-arm transport / TDA1541A DAC / SAA7220 oversampling filter combos were great sounding machines, especially when re-capped.
I have a couple of Marantz CD80 players and I won't part with them. And indeed, from drawer closed to playing in less than a second.
@drwatson32bit Yes! If you know you know and you and I KNOW!! Your setup sounds amazing! I've never heard Mags in person, but I have been keeping an eye out for them on marketplace.
@maidsandmuses This CD960 sounds great at the moment, but I have been researching the recap process and will probably do the work in the future. And this cdm-1 is lightning fast. So dang cool!
@@diybriguy Recapping a player of this age makes a big difference. I tend to replace _all_ electrolytic capacitors, but the most critical ones are any power rail filter caps close to the I/V opamp stage after the DAC and output buffer opamps. Furthermore the CDM-1 transports don't like aged capacitors in the focus and tracking servo control circuitry. CD skipping on these players if often incorrectly attributed to an "aged laser-diode", but more often than not it is the electrolytic caps in the servo controls that need replacing. Provided no-one has messed wit the laser current, the laser-diode in the Philips CDM-1/4 transports has a _veeeeeery_ long life-span.
The seller told me no modifications or repairs have been made, so it sounds like I definitely need to add a recap to the to do list. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, it is very much appreciated!
im sure this player was allso badged up for other brands in late 80s early 90s ?
You're right! The internals of the Marantz CD-94 are 99% identical to this Philips CD960.
Many Philips players were sold in the US under the *Magnavox* branding. Same players basically. Then there was *Marantz* , which for a while were often essentially Philips players with some upgraded circuit-design and components. Notably the Marantz players would have ELNA capacitors throughout, instead of the mix of ELNA and Philips capacitors found in Philips players. Marantz players would often have a more high-grade component choice in the headphone amp also. Marantz players also had their own facia design (whether you prefer Philips/Magnavox or Marantz styling is a matter of taste). To my ears the Marantz were always just a little more refined in their sound signature compared to the "same" Philips/Magnavox players.
2:06 Nothing basic about it; it has everything you need. Try find a current CD player that offers index skipping...
Very true! I must admit I was oblivious to that feature when recording this episode, but quickly learned once I had the player fired up.
Theres no way a 14bit cd player will sound better than a modern one
Philips CD960 is a 16 bit machine my friend.
@Synthematix when the sound hits your ears, what is it about a modern player that sounds better than a 14 bit player to you? What player can you recommend? Maybe I'll do a comparison video if I can get my hands on one.
@@diybriguy Sony CDP-XA7es that thing will beat anything on the planet for sound quality, the Sony CDP-X7ESD close second
Stop sing and repair only
no. me stop repair. sing only.
Stop to talk about CDs in social media, you only helps to increase the price, so we CD real collectors need to pay more. Don't be that hipster! Also there's a new good modern CD players better than that one.
Everyone's ears are different...better is in the eye of the beholder. Thanks for watching.
And this player cost me $113. I doubt any modern player around that price can hold a candle to this beast. The TDA1541A really does sound incredible.
A 90s CD deck will definitely sound better than an 80s deck. And they sell for cheaper on ebay.
@@joeblankenship377 Sometimes it's about the 'feel' a piece of vintage equipment exudes. I have a Sansui AU-517, would a $100 piece of Chi-Fi sound better? Very likely. But it's a piece of artwork. History. Like a vintage car.
@briguydiy I appreciate your excitement in making old new again. Will watch for the next episode.
Precisely! @tsonaqua thanks for summing up how a lot of us feel!