A number of years ago I purchased a Sony CDP-X3000 CD player to add to my small but growing collection of CD players. These can be wonderful players and are readily available from Japan for about $500-$700, usually sans remote (although many other remotes will work fine except for switching between the digital filters). Originally manufactured between 1995 and 1998 they are getting on in age but do sound wonderful, are beautiful pieces of industrial art, and sport a very unique fixed laser mechanism (the laser is fixed, and the disc moves across the laser’s beam). Since it has a digital out it can also be used with a modern DAC. Here is an informational link:
http://www.thevintageknob.org/sony-CDP-X3000.htmlMine worked well enough, but soon began skipping severely on various discs, rendering it essentially useless. My disc of Ursula 1000’s “Kinda Kinky” was the worst and skipped so badly it was unplayable (while working fine on other players and showing no visible damage). Even on discs that worked it was clearly performing a lot of error correction and interpolation; it lacked air, soundstage, and was not engaging to listen to. After a long deep communing with the unit I felt sure the laser was bad; they don’t last forever. So into the closet it went, to molder and await a hopefully brighter day.
The CDP-X3000 uses the KSS-213 laser head. I recently noticed that All Electronics was very sadly going out of business, and were selling NOS KSS-213 assemblies for $5.00 a shot! I bought six. I also had the technical manual for the CDP-X3000, and felt sure I could replace the laser.
Disassembly is a bit of a pain; once the case is opened there are multiple FFC ribbon connectors that must be carefully removed, and multiple daughter boards must be unscrewed and unsandwiched to access the laser. Installation of the new laser is easy, and everything reassembles in reverse.
The unit powered right up, recognized a CD, and… Played perfectly! It sounds really good and even plays my Ursula 1000 disc all the way through without a single problem. In fact, it has worked completely on every disc I played. My only regret is not taking photos of the entire procedure.
If you were ever considering one of these, I recommend it! Some issues to be aware of:
- The assembly is fairly complex, and not for those who have no electronics experience, especially with FFC ribbon connectors.
- All the Japan units are 100v, standard mains voltage in Japan. You will need a converter to use in the US or other non-100v countries.
- Finding an original remote can be a bit of a challenge, but an aftermarket remote is 99% effective, minus switching between the digital filters.
For me, the CDP-X3000 is a keeper!
