[Alexdad54]

Hi all,
I was playing my Rotel RCD-971 CD player (which I paid $200 for on A'gon last year) when it suddenly went south on me. I have put about 10 hours on it since I got it but today after changing out a disc, the disc tray suddenly wouldn't stay closed and the machine won't read the disc. The tray slides in, the display reads "00" and then it opens again.
Even without a disc the same thing happens. Powering it off and on has no effect and the only way to keep the drawer closed is to push close and then turn it off.
I went to a local tech who advised me to get in touch with a local Rotel dealer because of its vintage (mid-90's I believe), which I did. Their fee for an initial diagnostic is $53 (applicable to a repair if I choose one) with the fee per hour higher than that. I'm thinking that maybe I should just chalk it up to bad luck and get rid of it because a potential repair might be worth a big chunk of what I originally paid for it.

It does have a nice sound and I was also  considering using it as a transport for a DAC and the Scotsman in me hates to see the money gone but then again.....

All opinions/advice welcome!

[Wayner]

Have you unplugged the unit from the outlet for awhile? I have a piece of equipment that goes "nuts" occasionally and this actually fixes it.

Wayner 

[Alexdad54]

Thanks for the tip Wayner. It's been unplugged for a couple of hours now and I just tried doing as you suggest using a different outlet in a different room. Same thing happened. The display reads "00" and then the tray opens. Pressing the close button just makes it repeat that process...
Update: Just for the heck of it I tried plugging it in today (11/16) and lo and behold, it behaved normally. The door closed and stayed closed and the display read "no disc", also normal as I hadn't put a disc in. Now I'll hook it back into the system and try it. I hope it may be just as Wayner described and not need a belt replacement. That might cost more that the player cost me originally.......

[AudioSoul]

   I have a Rotel 971 that I retired for awhile. I just thought it was getting old. I purchased a Music Hall 25.2 to replace it. It seemed to have better detail than the Rotel. I read an article somewhere that was discussing the fact that some higher resolution CD players had to compromise on the analogue components and the higher resolution players sometimes didn't sound as good as some older players. So, I pulled out the old Rotel and did a side by side comparison. Sure enough, I liked the sound of the Rotel better. It was more solid and organic sounding to me I sold the Music Hall. This was several years ago, things may have changed. If my 971 broke I would have it fixed JMHO.......

[ltr317]

Thanks for the tip Wayner. It's been unplugged for a couple of hours now and I just tried doing as you suggest using a different outlet in a different room. Same thing happened. The display reads "00" and then the tray opens. Pressing the close button just makes it repeat that process...
Update: Just for the heck of it I tried plugging it in today (11/16) and lo and behold, it behaved normally. The door closed and stayed closed and the display read "no disc", also normal as I hadn't put a disc in. Now I'll hook it back into the system and try it. I hope it may be just as Wayner described and not need a belt replacement. That might cost more that the player cost me originally.......

I had the same problem with my Rotel 855 (even older than yours) a while back and left it uplugged for a week.  After I reconnect it would work normally again, just like your unit.  Who knows how this digital stuff works. 

[Alexdad54]

Thanks for all the input, appreciated! I tried it again after having unplugged a couple of weeks and it screwed up again. On DIY Audio, the consensus is that it may be  a fault in  the tray mechanism, either a belt or the sensor that tells the player that the door is closed. I have a service manual now and will try another tech and see if they'll be willing to take a crack at it. It does have a great sound, although the modified PS1 that I'm using right now is pretty amazing as well!