CD Player failed.

[Sal1950]

Welp, two power outages yesterday and the Tascam stopped working.

I can only offer one bit of advice. Install the best surge protection system you can.
Do to some power outages and lightning storms about a month ago I lost my Marantz AV7703 pre/pro, the motherboard on my music server computer and a couple other small things. I've since installed a Eaton CHSPT2ULTRA Ultimate Surge Protection whole house unit at the meter box and have a couple APC Performance SurgeArrest 12's, one for the audio gear and the other for the computer gear.
There's no guaranteed protection but it's a good idea to do the best you can before problems strike.

​

 

[Sal1950]

Decent CD players are a dime a dozen at Goodwill and similar places. And DVD and BluRay players which are video capable but have audio outs do the job just fine.

Yep, for playback of CD's I have 2 options, the multipurpose drive in my computer and my Samsung bluray player. Either can serve up a digital stream to my pre/pro.
Oh I almost forgot the 10 year old Sony BDP-S5100 bluray/sacd player I got off ebay for $40 to rip SACD's. It runs like brand new so I have 3. LOL

 

[GXAlan]

Furman, Audioquest, SurgeX, ZeroSurge all have series mode surge protection which should be really good. Not all SurgeX products use series protection, Furman takes series mode and adds an extra MOV as safety net.

 

[MRC01]

Welp, two power outages yesterday and the Tascam stopped working. To be precise, when I hit "play", it begins counting down in reverse from the total running time of the disc. In this case, reversing from 50 something minutes all the way back to 0:00. I presume, I wasn't going to wait. Fortunately I have an old Denon doing the duty now. Think I'll be abstaining from any Tascam purchases in future.

I have owned a Tascam SS-R1 (rack mount CF recorder) for about 10 years, archived about 1,000 LPs with it and it's still working like new. Several months ago I plugged it in with the power switch already in the ON position, and this caused total failure. Solid blue screen, non responsive. I removed the cover and replaced the fuse inside. It's back to working perfectly again.

This surprised me because if the fuse goes, it's usually "all dead" not "mostly dead" But still it worked. Maybe the fuse wasn't entirely blown, but only mostly blown.

 

[jsrtheta]

I have owned a Tascam SS-R1 (rack mount CF recorder) for about 10 years, archived about 1,000 LPs with it and it's still working like new. Several months ago I plugged it in with the power switch already in the ON position, and this caused total failure. Solid blue screen, non responsive. I removed the cover and replaced the fuse inside. It's back to working perfectly again.

This surprised me because if the fuse goes, it's usually "all dead" not "mostly dead" But still it worked. Maybe the fuse wasn't entirely blown, but only mostly blown.

I'll take the top off and see what I can see. But it's getting power, and the display lights up, so there's juice there.

 

[jsrtheta]

I can only offer one bit of advice. Install the best surge protection system you can.
Do to some power outages and lightning storms about a month ago I lost my Marantz AV7703 pre/pro, the motherboard on my music server computer and a couple other small things. I've since installed a Eaton CHSPT2ULTRA Ultimate Surge Protection whole house unit at the meter box and have a couple APC Performance SurgeArrest 12's, one for the audio gear and the other for the computer gear.
There's no guaranteed protection but it's a good idea to do the best you can before problems strike.

​

Good advice, and I knew better. The Little Dot ii survived, as did the SMSL dac, the EQ, the power amp (Sonance) and the sub (Dali). And this is an old house with ancient wiring.

Dumb, dumb me.

 

[Sal1950]

Good advice, and I knew better.

So did I, after a lifetime of being an audio-video enthusiast, having some knowledge of electrical power, and living in the thunderstorm/lightning capital of the US, all I had protecting my gear was some $15 power strips. An approximately $5k lesson for being lazy I guess.

 

[beefkabob]

The key phrase above is to buy old stuff. New electronics just don't seem to have the reliability of the old stuff. I suspect the chips have gotten too narrow in their internal traces and also that lead free solder trashes reliability. I replace a lot of "digital control boards" on scientific gear that is WAY TOO NEW to be failing. To the extent that I am considering taking my overdue retirement because it actually is not much fun constantly doing the above.

Decent CD players are a dime a dozen at Goodwill and similar places. And DVD and BluRay players which are video capable but have audio outs do the job just fine.

I call BS. There is well-made old stuff and new stuff. There is poorly made old stuff and new stuff. With cars and many other industries, the overall quality is massively up. With personal electronics, the main issue is irreplaceable batteries forcing obsolesce. Other than that, it's the same as it ever was.

 

[jsrtheta]

So did I, after a lifetime of being an audio-video enthusiast, having some knowledge of electrical power, and living in the thunderstorm/lightning capital of the US, all I had protecting my gear was some $15 power strips. An approximately $5k lesson for being lazy I guess.

We don't get lightning like you do. So we have to rely on Xcel Energy to destroy our electronics.

They're more than up to the task.

 

[gene_stl]

I call BS. There is well-made old stuff and new stuff. There is poorly made old stuff and new stuff. With cars and many other industries, the overall quality is massively up. With personal electronics, the main issue is irreplaceable batteries forcing obsolesce. Other than that, it's the same as it ever was.

I don't know what your experience is but I repair expensive scientific gear at a university and the quality of new gear from major and well known manufacturers has PLUNGED in the last seven or eight years. And I have seen a similar trend at my home. To say it's "same as it ever was" is a patent absurdity. But everyone has their own experience and opinion.
You are entitled to yours , even if it is wrong.

 

[restorer-john]

I don't know what your experience is but I repair expensive scientific gear at a university and the quality of new gear from major and well known manufacturers has PLUNGED in the last seven or eight years. And I have seen a similar trend at my home. To say it's "same as it ever was" is a patent absurdity. But everyone has their own experience and opinion.
You are entitled to yours , even if it is wrong.

This is so true. Funny I was just discussing DSOs with my partner (she is a very understanding girl) and how the internal build quality has bassically gone out the window in the last 20 years. Reliability too. Repairability as a consequence.

Domestic electronics are about as poorly made (in general) as I have ever seen. Even in the mid 80s, at least we had premium componentry, even if the mechanical and physical construction was taking a quality hit. Now we have the opposite- garbage electronics wrapped up in pretty anodized casework.

 

[beefkabob]

I don't know what your experience is but I repair expensive scientific gear at a university and the quality of new gear from major and well known manufacturers has PLUNGED in the last seven or eight years. And I have seen a similar trend at my home. To say it's "same as it ever was" is a patent absurdity. But everyone has their own experience and opinion.
You are entitled to yours , even if it is wrong.

Are we going to compare anecdotal-experience dicks now? My one-year-old Tesla Model Y is dramatically more reliable than my 1995 Dodge Neon ever was, from the interior quality to the electronics to the brakes, and Teslas are relatively poorly made vehicles these days. I remember the capacitor nightmare of the Samsung TV I bought in 2005, and the VRAM solder issues of the Dell e1705 I bought in 2006. Meanwhile, my Alienware R13 from 2016, which fits in your timeframe, is a tank. It even survived a summer with my son travelling, and he did manage to snap off some of the exterior. There's always been crap and good stuff. It sounds like your suppliers are having issues, or maybe there are other causes. Checked the power quality over the course of a month lately?

 

[GXAlan]

This is so true. Funny I was just discussing DSOs with my partner (she is a very understanding girl) and how the internal build quality has bassically gone out the window in the last 20 years. Reliability too. Repairability as a consequence.

Domestic electronics are about as poorly made (in general) as I have ever seen. Even in the mid 80s, at least we had premium componentry, even if the mechanical and physical construction was taking a quality hit. Now we have the opposite- garbage electronics wrapped up in pretty anodized casework.

I am very tempted to get a Marantz PM-10 instead of another HypeX amp even though the PM-10 measurements aren’t as clean as what we are seeing from other companies. They still think about 20 year product life for some of their gear.

“Mr. Murayama The reason why the announcement was delayed is that it took a long time mainly for the parts related to the speaker relay. Speaker relays are often used for general amplifiers, but they are not in PM-10. The output stage of the switching amplifier is like a switch with current on/off, so it can play the same role as the relay.


The rear terminal of the PM-10. There are two speaker terminals, but the individual on/off functions are omitted.

The speaker relay also acts as a protection circuit, but if you put sound quality first, you've never rubbed it. However, with a switching amplifier, it doesn't simply be able to remove the relay, and various care was needed, and it took a long time here.

Mr. Sawada: In theory, Hypex modules do not require a speaker relay. However, after 10 or 20 years of purchase, in order to guarantee that it is okay even if the parts change over time, we can't rely only on the specifications of Hypex. I had a hard time clearing the internal standards on this point.

 

[gene_stl]

I will mostly spare this august assemblage the anecdotes but I have stuff to fix every week. I used to thoroughly enjoy my job because this campus started in 1967 and I had plenty of stuff that was original to then and had some part wear out and I was very often able to nurse it along and justify my pittance with money saved because they didn't have to pop for a new one. Now dead contol boards are the problem so frequently that I don't enjoy the job as much and am considering moving on.

I still remember the very first one that pissed me off this way. An Eppendorf bench top centrifuge. Made in Chermany. Expensive. Imported to the USA by a high end scientific instrument company (Brinkmann Instruments) It just stopped working correctly. Why??? The computer board started not working correctly. At the time I called this sort of thing "getting Alzheimers" Stuff with microcontrollers still turns on and lights up but forgets what it is there for. After pricing a new control board from Brinkmann I sent the thing to surplus because a new similar item from China cost less than the control board. I don't remember the exact age of the unit but it was too young and I was annoyed about it. I tried to guilt them into giving us a new control board but they would have had to order it from chermany.

When I got there in 2009 there were many pH meters left over from the original 1967 stock and they still worked fine. We had a whole slug of them from ThermoFisher scientific that were based on PDAs with a a preamp. I made Fisher replace a bunch of them because quite a few failed in warranty. A pH meter is NOT a moon shot.

And yes power quality is probably not as good as it used to be. We certainly can agree on that. In addition to the pitch of Chips being too fine and the crappy lead free solder there is also Switching Mode Power supplies that don't isolate the overly sensitive control boards from the AC line which they also dump noise into. I think I have managed to mostly exclude SMPS from my home audio system. (the big screen yes and the pre pro remote watcher are smps powered) My stereo system is unplugged when not on.

The houses we moved out of had two Kitchen Aid dishwashers that had mechanical timers. They were from the seventies and were left there and worked perfectly.
The new house we moved into had all new appliance that the real estate agent made the sellers put in. They are all stainless steel and are mostly crap. The dishwasher had two control board failures after one year and a half. Fortunately paid for by Homeowners warranty. If I was paying I would have taken them to the land fill and bought something else , but not with much confidence.

It IS possible to get reliable gear. My Honda Civic hybrid is from 2005 and still runs perfectly. I even put a new battery in it. Comparing a Dodge Neon to any Tesla is silly. So is comparing any chrysler product to a Tesla.

I also try to not buy things made in China when I have a choice because I have seen lots of cases where they chisel on things like lubricants. It is impossible to avoid completely.

 

[restorer-john]

I am very tempted to get a Marantz PM-10 instead of another HypeX amp even though the PM-10 measurements aren’t as clean as what we are seeing from other companies. They still think about 20 year product life for some of their gear.

“Mr. Murayama The reason why the announcement was delayed is that it took a long time mainly for the parts related to the speaker relay. Speaker relays are often used for general amplifiers, but they are not in PM-10. The output stage of the switching amplifier is like a switch with current on/off, so it can play the same role as the relay.


The rear terminal of the PM-10. There are two speaker terminals, but the individual on/off functions are omitted.

The speaker relay also acts as a protection circuit, but if you put sound quality first, you've never rubbed it. However, with a switching amplifier, it doesn't simply be able to remove the relay, and various care was needed, and it took a long time here.

Mr. Sawada: In theory, Hypex modules do not require a speaker relay. However, after 10 or 20 years of purchase, in order to guarantee that it is okay even if the parts change over time, we can't rely only on the specifications of Hypex. I had a hard time clearing the internal standards on this point.

Speaker relays eventually cause trouble, but it usually takes 20-30 years. Less time if they are rarely switching high currents. Ironically, the best way to keep your speaker relays working well is to turn up the volume as they switch. In other words, a few sparks now and then are better than oxidised contacts with appreciable resistance.

MOSFET speaker switching is being used by various manufacturers now, including Accuphase and yes, the ability of class Ds/SMPS supplies to be shut down instead of disconnecting the speakers is clever, but ultimately we will have to see how reliable it really is in the long term.

Me, I personally want a physical disconnection of expensive speakers from a failed/failing amplifier.

 

[Tom C]

I can only offer one bit of advice. Install the best surge protection system you can.
Do to some power outages and lightning storms about a month ago I lost my Marantz AV7703 pre/pro, the motherboard on my music server computer and a couple other small things. I've since installed a Eaton CHSPT2ULTRA Ultimate Surge Protection whole house unit at the meter box and have a couple APC Performance SurgeArrest 12's, one for the audio gear and the other for the computer gear.
There's no guaranteed protection but it's a good idea to do the best you can before problems strike.

​

Such a bummer, Sal. Sorry to hear it. I’d be miserable.
Are you just SOL? Or is the loss covered some how?

 

[GXAlan]

Me, I personally want a physical disconnection of expensive speakers from a failed/failing amplifier.

Agree. What I wanted to point out is that Marantz is thinking about long term reliability issues in a way that other companies, like Topping, do not. Topping has no service manuals. No response to customers with support questions. Just SINAD bragging rights (which is well deserved, of course).

 

[restorer-john]

What I wanted to point out is that Marantz is thinking about long term reliability issues in a way that other companies, like Topping, do not. Topping has no service manuals. No response to customers with support questions.

More fool anyone who buys products from a company like that.

They will be required very soon to produce and make available parts, schematics and service manuals or be banned from sale in Europe and likely other countries.

Marantz have a service manual for every product and access to parts in most countries.

 

[Sal1950]

Such a bummer, Sal. Sorry to hear it. I’d be miserable.
Are you just SOL? Or is the loss covered some how?

Just SOL, The Marantz AV was a 2016 unit and the computer I built myself mainly in 2008.
I doubt the replacement value is worth the time filling out the paperwork.
Thanks for the concern.