Favourite Discmans

Love the Technics , Love them all to be fair,
I have a few knocking about myself but they never get used as i prefer cassettes at the moment.
Good collection .

 

My photo-shoot session with similar Discmans:



My favorite here is Technics SL-XP5: dual -6V/0V/+6V power supply helps with inherent wall-wart limitations, 30mW into 32Ohm is the most powerful h/p amp ever. PCM55 DAC... Pacific Microsonics DACs you do not see them often in Discmans.
Denon DCP-50 upgraded internally to DCP-150 status at kaosuncd.com I am trying not to abuse it because of its lovely matte finish.
Love Sony D-250 but it is everyone's favorite, some folks even like it better than D555: EnjoyTheMusic.com
D-303 was not my favorite, I sold it to finance this obsession. D-99 has the same 1-bit DAC, unlike D-303 it does not have digital-out but has a better laser. Everything else is the same: Discmans Composition

My favorite Discman is D-50 MkII (not to confuse with the original "The First Ever" D-50, that one sounds awful to my ears):

Once fed off its (restored) battery instead of 9V wall-wart it sounds as good (to me) as Technics or Denon.

So... it is safe to say that we hear things differently. But:
@mankamaz has the same CD stuck inside his Technics. Coincidence? Maybe not:

 

I've just added a few pictures of a small selection of Discman's I have on my work pc, I have more but I can't get to them at the moment, they're all buried in my storage container which is a bombsite at the moment! I'm hoping to get this sorted asap as I need to get better pics!

Some lovely Discman's shown in this thread, shame some are priced out of my reach! But a guy can dream!

 

I really love the Technics SL-XP5, I wish there were more PCDP's with such bug transparent window.
I'm not a big fan on the high-end Sony filled with buttons and features one would rarely use on a portable CDP: the idea was that it would have been the only CD Player in the house so let's add all the features of a standard CDP. But back then who had the money to buy such expensive PCDP surely already had a CDP in its stereo rack.
I love minimalism and i'm a fan of the simpler but stylish early Technics.

 

Nice collections , I have too many at least 50!

 

@mrp32Dave your collection of boxed Discmans at "Some of my Discman" is absolutely unapproachable by mere mortals: white D-10 alone worth half of my collection!

Thank you @enryfox , I am not alone now... Here my favorites from Philips and RadioShack(by Toshiba), not the best sounding Discmans though:


There was/is a lovely Walkman with transparent lid posted here, but I had no idea what the model was and its owner never responded to my Q

 

A guy at work walked in with 3 PDCP's last night before I went home, a Sony DJ-E100 in blue with headphones, remote and instruction leaflet, a Goodmans GCD406RS and an Alba one (can't remember the model number). As you would expect, the Sony sounds fantastic, the Alba is trash and the Goodmans bang in the middle. I don't know how much to offer him for them, was thinking around £30 for the lot. I found the Sony one on eBay for £20 buy it now, a similar Goodmans for around £10 and the Alba about £5, so seems about right to me. He is supposed to be bringing in a few Gameboys for me to look at later as well, my other weakness! I have around 150+ games consoles/computers in my lock up too (the location is a secret lol!)

I'll never use the Goodmans or Alba, but both were in their own 'Caselogic' carry-case with their powerpacks and they do work ok, just the Alba sounds shite! Has a bass boost function that just distorts the sound at any level when on, and off just sounds really flat.

 

Thanks Jorge, I personally don't think it's the best collection one could have, but I do have a few nice ones but I'm missing quite a few top models E.G. Sony D-Z555. I actually have 2 white D10's/D100's and recently got a very nice Kenwood DPC-80.

 

that seems too generous, unless you want to follow the "official" price at Amazon of $265.80
I would choose something like D-EJ915/955/985/1000:

Magnesium lid feels so good to the touch, almost as sensual as the original Shakti Stone!

Seriously though: in mid-late 90-ies there was a company which made the first portable h/p amplifier for Discmans/Walkmans, Head Room Co. (now headphone.com but Tyll Hertsens also runs InnerFidelity site). They tested all Discmans available at that time (D555, DCP150, etc were discontinued by then) and recommended Panasonic SL-S360. Here is my "travel kit" I bought from them, everything still works and sounds wonderful:

love Panasonic/Technics idea for CD push-release button! Tyll speculated that that Panasonics sound better than Sony players because of MASH 1-bit DACs or whatever. That's him, personally, I could not hear much of a difference but I am trying not to be too critical about my portable rig

 

the sony 303 is a lovely one. also like it's design. it's line out is one of sony's best. headphones-out isn't by far the same level.

 

@mrp32Dave And now you shot me cold dead!!!
I see my name written all over your "extra" D-100, do you see it too?

I am also missing D555 but want to get Denon DCP100 first, it also has two PCM66 DACs but without any bells and whistles

I really love my Kenwood DPC-55, a cheapo brother of yours:

Also keeping DPC-61 because of its matte finish, miraculously still intact:

even upgraded its h/p coupling capacitors to Rubycon's Black Gates, its my take on "snake oil":

 

Yes, 5mW into 16Ohm is the lowest ever, only after 1992 they went even lower, at 4mW/16Ohm. If Toslink digital out could be used with modern h/p DACs/amps, that would change everything. Line-out into Emmeline Hornet works for me!

 

In principle it is a nice idea, but it has a flaw.

All other brands used the simpler three spheres with spring spindle where the disc is pressed to lock in position and then you simply pull it to release; you quickly get used to it, it is very straightforward.
With the Technics instead the CD MUST be released with the push button, otherwise it is fairly easy to break the spindle assembly: behind the spheres there is a conic ring of hard plastic so if you pull the CD you are actually pulling the whole CD lock mechanism which is hold together by three tiny pieces of plastic. First symptom of something wrong is the CD not being flat on the spindle, and if one or more of those pieces of plastic breaks, PCDP might become unusable.
Not really Technics fault, but if you get used to the other common lock mechanism, you really risk breaking the Technics one.

 

Was it the Sony Wm-504 ? Hugo has it in its collection

 

This is the one! Love it, Million thanks!

Never thought of that, in 1993-94 my first-ever Discman was Technics and I had the opposite trouble with all those other "lo-tech" Discmans

 

In 1994 I bought too a Technics and, at the time, I used the eject button regularly; after ~20 years I got back that very same PCDP from the friend I gave it to and noticed it was too sensitive to the faintest touch.
Then I realised the lock mechanism was bent and the CD was wobbling while spinning. Upon disassembling the cd lock assembly I noticed one broken piece of plastic and I think it must have been broken for some years as it is now out of alignment even if glued back. The PCDP is now working mostly fine, but while using it I realised that even myself was automatically pulling the CD to remove it from the spindle (too many years with cd-rom players of portable computers ...)

 

@enryfox if this Technics has some sentimental value to you (I will recover mine someday, "just" have to visit my mother-in-law first!) then get any broken Panasonic for a few bucks and exchange TT platters. Use shims to have it set at exactly the same distance from laser and you'll be fine

 

My technics is an SL-XP350 and with the glued CD lock mechanism it is working fine. I have already bought a cheap SL-XP165 which has the same identical optical pick-up assembly to have a spare part in case it breaks. But I noticed that also with the intact TT platter some discs do not lock exactly flat. I blame this on the fact that the three spheres are pushed by a single conical ring which is in turn moved up by the three tiny levers pushed by the CD; the pressure on the spheres can be uneven and thus the CD does not lock flat.

The simpler spring driven lock mechanism ensures all spheres are pushed evenly and, to me, works better even if it appears "cheaper". But surely pushing a button to release the CD is more satisfying than pulling the disc by the edges.