Hi, all, I purchased this fella from ebay recently for $465 (taxes brought it up to $498). I'll be sending it off to Valentin shortly for a complete refurbishment. Currently, it plays but has the center gear problem and doesn't sound too great.
Nice. That one is in pretty good condition too. The star on it as I understand maybe means it was made for US market. I think the validity of this claim is pretty accurate due to stuff like this. Though I have never seen a DC2 with a maple leaf. There's also a different head type too. It's a model with a lot of mystery still to this day. Mine has no star and the same curved head I think 99% of them have. I would recommend getting a tailor made case for it like the one I got. It scratches more easily than you think.
Don't know if there is a correlation between the star and type of head used. What I can tell for sure is the pointy head was also used in DC2s which don't have the star, seen quite a few of them. As is the case with WM-D6C, all units that have a pointy head have an early serial number with only 5 digits (all linked here have serial < 20.000). There's a possibility not many DC2s were made for the US market and all of them have low serial number, but have no idea if that is actually the case. Both the round and pointy heads are amorphous. While the pointy one is harder, both can and do wear.
Not a Bad Price at all, as I looked on/Off and find $1600.00 -/+ USD a little ridiculous. I Settled on a Nice Clean DDIII to compare with my (Belt Walkmans). Very nice Job on finding a clean, low price DC-2 to start with. Tan_Linguine!
ask here: https://www.analogueoctober.com/?s=sony+dd&post_type=product&dgwt_wcas=1 right now, Craig seems to be out of stock, but when he got them, they're nice (i have two of them) b.t.w. Craig is supporter of this forum, too
The price for any Sony WM-D<anything> is generally pretty nuts these days. D6Cs going for like €1000 even on second-hand basic classified sites where you usually buy and sell old furniture. I had one a few years ago for about €400 and wasn't all that impressed despite having it professionally serviced and being in otherwise perfect condition with all the accessories and strap etc. Sold it after only 2 weeks I think for a little bit more than I paid for it. Too heavy and too battery hungry even for a start. Buttons are clunky and recording quality is nothing to write home about either. Sure as far as portability goes, I guess it's okay but I couldn't imagine taking it anywhere. I know there are a few people who still walk around with one strapped over their shoulder and an amp for it. It's just not worth it for me and I found having it strapped over me was uncomfortable, and I generally already have a laptop bag draped over me anyway. Never in 100 years would I pay a grand for one. Let alone the price some people are asking for them. As with all things though prices fluctuate. The best way to combat this is simply don't buy and realise that there are just as good, if not even better models available for far less. I've seen shockingly high quality Walkmans for bargain prices and I am still shocked how low some people can give some models away, even in immaculate condition.