Sony Discman D-10 (1987) Capacitor replace and Pictures

Sony Discman D-10 (D-100 everywhere else outside North America) from 1987.

Right on the front of the box it states 19.8mm thick as a major feat. Its more recent claim to fame is that... some say... it is the best sounding Discman ever!

I was wary about trying this model due to the various cosmetic issues like, uh, the front bezel cover falling off. And the Stop, Play / Pause button group falling out. And the triangular black plastic cover piece surrounding the Open button that tends to always fall off and get lost. All these problems are the result of glue that dries and fails over the years.

Another worry is the belt driven CD platter. How does one get a suitable replacement belt should it ever be needed?

And with no internal battery there is just the 9V AC adapter to power it. External base plate 6v BP-100 and BP-200 packs are all dead and no longer available. Unless you get Kaosun to rebuild one with new lithium battery and regulator board.

But I really wanted to hear this legend.

So I finally found one on e-bay that was not working with great condition - and intact - even the triangular corner piece was in place! Upon arrival, however, the corner piece was missing. The shipping box was opened by customs and the player had been re-wrapped. Seller said the corner piece was loose and just sat in place. So we could only assume it fell off in a sorting / inspecting facility and, with no apparent visible place it came from, was simply discarded! Perhaps it sat on the floor to be swept up later by the cleaners. Or perhaps the seller never really included it, lost it, couldn't find it etc., Who knows. So that was blow #1.

The Sony D-10 was a beautiful heavy player. Wow it was so heavy! The lid felt so strong and thick.

Straight off to Kaosun it went for repair. I opened and check for obvious things like the infamous cold solder joint / break to one of the inductor coil legs. I noticed it had a single 10uf 16v SMD capacitor. I replaced it and found that it was wet with leaking electrolyte underneath. Don't all SMD caps fail and leak from their base in due time? That's what I read others claim. All devices with these aluminum SMD caps are doomed to have leaks and have their circuit traces etched away. Unless caught in time and replaced.

Once back from Kaosun I started listening to it. With and without external Headroom amp. Cold and fatiguing. Nothing noteworthy in the detail or soundstage department. Hmm. Blow #2.

Replaced all caps with Nichicon Fine Gold and Nichicon KA. After several days of listening and some burn it time determined to have had negligible impact. Blow #3.

(Couple weeks later a D-303 arrived. The sound on this monster was so detailed and revealing it was a shock. But D303 has this cold... strange fatiguing character that wears the listeners ears down in short order (headphone out). Is there ground glass in my headphones? Are my ears bleeding? I had to check. But it sure knocks yer socks off at first listen! A keeper just based on first impressions alone. Plus just being the second Discman was a Toslink style jack optical out after D-555. Plus that nifty orange backlit display on the lid! Oh! For that and the fact it takes 2AA battery I had to keep it. Ears be damned! NOTE: later players like the 1999 Discman E-775 I got for $30 in mint condition off e-bay in 2006 have unbelievably harsh cold fatiguing sound. Pure garbage. Burnt in with 100 hours of pink noise CD made a slight improvement. But optical out works on 2AA... so an interesting CD transport.)

Sorry guys. The D-10 just did not impress my ears. Could very well have been bad headphone synergy as I only tested with AKG-701 and Koss Sporta Pro. Or it could have been a bad sample D-10. Later production year models could be different. Something could have been wrong etc., I just don't know. So I sold it off for $303 and that was it.

I still have my eye on D-10's as I scroll through e-bay listings though...it looks so cool... and was such a heavy brick of a player!






The famous hallmark "missing corner triangle" around the Open button.




Infamous inductor coils and their legs which... break off. Or otherwise
fail to connect to the board. Notice the large format hole-through dipped
Tantalum caps. These seem conspicuously absent in later models where
they switched to SMD variants.












Before Capacitors replaced.


After Capacitors replaced.



Beware the 10uf 16v SMD that must be replaced due to leakage.

 

Another thing I forgot to add: The D-10 Discman was the loudest Discman I have yet heard. After coming back from Kaosun the gears were lubricated and he obviously checked everything was normal - but it was still just as super loud when seeking or changing tracks on the CD. Hands down the loudest Discman I have yet come across.

D-35 and D-303 with the Sanyo SF89 laser pick up and mechanics have been the quietest Discman of the era so far.

 

sad story indeed!... Probably a Lemon, but since Discman got sold we don't get a chance to test it any further. Did it play CD-R without any hiccups? Skip-test CD? this one is easy to make: 1mm scratch across any CD, but leave TOC/first track intact. THE Best 2-CD set for testing lasers and tracking servos is "Pierre Verany - Digital Test"
Tests and specs do not tell you everything: my favorite digital front-end was/is Naim CDS3, it refused to play some CD-R but I still kept it!...

I also bought my first D-10 following Kaosun recommendation, but in my case I totally agree that D-10 is one of the best Discmans ever made. My personal all-time fav Discman is Sony D-50MkII (aka D-7), with Technics SL-XP5 right next to it. Second place goes to D-10, D-Z555 and Denon DCP-100: these are more 'polite', less edgy, less PRAT-oriented Discmans. Third place is pretty crowded by Philips, Kenwood, D-250, D-90, etc...

back to D-10: spindle motor and belt are un-breakable but still have to be fully disassembled, cleaned and sintered brass re-soaked with fresh oil (Mobil 5W-30):


I prefer Rubycon ZLJ series for h/p coupling here, but legendary 220uF/4V Black Gate caps fit well also:


For some "seriously disturbed" D-10 you have to desolder flexboards, this opens PCM55 - Burr-Brown multibit DAC, something I see in all my favorite Discmans:


Eye-pattern tells if laser mirrors got hazed and if CD-R will be playable:



Absolutely all belt-drive spindles (Sony D-50 MkII and D-100, also Toshiba XR-9437 and XR-9457) are noisy because of the hi-speed drive motor: you have to pay for this goodness by inconvenience! Also, none of the tracking will be as silent as in a swing-arm Philips CD10 but it should not be any worse than Sanyo SF89 in D-66/D-303/D-350

 

Good recommendations Jorge. If the belt is really unbreakable then it warrants a second look at a D-10. Worth going in deep and cleaning the bronze bearing then. On my sample CD-R played and it was quite resilient on a scratched up CD I keep around for that purpose. Rubycon ZLJ okay. Black Gate, sure, I wanna try them on D-555 too.

The spindle motor was quiet - it was the worm gear / sled slewing motor that was noisy.

Although at this stage I would rather skip all the bother and do an upgraded "Kaosun Special" Denon DCP-50.

(Naim CD3: I spent time reading about it last year. Then I came across all the modifications one can do to it and kinda wonder if there is any end in sight. Makes vinyl look easy and carefree in comparison.)