Sony CDP-101 Compact Disc Player
On the 31st August 1982 in Tokyo, Japan, Sony, CBS, Polygram and Tokyo announced they had developed an audio compact disc playewr - CD was officially born
Two months later the Sony CDP-101 was launched in Japan retailing at 168,000 yen and found it's way to UK shores in 1983 with a hefty price tage of £450.
I was very fortunate at this time to have some friends who were one of the first people to "buy in" to the new format. For someone who mainly listened to LPs and tapes, it was a huge thrill to be able listen to any track on a disc just by selecting the number on the remote control.
Contrary to many early very negative reports about the fidelity of compact disc, the Sony CDP-101 actually did not sound that bad and the silence and lack of hiss between tracks (something we now all take for granted) seemed at the time like a giant leap forward for all mankind
The other outstanding feature of the Sony CDP-101 was that it was built like a tank, it had a sturday metal chassis and gun metal pollished fascia and seemed to weigh a ton, partly helped by a large transformer and heatsink at the back. The front fascia buttons had a lovely soft touch to them, and the front loading draw opened and closed very purposefully without a hint of wobble found in today's cheapy plastic mechanism - it was japanese engineering and attention to detail at it's best?
I have to confess I was hooked and wanted one straight away, although I would have to wait until the prices fell considerably.
Later on in years the same Sony CDP-101 was partnered with more exotic equipment, a pair of active Meridian M Speakers. Yet to its credit the Sony CDP-101 never faultered and was able to present a wonderful three dimensional soundstage that never tired on the listeners ears. CD has come along way sonically since those early days but the CDP-101 was still a fantastic well made piece of kit and many are still in use, a testament to it's build quality.
This entry was posted on Monday December 4th, 2006 at 11:02 AM and is filed under CD Players. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.
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13 Responses to Sony CDP-101 Compact Disc Player
Dave Says:
February 17th, 2007 at 9:00 AM
hi your right this cd player is very very good i bought mine second hand and took it home for a second cd player. i put it up against a heavily modified marantz cd 17 which nows sound's like a £3000 cd player, to my delight it was not far behind, the sony 101 had better bass, vocals, were more real, sound stage was big. i wonder if i was to get the sony modified it would leave the marantz for dead if any one sees one buy it it is a great cd player that play;s cdrs as well
Dave Says:
February 17th, 2007 at 9:01 AM
great cd player very glad i bought it
Wahski Says:
February 17th, 2007 at 11:30 AM
I have one of these players and its still plays fine and sounds quite good for a 12bit machine. It certainly is built like a tank, and I wouldn't want one to fall on me. Not sure what the expansion port on it was ever used for.
It had a feature to automatically pause between tracks, doubt if anyone would use that option. It had a reset button instead of stop.
Hi Says:
February 20th, 2007 at 7:14 PM
hi Wahski i found a webs ite with the specs and it says it is 16 bit what do you think of the sound do find very good for its age bye for now dave
Wahski Says:
March 1st, 2007 at 6:08 AM
Hi Dave,
You know I have alwayd been told this initial release machine was a 12bit machine, but looking at the brochure
http://www.adrian-kingston.com/images/CDP-101/Brochure4_small.jpg
it definately seems to be 16bit.
The sound is quite good for it's time. Because of it's age, it has problems playing (sometimes I turn the player upside-down and it begins to play)
The draw still takes it time opening, a bit of lubrication on the sliding bit in there helped alot, as it would go through the motions of playing, but output no sound. They ccertainly don't make em like they used to.
Pretty good to be still working after approx 25years
Andy Says:
October 17th, 2007 at 10:11 PM
Hi i have to agree with the other comments about this superb cd player i have a number of these all purchased from ebay some for as little as a pound yes a pound all it needed was a new STK6922 ic and the draw lubricating.
Andy Says:
October 17th, 2007 at 10:18 PM
Hi i have to agree with the comments about this classic cd player i have a number of them in my collection and i use one on a daily basis and i have paid as little as a £1 for one which needed a new focus ic these players are becoming very collectable and will only increase in value as time goes on due to the fact that it was the first player avalible at the genesis of the medium buy one now as prices will go up in future i have made sure i have a stock of spare lasers and have scrapped a few players so that i have spares to keep mine going in the future
Glynbo Says:
March 18th, 2008 at 9:55 PM
Bought mine brand new on its original UK release in 1983. Still going strong, having been donated to my inlaws many years ago. This machine probably marks the start of my ongoing love affair with things Sony. Check out http://www.sony.net/Fun/design/history/index.html for more details. This CD player was rapidly followed by the C7 Betamax VCR. Regards
Greg Says:
December 7th, 2008 at 10:29 PM
I got mine on Ebay for a small price but it was skipping on some CD's. so it needed some adjustments and cleaning. Works now perfectly and I changed the output op-amp to a higher grade. Originally was NE5532 which is not the best.opamp so I changed it to LT1057. Fits without any additional adjustments and the sound is more open and detailed.The highs are now more smooth not harsh like before the change. The bass is more controlled. Overall it is a simple change but the results are great.In the near future I will change some capacitors in the audio section to new ones . After all it is 25 years old. the laser unit is still in great shape and maybe used as a transport.
Gareth Says:
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:38 PM
Sorry, I bought one of these brand new in 1983, yes built like a tank but it sounded really bad, very tiring sound, I sold it after about 6 months, could not live with it any longer, I then waited 10 yrs (sticking with vinyl) for the technology to improve & then bought a pioneer with legato link / platter system now that sounds good.
Mark Says:
December 25th, 2008 at 10:24 AM
Interested in the LT1057 op amp but wondered which version I need?
When I search the web for a supplier there are many versions listed.
Cheers & merry xmas,
Mark
Mark kelsall Says:
December 25th, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Hi,
Interested in the LT1057 op amp but wondered which version I need. There are loads listed on the web!
Cheers,
Mark
Agus kurniawan Says:
February 18th, 2009 at 6:29 AM
I have sony cd player cdp-101, but can't read the disc. Some service centre said if the optic is broken, the type is KSS100. Anybody can help me, please