I can't play SACDs. Is it worth opening the player?
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smartie_panta
Posts: 182
My Marantz DV9500 is not playing SACDs, but it plays regular CDs great. (I've never played DVDs in it.) I am not a technical person, and opening up a piece of AV equipment gives me anxiety that I will mess it up.
However, has anyone had this problem, and there's a chance it could be a simple DIY fix? Perhaps something just needs to be cleaned? As you can see, it's old. If it is going to cost me $50-$100 to take to a local shop to diagnose (and potentially tell me it's shot and cannot be repaired), I'd rather save my money, so I thought I'd start here.
Other than the SACD playback issue, it is in fantastic condition.
Answers
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Maybe something here could help, sometimes a hard reset will fix a problem. Follow the dv9600 procedure
https://masterelectronicsrepair.blogspot.com/2019/03/marantz-reset-procedures-marantz-av.html?m=1 -
Do you have both Hybrid 2-layer SACDs and SACD only discs
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Other than dirty optics (which might be user-cleanable, with extreme care & caution) I doubt there's much that even a skilled DIYer could mitigate in a player like that one.
@audioluvr and @pitdogg2 may be on to something. It would be worth checking the unit's setup. I know that SACD output options are (or at least originally were) limited, IIRC, to analog only. It was part of a major Sony raison d'être for SACD, which was copy protection. There's also the two- vs. multichannel output "question" (?) Either a hard reset and/or careful perusal of the current setup options might be helpful/useful.
I am grasping at straws, though. There are a couple of "SACD" capable players here, but they're of the cheap, relatively modern DVD "multi-format" kind and not earlier, more serious (expensive) players with more deliberate handling of SACD content.
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along with all the good suggestions I'll toss in
unplugging the unit for a minute.
Next, power it up with the stop button pressed in.
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THANK YOU, @pitdogg2 , @audioluvr and @mhardy6647 ! These are helpful things to consider and look into, and I will try some things and report back.
As for your question, @txcoastal1 , it's a good one, as all the discs I have I believe are hybrid, but I'll have to double check. (But I think the Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" disc I have is purely SACD.) -
Had that issue with an older Denon universal player. In that unit, there was a different laser for certain media. If it failed, some discs would play, others would not. Given the age of your player, could be the same situation.
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@DaveHo was the laser issue fixable?
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The inability to read SACD or the hybrid SACD layer was common with all manufacturers in that period. Even Sony drives had problems with the laser mechanisms tracking the discs properly.
Personally I'd give up on the Marantz as an SACD player and not put money into replacing the laser mechanism. Doing that it not super hard, but it's also not easy and the drive would have to be sourced from somewhere. The laser mechanism can be found for around $50 plus shipping but de-installing of the old one and re-installing of the "new" one may or may not solve the problem.
May be cheaper, and less frustrating, to just find a decent quality SACD player that is known to work properly. One word of caution though. A cheap SACD player is not going to get the best sound quality out of an SACD. In some cases they sound worse than just using a high quality CD player.
The 9500 looks good! -
I did buy a replacement laser, but it still didn't work after installing. Could have been installer error. I seem to remember it was a somewhat tricky process.
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Fricking laser beams.
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I think one of the issues is the drives said to be available as replacements are fairly standardized for several different models but require the right firmware to work with the player.
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I think one of the issues is the drives said to be available as replacements are fairly standardized for several different models but require the right firmware to work with the player.
On new lasers there is also a solder bridge that must be removed. -
Trial and error and working through all your tips resulted in the same result.
The only interesting/new observation was that when trying to read one of the discs the SACD indicator came up on the screen, so clearly it recognized it as one, but then the dreaded "No Play."
As @Emlyn suggests, I'm probably better off continuing to use it only as a CD player. That still works well and sounds great, so it looks like that's what I'll be doing!
Sincere thanks for all the advice.
