gordonl@microsoft.UUCP (Gordon Letwin) (09/02/84)
I noticed people talking about buying a Technics SLP-7 for about $375. May I suggest you consider the SLP-8, available at discount for $450? I forget exactly where I got mine... they had a big add in the back of Audio mag... just phone around. The SLP-7 and the SLP-8 have identical musical performance, but the SLP-8 has a whole slew of features (its the second most feature-laiden CD player I've seen, and I've looked around) including an IR remote control. Knowing how marketing works and the cost of ICs vs masking charges, they're probably identical inside, with the list price of the SLP-8 inflated to "distinguish" between the two models. gordon letwin p.s. - a computer buying service that a friend has used successfully quotes the SLP-8 for $417, delivered to seattle. Don't know the exact dealer as this place acts as a forwarding house and won't give you the listing dealers name. Just take this as a hint that the $458 I paid (w/delivery) may not yet be the best price in town)
karn@mouton.UUCP (09/03/84)
I bought an SL-P7 (the cheaper model) two months ago for $291 and have been very happy with it. While I like gadgets as much as the next guy, I still can't get the urge to play Beethoven's 9th in reverse order; that's about all the "programmable" models can do that my player can't. I can still seek to a desired movement or song, as well as "fast forward" or "fast reverse" when I want to locate a particular passage. The review in Audio gave the SL-P7 and 8 very high marks for error correction capability. However, I had to return a copy of Shubert's 4th and 8th (on Erato) because of skipping in one spot that lasted for 15 seconds or so. I believe I could actually see the defect on the metal layer. But when I took it back to the store the salesman checked it on his player (a front-loading Denon?); it tracked fine. I'm not sure what this means about the Technics, but in any case I got a different copy that plays fine, and none of my other 23 discs have given me any problems. I think there's a moral here: full implementation of the error correcting schemes won't help you if the laser servomechanism cannot track through a defect without skipping tracks. The critical parts of the system are still the ones that move. Nevertheless, the overall quality of the sound is nothing short of fantastic, and I've given up trying to figure out why there are so many rabid anti-CD people out there. I don't care any more; I'd rather sit back and enjoy my collection. I'm paying enough for it. For example, did you know that the heartbeats at the beginning and end of Dark Side of the Moon occur at EXACTLY 1 beat per second? I never would have found out such an enormously valuable piece of information if it weren't for DIGITAL technology (like the time readout.) Who knows, I might even win a game of Trivial Pursuit some day with that tidbit... Phil