"Dropouts" on commercial CD playback

[jsound]

Last year, I bought a Cambridge Audio 640Cv2 player, which has performed perfectly until recently, when I began to hear "dropouts" during playback of commercial CD's. These would occur at different places on the same disc, & sometimes not at all.
I always make sure that the disc is free of surface dust particles before placing it in the player, so I doubt that's the problem. Both the dealer & the service company believe that it is a problem with either the laser pickup, servo, or spindle. According to the service personnel, this problem is not all that uncommon across CD players of different makes & models, & can be remedied by replacing the transport. I have a friend that recently spent a good deal more on a NAIM CD player, & had an issue with that also.
Has this happened to anyone out there? (My player is still under mfg warranty, so it's not a huge issue, but I'm curious to know how common this really is.)
Thanx for listening...

[Raj J]

good day mate,
came across your experience with the Cambridge audio cd player - I had several of these Azur340, and 640, as well as one of their top of lines. apart from the lower 2, the top of line one gave me trouble! even had a top of line CD vacuum tube from Cary that packed up in few weeks! that cd player cost me over 4 grand back in 1998.
this is a common problem with cd players, it has nothing to do with the brand or type...
not to worry about it - this can be easily fixed.

just send it back to your dealer, and they will arrange a brand new unit for you. cambirdge audio and the others I have owned are reputable companies, they will not like a disatisfied customer, hence within warranty they are much obliging.

I have owned many brands of top line cd players from, Marantz, Arcam, Rega, BAT, Quad, NAD, Conrad Johnson, Aragon, Musical Fidelity, Copland, Sony, Pioneer, Audio Alchemy, Audio Lab, cambridge audio, Cary, Jas Audio etc can't remember the numerous others... all most of all these had some problem or the other. the only ones that didn't give me problems were from Arcam, NAD, Quad and Musical Fideility.

at the moment I am using a vacuum tube design from Cayin; excellent cd player for the money and beats the hell out of all those brands I used, except the conrad johnson DV2B, this was an out standing cd player from c-j, which I will be getting their new one in December called DP2.

nearly all cd players have to be mounted correctly with absolute stable platform. as fussy as truntables, you need to have then sitting on something solid!
also, have the laser pick up (transport) servied at least once in 3 years, this will keep it in top condition. I have had my Cayin cd50T for nearly 3 years now, and hasn't missed a beat. also watch out for moisture, keep the unit well away from sources of heat, moisture, dust (as much as you can) pets etc, cd players are precision musical instruments and must be well looked after!

when you're ready next time, go for a cd player that has vacuum tubes; you'll be pleansantly surprised!
cheers and all the best!
Raj J

[Hyfi]

I get this with my Rotel every once in a while for no reason. It did get repaired shortly after purchase because like almost all other CDPs, you can't close the drawer by pushing it in gently.

It also would not read disk 2 of Metallica's S&M but that disk played in every other player I owned. Recently when rearranging my gear, I had it standing on end on the carpet and it fell over to it's feet. Now it plays that disk.

It also won't play overburned CDRs too well either.

Maybe dropping it a few times might help :)

[jsound]

Thanx, all - this is pretty much the feedback I've gotten from everyone, from the shop I
bought it from to the warranty repair people: luck of the draw... I guess no matter what you
pay for something, there's always the possibilty that you'll have a glitch.
Anyhoo - I sent the player off to get repaired (Audio Plus Services), & I'm assured that it should only take about 5-7 days to fix it.
Just out of curiosity, has anyone out there ever dealt with this particular repair service?

Thanx for listening...