Arcam CD73 dropout issue

[Johnno]

A new CD73 has a flaw I cannot logically decipher.

Every CD I have played has at least one dropout cropping up, entirely at random. New CDs, old ones, clean ones, dusty ones (well, a few specks of dust!). Sometimes right away, sometimes 30 minutes into the program: a sudden dropout. Right out of the box, the dropouts were accompanied by a loud *snap* which preceded one full second of silence. Then the playback reappeared, in progress. As the days in use wore on, the snap became a slight crackle, but the sudden and unexpected signal loss still occurs. I immediately backtrack to a few seconds before the dropout time noted on the display, and the disc plays through the previous dropout area without problem. If the dropout were due to laser tracking/pickup issues, I would assume the dropout would occur in the same place, same time on the display. Nope. Just random. Am I missing removal of a transport set screw or tray lock? A dust speck from factory on laser lens?

Classical, filmscore, musical, pop...all the same. I thought maybe the DAC cache was filling up on lengthy classical movement tracks (hey, I was trying to figure SOMETHING out!), that maybe short 3-minute pop tracks were unaffacted. Nope again. Random. I cleaned the discs, I checked leads, tried a different amp, different mains...no dice.

The player sounds terrific, best I have had since my classic 1984 Marantz CD73 (odd, same model number! Great in its day.). But to become absorbed in music only to have it suddenly and cruelly interrupted by ----silence! That is annoying.

Any ideas, suggestions much appreciated.

[Johnno]

Pattern developing seems to point to middle of CD as area where the dropout issue occurs. Not at very beginning of a CD, or end, but in the vast middle range, starting about 18 minutes in to 50 minutes. Perhaps the tracking servo locks in this range, or some connector has an intermittent kicking in when traversing this time range. Damn, I cannot figure it out!

[Geoffcin]

A new CD73 has a flaw I cannot logically decipher.

Every CD I have played has at least one dropout cropping up, entirely at random. New CDs, old ones, clean ones, dusty ones (well, a few specks of dust!). Sometimes right away, sometimes 30 minutes into the program: a sudden dropout. Right out of the box, the dropouts were accompanied by a loud *snap* which preceded one full second of silence. Then the playback reappeared, in progress. As the days in use wore on, the snap became a slight crackle, but the sudden and unexpected signal loss still occurs. I immediately backtrack to a few seconds before the dropout time noted on the display, and the disc plays through the previous dropout area without problem. If the dropout were due to laser tracking/pickup issues, I would assume the dropout would occur in the same place, same time on the display. Nope. Just random. Am I missing removal of a transport set screw or tray lock? A dust speck from factory on laser lens?

Classical, filmscore, musical, pop...all the same. I thought maybe the DAC cache was filling up on lengthy classical movement tracks (hey, I was trying to figure SOMETHING out!), that maybe short 3-minute pop tracks were unaffacted. Nope again. Random. I cleaned the discs, I checked leads, tried a different amp, different mains...no dice.

The player sounds terrific, best I have had since my classic 1984 Marantz CD73 (odd, same model number! Great in its day.). But to become absorbed in music only to have it suddenly and cruelly interrupted by ----silence! That is annoying.

Any ideas, suggestions much appreciated.

This is EXACTLY why manufactures warrantee their products. You should sent that defective player back, and make them give you a new one. Even the best components are going to have a small percentage of failures.

[Johnno]

Skips occuring within certain regions of a CD are not uncommon on any number of cdps (thank you member who emailed me!). Many ng's discuss this issue. My searches were not specific enough. The optical assembly rides a sled on rails that can get gummed up, or are stiff with lubricant from sitting on a dealer's shelf, unused. When the tracking during play gets to a gummy point it results in skips or dropouts. Clean these rails and the problem goes away. I did, and it did!

Good. No way I wanted to surrender this great-sounding player!