15 year old McIntosh MCD-7009 CD player going in for repairs

kach22i

WBF Founding Member
Apr 21, 2010
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Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.kachadoorian.com
My 15 year old McIntosh MCD-7009 CD player going in for repairs.

The drawer will not open, makes a whiny noise like a belt broke and a pulley is spinning untempered in hyper-drive.

I'm taking it onto the local Mac dealer soon, hope they clean the senor which controls the drawer operation. In addition, there is an intermittent problem with the drawer opening and closing quickly all by it's self before I can get the disc out. It's like a finger trap game at times, to see which one of us is the quicker - I typically lose.

$90 bench fee, plus whatever.

In the meantime I've picked up a $15 Yamaha CD changer (5-disc rotating type CDC-605) at the recycle shop today. It plays - I'm happy.

I miss having a CD changer, so now I have a background random play machine and the when the Mac returns the serious one-disc unit.

An outboard DAC is on my shopping list in the future, but I'll want to home audition one before committing.
 

kach22i

WBF Founding Member
Apr 21, 2010
1,591
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1,635
Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.kachadoorian.com
MCD7009 on it's last legs - suggestions?

The local authorized McIntosh retailer has just informed me that my 16 year old MCD-7009 unit is wearing out and it's just a matter of time before it fails again.

It was serviced about ago, a few diodes changed and a new belt.

A couple of months ago would not open and would make a whining noise. I finally got around to taking it into the shop late last week.

The repair guy said today that he got the pop up gear unstuck and did not charge me, but no guarantees when it would be acting up again.

What are my options?

It would be nice to join the 21st century with a OPPO BDP-105 as my Sony Blu-Ray is also acting quirky lately. Unfortunately cash is short.

I currently don't use a music server or downloads, just vinyl, CD's and Blu-Rays from the public library. Roof top TV antenna also in use, I'm old school, but that could change.
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Manila, Philippines
16 years is a long, long time in consumer electronic years George. Hats off to McIntosh. Good news is that there are lots of affordable options that sound really good these days, the Oppo being one of them. I'd look to Denon as an alternative albeit the Oppo would be my first choice as far as silver spinners in that price range go. Something about Sabre's chips I've always liked.
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
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...It would be nice to join the 21st century with a OPPO BDP-105 as my Sony Blu-Ray is also acting quirky lately. Unfortunately cash is short.

I currently don't use a music server or downloads, just vinyl, CD's and Blu-Rays from the public library. Roof top TV antenna also in use, I'm old school, but that could change.


Assuming you owned your 16-yr old Mac for a good portion of that time or all of it...well done. You bought what you liked and clearly enjoy it. Mac make good players from what i am told...assuming the newer ones are out due to cost...i think an older model Oppo is an excellent choice. You can probably find a modd'd 83 (i owned one before it broke)...and i personally preferred it to my stock Oppo 95 (which i bought steeply discounted new when the 105 came out and dealers were moving stock).

I bet you could find a mod'd 83 or 83SE for $500, if that fits within your budget. A bit of isolation underneath and on top, and that is one awesome do-it-all player that will compete extremely well among the silver-disc players...PARTICULARLY the universal silver disc players.
 

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