According to google, CD players last 5 to 10 years. The most common reason for failure is the laser/laser mechanism wears out.
How old is your CD player? and how many discs do you play per day?
My main Player is 25 years old, I have another I bought a couple of years ago which is 30 years old. Both have had new belts for the mechanism. Pennies to buy. Both work perfectly and will see off most other players I have heard. Imho. My 25 year old has been played āa lotā.
Not sure Google is correct.
Collywobbles, please share the make and model number of your CD players.
My CDX2 is 21 years old. I use it regularly (maybe ten discs per week). No problems at all.
My Technics player in the garage is 31 years old and still played perfectly the last time I tried it.
As I recently said elsewhere on the forum, maybe Iām just lucky.
Mark
2 Likes
Iāve a working ancient Philips CD104. It feeds a Nac 72/140 and sbls. Bedroomsystem, gets a spin once per week.
I think itās almost 40 years.
1 Like
Please see my entry in the CD History thread about a day ago.
1 Like
CDS2 made in 1999. Played every day, between 3 and 7 discs per day. It had a new mech in 2019.
CD3.5 made in 1999. Played weekly, maybe 5 discs a week. All original parts.
Good old Naim!
Also a crappy JVC all in one trash system, 35+ years old and working perfectly.in Mrs Gās office.
1 Like
My first cd player 1987 Marantz CD273SE in second system, still plays well, used once or twice a week. Never been serviced.
The Your CD Player history thread will give some answers!
I found CD players lasted me 10 years before problems with misreading (2 different brands/models)
However I imagine it depends on the amount of use more than passage of time. As a ball-park figure mine must have been used for something of the order of 10,000 hours before playing up.
Iām currently using a 25 year old CD3.5 with a more recently added Flatcap2. In fairness, it is what Fender would call a ācloset classicā - it was my fatherās, and he used it maybe 10 times from its original purchase in 1999 to when he gave it to me about 5 years ago, because my then 20 year old BAT VK-D5 stopped reading discs (for the second time) and could not be repaired because BAT no longer stocks the parts. I liked the Naim so much, I bought a second hand Flatcap2 for it, and I enjoy it almost daily, while the BAT sits in the basement collecting dust, pining for the day I get around to fixing it or selling it for parts. Other than that I had to rejuvenate 2 of the three clamps/pucks (easy enough), the 3.5 has operated flawlessly, and by all appearances is still going strong. (Of course, having written that, it will self-destruct 5 minutes after I publish this post). 
2 Likes
the life of a laser is greatly affected by whether the lens is plastic or glass. The cheaper plastic ones tend to fog over time. But of course there will be cheap players lasting 30 years and expensive ones dying at 2 years. There are always outlyers.
My CD player is 2 years old.
1 Like
I, too, have reservations about Googleās estimate.
My Linn Ikemi will be 20 years old next month and has performed flawlessly, playing about 20 CDs per week. About five years ago, I added a Chord 2Qute DAC to good effect, but Iām fearful about what to do when the inevitable happens. However, no doubt there will be plenty of advice on this forum!
I must admit that I have been surprised by the very small number of Linn references on the other recent CD player-related thread on the forum, although the enthusiasm for Naimās offerings remains undimmed, despite their (and Linnās) withdrawal from this particular market.
The good news is that the very low cost of second-hand CDs on-line makes the cost of vinyl look quite laughable! Nay-sayers might tell me that, soon, I could be left with a large collection of CDs and nothing on which to play them. However, it looks as if a good CD player could last for 20 years or more, so, as Iām just about to celebrate my 70th birthday, just one more machine, if needed, will probably be enough!
Best wishes,
Brian D.
I bought my very first dvd player in the late 90s. 97/98? Dont remember. Back when there were many more region 1 discs vs region 2, so my early purchases were imports. Itās a yamaha, cost Ā£600, i made it multi region by soldering a chip inside, using pink hook up wire iirc. So itās circa 25 years old; i use it as a transport into a unitiqute 2. It is totally silent and works flawlessly.
My sony cdp must be about the same age.
1 Like
Iāve got a late 90ās Marantz CD48 which I bought on eBay for Ā£40 a few years ago which works flawlessly and sounds (to my ears) amazing.
3 Likes
Naim CDX2 - made in 2002. Bought pre-loved in 2009.
CDS3 built 2004, laser change and service 2016.
Iām rather worried now! Naim CD2 from the mid-90s. All original mech. Couldnāt say how many CDs itās played. I hop from CD to streaming to vinyl and formerly FM too.
1 Like
My CDX2 is 22 years old, serviced last year and uprated to digital out (well I wanted it to connect to my Nova) -very happy
My CDS1 is ancient. I cant remember exactly how old it is. Still works fine, the CDPS was serviced the other year. Sounds good to me.
My Linn Mimik bought new when they first came out still works, although now in storage. My nearly as old Linn Karik is still going srrong.