Topic: toshiba 3960 - flakier than 15 year old valley girl

[Tim]

this thing has a mind of it's own.... I will skip tracks manually with the remote and occasionaly it will just replay the previous track, I will skip 3-4 tracks and the music never changes but the display track does. turning the unit off and on seems to remedy the situation.

also, it will occasionaly just stop working... I'll be listening for 10 minutes or 4 hours, doesn't matter it's totally random and sure enough the thing will just stop for no reason. press play and start the track over and the unit will work just fine.

totally f'in bizarre... anyone else had these issues?

[BobW]

I had a taper-made DVD-A that threw my H/K into a tailspin.
Wouldn't play it, when I hit eject, it played one track, eject again, next track. Eject twice and it would open the transport !
All other discs, CD and DVD-A are OK, so I'm not sure what's up yet.

Have you tried several discs and different types ?

[Tim]

oh yeah, this behavior occurs with any kind of cd that gets thrown into it.

seems to do okay with dvd's though.

I'm not really losing any sleep over it, it's a bit annoying but it's a cheap machine so I'm not terribly heart-broken

[BCostigan]

My 3960 has some quirks...nothing that bothers me too much for what it does.  Mostly tracking problems like ya said....if I put a disk in, hit play, and leave it alone it does OK.      It also doesn't like to open very quickly sometimes....keeps wanting to "load".

[Nick's Picks]

I dont recall ever experienceing any issues with mine.  Maybe a finicky disc once and a while, but nothing that sticks out in my mind.

fwiw...
the 3960 made Stereophiles list of recomeneded componants.
Class D I believe.
still, thats saying something to make the list!

There were a lot of inexpensive products on that list.  Most of the reviews I had all ready read, but it was cool to catch up.  Lots of integrated amps and DVD universal players (marantz had two models) under $1800 new that were class A rated.

[George]

You get what you pay for, imho. 

Too bad it's acting up on you though, my attitude towards any cd/dvd player is that it should work flawlessly at least ten years.  My brother had this Pioneer cd player circa December 1992 and that sucker read everything and anything regarding cd's (cdr's included).  It actually never broke, i just wound up upgrading it to a 5 cd changer/1 md deck.  Now i use a Music Hall cd-25 and i love what it does with my headphone rig. 

Is the Toshiba firmware upgradeable?

[Tim]

You get what you pay for, imho.

thanks for that insight.

[BCostigan]

 

Too bad it's acting up on you though, my attitude towards any cd/dvd player is that it should work flawlessly at least ten years. 

Ten years?  I don't give anything with moving and/or electronic parts more than 3 years of flawless performance.  Too many things going on when you add moving parts and electricity to not develop problems.

[JackoRoses]

How come no one is questioning how he knows how flaky a 15 yr old valley girl is? 

[BCostigan]

How come no one is questioning how he knows how flaky a 15 yr old valley girl is? 

It's a given. 

[pfife]

 

Too bad it's acting up on you though, my attitude towards any cd/dvd player is that it should work flawlessly at least ten years. 

Ten years?  I don't give anything with moving and/or electronic parts more than 3 years of flawless performance.  Too many things going on when you add moving parts and electricity to not develop problems.

I agree with you Brian, when we are talking about electronics made, say, post-1997 or so.  Things since then just seem to be made so cheaply that you are right.  I think it has something to do with adding so many features while trying to keep the price down.  Turntable CD players never seem to last that long...

On the other hand, the first CD player I ever got - a single disc sony player, lasted for 8 or 9 years - prolly got it sometime around 92 or so.

[George]

Gotta disagree with you guys strongly about the quality of cd players.  If you buy a quality unit from a company that specifically builds sources it will last years down the road unlike a cheap dvd/cd player unit like the Toshiba mentioned in this thread that comes off of a assembly line.

"thanks for that insight."

Anytime.   

People always prop up cheap components and hail them as the next best thing and when they fall apart in a short period of time and people act surprised.  Do yourself a favor and invest in something that was built to last and not mass produced.

I've owned my Sony 7506 headphones and those work flawlessly after four years of operation.  My Grado SR-60 headphones are working flawlessly after 4 1/2 years.  It's all about mass production.  Buy something that comes off of an assembly line and be prepared for defects. 

[nickgregory]

with the technology curve that we have seen of CDs->DVD-A->SACD and the upcoming new DVD formats,. you will be lucky if the transport you buy today is even technically feasible in 5 years...10 years, it will be heavy doorjam

[pfife]

with the technology curve that we have seen of CDs->DVD-A->SACD and the upcoming new DVD formats,. you will be lucky if the transport you buy today is even technically feasible in 5 years...10 years, it will be heavy doorjam

IOW, I should hold off on purchasing a universal disk player as long as possible?

[nickgregory]

with the technology curve that we have seen of CDs->DVD-A->SACD and the upcoming new DVD formats,. you will be lucky if the transport you buy today is even technically feasible in 5 years...10 years, it will be heavy doorjam

IOW, I should hold off on purchasing a universal disk player as long as possible?

no, if you try to wait out technology, you will never buy anything...

I was just pointing out that the 10 year argument is flawed due to this...and that is why I am ok with buying cheap transports, that sound good, rather than paying a bunch of money for something that will be outdated....

anyone remember what the tascam cd-writers were going for??