List of early vertical loading CD players

Today I picked up a Soundesign 5055BLK Vertical loading CD player from 1989 for 10$ and I am thoroughly enjoying the sight of my CDs spinning about so considering the cheapness of Soundesign I have decided to look for a better vertical load CD player on the Bay. Saddly searching "Vintage vertacle load CD player" I come up with nothing. What I would like to do is with the help of everyone on the forum compile a list of all the early vertical loading CD players so that I may search each out individually. Also it would be a great resource of anyone doing the same. Please include pics.

 

JVC XL-V1



TENSAI TAD-2000



PIONEER PD-1



KENWOOD L-03DP



SANYO DAD-8



HITACHI DA-1000



LO-D (HITACHI HIGH-END IMPRINT) DAD-1000



DENON DCD-2000



KYOCERA DA-01



AKAI CD-D1



NEC CD-803



MICRO SEIKI CD-115

 

Nice! The Pioneer and the Kyocera are good looking.

 

Bang & Olufsen have done a few vertical loading CD players that let you see the disc spin.

 

Mitsubishi DP-101 also known as Diatone DP-101 in Japan
Extremely rare unit.

Happen to own one courtesy of a former Stereo Review magazine writer who bought it new back in 1983. Retailed for $1200 back then.

I made a nice YouTube Video of my Mitsubishi in action. Still works after all these years!

 

Excellent work there, MacGyver.

 

Those are cool players. I haven't seen one in years, but I'd love to own one that works.

 

I was just going to post this - Beosound 2300 circa 1991

 

My "garage system" has one.

 

Don't want to come across as some kind of spelling Nazi, but if you search for "vintage vertical load cd player" you will get better results.

 

Phase Linear made one back in the day...we used to call it "the toaster"...

 

Dual CD-120

Here's a Dual entry in the sweepstakes. A word of caution: it generally will not play past the 70 minute or so initial time limit; in other words, more recent 80-minute discs give it trouble. In fact, if memory serves, even discs exceeding 60 minutes can be problematic. I don't know how many of these early players share that limitation, but you may want to be careful if you plan to buy one and use it for more than decoration.

 

I had an Emerson around 1986.

 

I'm positive there was a vertical-loading Technics player around 1982-1983, but I'm not positive if it was ever released in the U.S. I believe I shot photos of one for an early issue of Digital Audio magazine from a Chicago CES in that era.

Those did look very cool. I think the only reason they fell out of favor is that everybody figured out that the mechanisms cost too much to manufacture, plus it was possible to make a really thin CD player that would more easily fit average people's systems.

Here's an early Philips prototype:

 

I reckon they were difficult to load, too. With drawers, it's easy to handle a CD by the edges and drop it in. With the vertical loaders, it must be harder to do that.

 

No, they weren't hard to load. I always stuck my finger in the center spindle hole and carried them around that way, then slipped them into the slot. No big deal. Getting them out was harder.

Ultimately, the drawer-loading horizontal transports made more sense and were easier to load. But not as interesting-looking as the vertical-loaders.

One of the nicest-looking machines I ever owned was the Technics SL-P1200 -- the slanted-load DJ-style machine:

 

Ah, this one was on my wish list for a long time. IIRC, it was heralded for its sound quality, and was featured on the cover of either HIGH FIDELITY or STEREO REVIEW.

I occassionally troll eBay for one, but since this model was a DJ favorite, I assume most used units have tremendous mileage on them.

 

The KYOCERA DA-01 is the one to look for, they show up every now and then, the most modern of the breed, classic high-end Japanese looks and sound to match . The microprossessor's can be an issue, and good luck finding parts.

Would look and sound great with some vintage Luxman or Accuphase gear.

If you want a total vertical system the Mitsubishi is your only choice with their vertical linear tracking turntable

excellent research and pics Mac

 

Here's a list of players tested in the german Audio magazine from March 1983, which indicated vertical/horizontal.

Some of these players were technically identical.

 

I have a Goldstar one lying around somewhere.

 

The first year that CD players were on display at CES in Chicago, this was the only one; not even Sony or Philips had CD players on display that year. I remember standing at one corner of the big hall trying to ignore the thump of the boom cars, listening to Bob James & Earl Klugh's "One On One" through headphones, the first CD I ever heard.

 

Yes, like you need another CD player.

 

Although not an early unit, the recent Beosound 9000 from B&O still uses this alignment. It can also be stand mounted or wall mounted. I saw one in their store in SoHo, NYC. Cool but very pricey.

http://www.bang-olufsen.com/beosound9000

 

TECHNICS SL-P1200

 

You're killing me! The first two photos are real beauties. None of the units I've seen on eBay look remotely as nice.