Description
I have been the first and only owner of this Sony 200-CD changer, which was manufactured in Malaysia in September 1998 (see 20th photo and zoom into labels on back of unit). Purchased it in early 1999 (see 6th photo for receipt dated “01/07/99”). CONDITION: Has some small scuffs and scratches, but overall this CD changer is in good condition. Tested, works, audio sounds great — the remote control moves the carousel properly in the desired direction, and it selects discs just fine, but the big dial on the right side of the front of the CD changer struggles to figure out which way to spin the CD carousel when you spin the dial. So I recommend using the remote control instead of the dial on the front of the CD changer. Once you load all your CDs into this “jukebox” of a CD player, I have found that the remote control tends to be the preferred way to control it anyways, at least in my experience. As with most home audio devices of this age, portions of the vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) are starting to fade in intensity/brightness (especially less used characters, like the “2” in “Next Disc 200”), but with moderate use, it seems to warm up and get a little brighter after a while, a little bit like an old school CRT TV — I understand it’s actually similar technology lighting that up! So cool! The original box has a hole in it (see 19th photo), but I’ll be sure to reinforce it with cardboard on the inside of the box, and tape it judiciously on the outside of the box; I will be using the original box for shipping, and will tape the edges as necessary, using clear shipping tape. In the last couple of years, I’ve shipped several CD changers of this size and weight, and I have a pretty good idea of what’s required for safe transport of these heavy, yet delicate electronic masterpieces. One final note is that I’ve never had to change the three rubber belts on this particular machine, though I’ve had to do that with several other 300- and 400-CD changers that I believe were of similar age. This particular unit was kept at room temperature throughout its life, so hopefully the rubber belts remain good for some time to come. As with all 200-, 300-, and 400-CD changers of this type and vintage, those belts will need to be changed at some point in time. They wear out like the rubber drive belts in cassette tape decks and walkmans. You can learn how to change those belts by watching how-to videos online. You can get an assortment of rubber drive belts of varying sizes here on eBay cheaply. Everything that originally came with the CD changer is included (with the exception of 2 AA batteries and the tiny plastic cap that covers the digital optical output jack — I put a small piece of tape over this jack to protect it): • Original box (1) • Original paperwork, including the instruction manual and the receipt from original purchase • Audio cord (RCA cable) (1) • Remote commander (remote control) (1) • CD booklet holders (2) and label (1) * * NOTE: The small numbered labels have already been applied to both CD booklet holders (see 7th photo). The booklets are great because they hold your CD inlays so you can flip through them quickly and, using the number it’s labeled with, select the number using the remote control. This way, you can peruse your CD library’s album art, and when you see an album you’d like to listen to, you type its number into the remote. This is visually pleasing! My favorite thing to do was to put the whole CD changer on all-discs shuffle. Let the machine select which tracks to play. You can quickly and easily set it up to shuffle this way, and it’ll select a random track on a random CD every time. Or shuffle within one CD of your choosing, if you select that option instead. There’s also continue 1/all, program 1/all, and repeat 1/all functions. It reads CD Text, but for discs that lack CD Text, you can use the remote control to type out alphanumeric labels to save to each disc slot. This way, the alphanumeric label shows up on the dot-matrix vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) when browsing through the CD carousel with the remote control. If you want to record digitally to a Minidisc deck (not included), you can use the Toslink digital optical output for that (Toslink digital audio cable not included). Some home theater receivers also accept digital optical audio, and I understand this gives you higher quality sound. Thank you for your interest in this item. Any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!
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