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Has my Meridian 506 become an expensive door stop?

A couple of years ago I purchased a used Meridan 506 CD player for a fairly reasonable price. At first it worked fine and sounded great, but a few months later it began having difficulty reading and sometimes tracking discs. About a year and a half ago I contacted Meridian about getting it fixed and got a general estimate to replace the drive (or whatever the black-box fix was). At the time I wasn’t in the best shape financially so decided to live with it for the time being.

Recently I decided to have it taken care of and called again to get a repair authorization from Meridian. The rep informed me that parts are no longer available for the 506. (Goddamn designed obsolescence!) However, if I sent it in they could “grease the chassis”. Uh... well, I’m highly mechanically skilled, so I took the thing apart and did it myself. There wasn’t much to do (though getting it apart was an adventure), and I chose not to disassemble the laser mechanism. (The way the guy talked, the “lube job” would be of the transport and not the laser drive itself anyway.)

It didn’t noticeably change anything, and it’s continuing to get progressively worse. So what now? Is there anything I can do with this? Is there anywhere else besides Meridan itself that might have parts? Though I do enjoy quality sound I’ve always been on a very tight budget. (Most of my system is “hand-me-downs”.) I’m also reluctant to toss something that can be repaired (within reason).
r_leach
r_leach OP
5 posts
 
Thanks Elizabeth – I think you're implying that most repairs nowadays are "black box" fixes, which I believe is true. It's much easier and I suppose cost effective on a "global scale" over the long run, because it eliminates all the possible future malfunctions within the "box". (Assuming of course, that the general lifespan of individual components within the "box" are equal, which obviously they are not.) Of course, that philosophy is problematic when the "box" is no longer manufactured...

So how were you able to determine that your problem was a 15 cent cap?
delphinj
20 posts
 
OK. Here is the result of many hours of research. I had the same issue with my 506-20. The laser head wears out and causes these problems. You can get a new head for between $15-30 from e-bay. These heads are used in many cd juke boxes. The guy I got mine from was in Las Vegas see link info below. The transport is either a philips cdm 12.4 or 12.5 aka vam1205. The 12.5 has a ribbon cable coming from the motor since it is a hall effect drive, the 12.4 has a conventional 2 wire harness. It will be on a sticker on the transport anyway. Doesn't matter though since its just the laser head you need to replace.

Here is the info for you. http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Philips-CDM12-4-CDM-12-4-laser-optical-head-juke-etc_W0QQitemZ190355218050QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2c520e1e82

Good luck. Mine worked fine after the laser replacement.
r_leach OP
5 posts
 
Delphini -- thanks for the tip. I just ordered the laser, which does look exactly like mine. It's worth it to see if fixes the problem. There was a 12.4 transport on ebay as well. Mine is a 12.5, but like you say, the difference in the CD drive motor isn't an issue since I'll be just replacing the laser itself.

So what I don't get is why Meridian didn't have access to these parts. Is there a quality issue or are all Philips electronics the same (at least in a general sense)?
r_leach OP
5 posts
 
P.S. Disregard the question. Consider it retorical.
r_leach OP
5 posts
 
Well, I got the $30 (for a package of two) laser off e-bay. It looked EXACTLY like the one in the Meridian (markings and all). I replaced it. It didn't work.

I called Meridian, and found out they now have replacement lasers in stock. I sent the unit in and the tech said there was some minor difference in the mylar circuit connector on the one I put in and it wouldn't stay in the plug, though even after he shimmed it in place it still didn't work.

He put one of theirs in and it worked. Sounds wonderful now, $400 later... but if it works perfectly for at least 5 years I'll be satisfied with the outlay. I'll hold on the the other unit I bought and try it again when this one goes out. Even though I'm highly competent and downright anal when in "repair mode" I'd never done this before, and I'm more inclined to believe I screwed up somehow than there was some inperceptable difference in the units.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice. Cheers...
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