CD Player Skipping Problem

[Face of the Bass]

So, my stereo is set up in an area where my children--a 7 year old girl and 2 year old boy--sometimes can be seen running about, back and forth. When they hit certain spots on my floor, it can cause any CD that is playing to skip, enough to the point where it becomes annoying. My CD player is pretty old...a 5-disc RCA that I bought about nine years ago. I read somewhere that tennis balls cut in half could fix this sort of thing. I did that but it seemed to have little to no effect. Is there something else I can do to try to limit vibration, or would a newer model of CD player fare better with this sort of thing?

[Peter Johnson]

I would take a green magic marker and highlight the edge of all of your CD's with it. That should work, and they'll sound better too!

[Chuck Nessa]

If you can make a video of the machine skipping, it would be a hit on youtube.

[king ubu]

I would take a green magic marker and highlight the edge of all of your CD's with it. That should work, and they'll sound better too!

Is that white or black magic?

[jazzbo]

Can you put a shelf on the wall? Is it on a nice and sturdy rack of any kind?

[sidewinder]

Sounds like the transport may be in the early stages of being on the way out.

[jazzbo]

But not necessarily if there is a direct correlation between footfalls and skipping.

[alankin]

I would take a green magic marker and highlight the spots on the floor.

[sonnymax]

If you don't have any money to spend, that's one thing. Otherwise, don't you think you deserve a new player after 9+ years?

[Dan Gould]

I better get cracking then. Mine is about 15 years old.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I think we'd need more information to help you out. Is the CD player in a rack? Is the rack heavy or light? Is the CD player near the top or the bottom? When you tried the tennis ball trick, how many did you use? (I would think that 4 halves - 1 near each corner would be best) If you pick up the player while it's playing, can you gently move it and get it to skip? Light taps on top? Light taps on the side?

All in all, the old CD player is likely on its way out. Unfortunately, you might have some trouble replacing this machine with a decent one. A few months ago, my brother asked me to pick him up a decent 5 CD (only) player and I eventually had to go with a Denon factory refurb.

Edited September 16, 2011 by Kevin Bresnahan

[Face of the Bass]

The CD player is on the upper shelf of a home entertainment system that is sitting on the carpet in my living room. There are certain spots on the floor that if you step on them too forcefully, the player will skip. I had the player on the lower shelf earlier but it was skipping then, which caused me to try the upper shelf. I added the tennis balls (four halves in total, one for each corner) last week and it doesn't seem to have made much of an improvement.

I think I'd be fine with buying a new CD player but I want to be sure that a newer one would actually fix the problem. I don't even really need a five-disc changer, I'd just buy a regular single disc player if I knew it would work fine. Has the technology advanced enough so that this would not even be an issue with a new player?

[AmirBagachelles]

Do CDs skip when you play them in your computer (assuming you do)? I would try some different situations, perhaps with a laptop. I have lived in apartments with trampoline floors for my entire adult life. Skipping does occur but only with big jolts. If the player is still good I think you should be able to overcome this with damping material. Maybe its time to go for a streaming setup from a fixed location computer.

[Face of the Bass]

No, CDs don't skip on my computer, and indeed, my DVD player does not skip either. I don't really want to go to a streaming setup, as I really like being able to play the physical objects...

[etherbored]

when players start skipping it's time to start considering replacements.

if at all possible, i'd encourage you not to replace it with another multidisc player. multidisc technology and good quality audio, imho, don't go together. i've never heard a decent sounding multidisc player. i'm positive you'll get more mileage out of a decent single drawer unit. the mechanics of the platter transport cause problems because they're usually plastic with little resilience don't hold up. i went through three of them, my last being an nad, before following this advice and abandoning them for a good single drawer. i think you'll be happier and your unit will perform better in the long run.

anyhow, i'm not bashing on your current unit, i just think with as good a collection as you have that it deserves some nice hardware.

[Stonewall15]

Previous posts have addressed the CD player replacement problem. There seems to be a lack of decent new CD players. A solution is to buy a good DVD player- they all play CDs, as well.

[.:.impossible]

I better get cracking then. Mine is about 15 years old.

Dan, if you hear cracking, you might want to try a static brush, or cleaning your stylus with a small slice of magic eraser before playing the record.

[.:.impossible]

thirty bucks

http://albany.craigslist.org/ele/2598683105.html

[Face of the Bass]

Thanks for the responses. I'm leaning towards getting a new dedicated CD player--one disc only. Looking for value for money...I like good sound but I'm not able to spend $1,000 for a CD player when I can get something that will work well for a fraction of the cost. Any recommendations would be warmly appreciated.

[Leeway]

Here are some suggestions.

NAD

Cambridge

Marantz

Edited September 16, 2011 by Leeway

[etherbored]

i've owned a cambridge for the past 10 years (currently an 850) and i wholeheartedly reccomend the line.

[bertrand]

I've had the Marantz for about a year and am very happy with it.

Bertrand.

[sonnymax]

No, CDs don't skip on my computer, and indeed, my DVD player does not skip either. I don't really want to go to a streaming setup, as I really like being able to play the physical objects...

Is your dvd player connected to the same speakers as your cd player (or can it be?)? If the answer is "yes", why not use it for playing your cds?

[Man with the Golden Arm]

[Face of the Bass]

No, CDs don't skip on my computer, and indeed, my DVD player does not skip either. I don't really want to go to a streaming setup, as I really like being able to play the physical objects...

Is your dvd player connected to the same speakers as your cd player (or can it be?)? If the answer is "yes", why not use it for playing your cds?

Thanks for suggesting this. I did it today and the skipping problem is solved. I think I'd like to upgrade my cd player, but now I can take my time picking the one I want now that the immediate problem has been solved.