New to me: Denon 1800R CD Player

[John Holmes]

A few days ago, I was checking out some pawn shops and Goodwills. While at one of the pawn shops, I noticed this cd player. It was actually underneath a dvd player. The Denon was covered in dust so, I know it had been there a little while. I could read the faceplate which has the model # but, it meant nothing to me since I was not up to snuff on older cd players. What did catch my attention was the side wood panels. So I dug it out. Man...the thing weighed a ton (good sign)! In good shape too. What was this? A heatsink on the rear...hmmm. I thought to myself, if it works, it might be worth the $40 tag on it.

So I test it and everything worked great. So I asked for the remote. The gentlemen assisting me stated "there was none. if it was, it would have been taped to the unit.'' So I tell him without the remote it's only worth $15. He counters with $21 out the door.

So now the beast is in my home. All I've got to say is, it's the best $21 bucks I have ever spent! For the first time in my system, I can hear what a "true" soundstage sounds like. Now the soundstage was a shocker however, hearing more controlled bass (better definition), better dynamics, and clear clean midrange...this was amazing!!! At least to me since, I have always been of the camp that a source is pretty much a source. So there isn't much need aside from looks and features to spend more money. Boy was I wrong. ops:

After enjoying a few cd's, I decided to search the internet for info about my new toy. It seems that this was a pretty good piece (mine is a 1985 model) in it's day. I know it is night and day from the Harman/Kardon CDR-20 that I have been using for sometime now.

I just wanted to share and say, thank goodness for pawn shops and thrift stores. Because (up until now) I would have never spent $600.00 or even $300 bucks on a cd player. I hope this one last for a long time because now I will have to save more than usual to replace it. :B

http://www.thevintageknob.org/DENON/DCD1800/DCD1800.html

[riceaterslc]

that thing looks awesome! did you get silver or black faceplate? does it have digital output? nice find :T

[John Holmes]

that thing looks awesome! did you get silver or black faceplate? does it have digital output? nice find

Thank you sir! I got the black face. It seems the silver is the earlier version DCD-1800 and the black faceplate was put on the later DCD-1800R
I was glad to get the black since it blends well with the rest of my equipment. And after I cleaned it up, I found it was blemish free to boot.

No digital output. All analog baby! 8)

I see you're at Camp Humphreys. I was up the road a little to the north of you in 79-80 at Camp Casey. I bet that place has changed a lot.