Technics SL-PD8 CD Players

Technics SL-PD8 CD Players 

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 47  
[Aug 17, 2020]
Víctor Vilches Cuadra


Strength:

Optical entry. You can change cd's (4) when your running the other one. Good quality of sound. Good quality of DAC'S from factory.

Weakness:

It's a very old model (Twenty years ago). But, if you connect a modern DAC Device, you got a really great machine with this update, with a very very low price.

Price Paid:
400
Purchased:
New  
Model Year:
1999
OVERALL
RATING
5
[May 22, 2003]
deeguss
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

It's remote,easy to use functions,optical out,memory capability and it's 90db music output.

Weakness:

None so far.

This is areally good 5 disc cd player which is simple to use and easy to setup.The remote is small light and easy to understand.It has good functions that are just a pleasure to operate..from random,edit,program,spiral and it's memory ability to hold the programs.

Similar Products Used:

Sharp,sony,

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 02, 2003]
vinayaga
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

1. Clean sound; not too bright or harsh. 2. Optical out 3. Capable of playing DTS enabled disks. 4. CD-R capability.

Weakness:

1. Very light weight, maybe plasticky.

I have been on the lookout for a nice CD changer for the past 3 months. I looked at the Yamaha series, Sony & the Harmon Kardon. All of them were okay, but I was still not satisfied. Then I came across the Technics PD8 (Basically a Panasonic company). I immediately read some reviews on the net and what caught my attention was that while most reviewers like it a lot, some had complained about lack of CD-R capability and the obtrusive lights. I got the machine home on trail for a day. The first CD I played was one I had burned (For the uninitiated, a CD-R). Played flawlessly and I immediately noticed a difference in the sound as compared to my sony. I realized that the people who companin about this feature probably do not "finish" their CD-R's when they burn them. (Most players only play finished CD-R's). Then I threw scratched CD's at it and it played them very well.(The Sony would not even touch these scratched CD's). I did NOT try CD-RW's, but then I do not use them. The lights were elegant, maybe a little bright, but no way did it get in my eyes. As for the people who compain it gets in their way on seeing videos, my question is "Why on god's earth would you keep the CD changer on when watching a movie in the dark ?". Anyways, its been great going. I really could not hear much of a difference between the Optical and Analog out, but the fact is that you have optical out in case you want to record digitally. In short, a good, clean sound that is not too bright or harsh. And its fast when it evaluates the empty slots and looks for CD's. If you ever used a Harmon Kardon, you would know what Im talking about ! And yes, one more fact that almost nobody has mentioned. This unit is capable of playing DTS encoded disks and passing them to the receiver via the optical output. I see a few DTS enabled CD's in the market and this player might just be future proof !

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha 575 & 675, Sony & Harmon Kardon.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 23, 2002]
n2ah
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Sound quality, front panel layout, features, price.

Weakness:

No headphone jack, no "calendar", light weight.

When the time came to replace my ancient Technics SL-PJ11 single disc player, I did some serious research. The Sony's at first looked good, except for many reports of them "eating" discs. Then, I came close to buying a Yamaha CDC-506. It seemed to have superior specs, a better DAC, quieter mechanism, and overall better build quality than the Sony's. But the user interface left much to be desired. Too many functions could only be used with the remote. Even basic programming and mode selection required the remote! And what front panel controls there were, were not well laid out. Finally, I noticed the Technics SL-PD9. It was on sale at the The Wiz for $99. I had my doubts, but was impressed with the many good reviews on this unit. So I took the plunge. The sound quality of this player is excellent on my JBL L-112 speakers (probably due to the "MASH" 1-bit DAC). The PD9 was able to cleanly play some home-made CDR's that had terrible intermittent noise when played on my old player. The operation of this unit is intuitive. Placement of the controls is very well thought out. All controls are above the tray, so they can be seen and used when the tray is open. And Technics didn't skimp on front panel buttons (including direct access keys) like some of the Yamaha's. Tracks can be programmed for play OR for deletion. Deleting unwanted tracks often makes more sense. The "Spiral" mode in addition to the normal "Random" mode is an interesting feature. When first turned on, the PD9 looks like an arcade game! The green Disc Selection LEDs flash in a horizontal pattern. And the white Disc Indicator LEDs spin in a circle. Personally, I kind of like it. During normal operation, I don't find the display offensive. The unit will play with the drawer open, and you can rotate the carousel to change or add discs without interrupting play. No special "exchange" button is required; just the press the normal open/close control. The carousel makes a bit of noise when rotating, but otherwise the player is quiet. I've had absolutely no problems with skipping or "eating" discs. I just have a few nits to pick. The one thing I miss is the "calendar" display that most CD players provide. (The display does clearly show the disc and track number being played, and there are several "time" display modes.) While you can easily program the unit using the front panel contr

Similar Products Used:

Technics SL-PJ11

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 06, 2002]
loomis
AudioPhile

Strength:

DTS pass-thru, optical out, bargain price

Weakness:

lightweight, harsh in high frequencies

This review is for the SL-PD9 This product is a surprisingly good deal. I am actually quite shocked. Sure, it''s no Jolida, Rega, or Krell, but it''s $100. It features an optical (toslink) out, and it will pass-thru DTS discs. Sound? I would say that it is pretty harsh in the high-end, a little loose in the low-end, and just right everywhere else. Hope this helps. If you aren''t an audiophile or if you are on a tight budget, I would strongly recommend this player. It''s a far better product than any player probably under $300. Loomis

Similar Products Used:

Jolida, B&O, etc....

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 17, 2000]
Luke Fraundorf
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

price

Weakness:

remote is cheesy, (use a universal one)

I was attracted to this product over the sony, yamaha and jvc cd players because of price. All of them had fairly similar features and sound quality of all of them was quite similar. The front panel is good, i have read reviews where they complain about the disc skip button, but it is fine for me... anyway its a very good solid cd player.
only one complaint, the drawer got stuck on the bottom
of front panel once, but that was only a one time thing so
far...
nice player

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 23, 2000]
brad
Audiophile

Strength:

shuffle mode, remote control

Weakness:

poor sound quality

This is a follow-up review.

I bought this model from Best Buy last winter. I then stumbled across a Marantz CC4000 on sale, so I bought it. At first I did not notice much of a sound difference. But then my Marantz needed to be serviced. I hooked-up this Technics for temporary play, and man was I disappointed.

The instruments and vocals all seemed to stream along and play over each other. It's as if a 1/2 second additional play time was added to vocals and instruments, to where they were overshadowing each other. "Crying" by Roy Orbison has some fantastic violin segments. With the Marantz, they seem to be alive within the speaker, but not "in your face" loud. With the Technics,the "aliveness" of the violins was gone. And Roy's voice just seemed to blend in with the rest of the instruments. All of the detail was missing. this demo was using the optical output of the Technics player. Now, the optical cable I was using is made by Monster Cable. That might have something to do with it. But I am pretty sure the sound quality was lacking when I was using the analog jacks, too.

The features that this player has are great. If you are looking for something easy to use and are not as concerned with sound quality, buy this player. It would be great in a game room or something like that, where one is not sitting down to listen to the musicality of a CD or a system.

It is true, you do get what you pay for. I wonder what a $1000 CD player sounds like???

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
2
[Jun 19, 2000]
Robert
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Several random play modes; great Technics sound (Mash).

Weakness:

Cheesy looking displays, which sometimes indicate a phantom CD; very light weight, and therefore I estimate a poor build quality.

I brought this home to replace my Technics SP-887. Returned only because I was less than enamored with the light weight build and cheesy displays on the front panel. There probably is nothing wrong with the unit, but I took the advice of the Circuit City salesman and chose a Sony instead.

Similar Products Used:

Sony

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Mar 22, 2000]
Jeff
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Panasonic reliabilty, exchange 4 discs while 5th is playing, optical output.

Weakness:

None, really that I have encountered

Have been very pleased with this model so far. Have owned two older Technics CD players in the past and they were both flawless. So far the same can be said about
the SLP-D8. The only thing I can't say I like on this model are the green lights indicating which discs are in tray, but that, of course is a very MINOR gripe. The unit, together with my Onkyo TX-8511 receiver,Sony MDS-JE330 MD deck, and JBL
S26 Studio Series speakers makes for a very nice audio system indeed. IMO, the Technics
is an excellent choice for an inexpensive
CD changer, one of the best in this price range. ($129 at Circuit City.)

Similar Products Used:

Older Techincs models

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 22, 2000]
George Pitt
Audiophile

Strength:

Sounds very analytical and detailed for a 'cheap' consumer CD player, which is good!; I LOVE the blinking disc light (I don't know why others are bothered by it- geez, it's just a small circle blinking which tells you what disc is playing- this IS a nice feature!)

Weakness:

None; this player is an example of great ergonomics & layout; only minor fault is the tiny remote buttons

Kudos to Panasonic! This is one nice player, with a kind of transparency and detail that is usually found in more expensive players. The MASH circuitry certainly must have something to do with the lush sounding electronics here. Just make sure you hook up a good set of interconnects to hear the quality! This worked in my setup, having gone from the cheap cables that came with this player to Monster Interlink 400MKII's. Definitely made a difference!

Similar Products Used:

Nakamichi, Sony

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 47  

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