Yamaha CD-1
(1982 - 1983)

A MONSTER, in every sense of the word. Short-lived, too - the mechanically simplified CD-1a replaced the CD-1 very quickly, parting with the 2nd motorized drawer that was strictly dedicated to programming. That's right: the CD-1 has two completely separated displays and attendant buttons, one for play, one for programmed play!
Even better: there's an output balance ring, under the player, below the front!

A true pain to dismantle and gain access to any of the parts (let alone the motors), the CD-1 was NOT really meant to be serviced :-) It was, however, the top player of the 1st generation in Japan, along the Sony CDP-701ES. A successful fate the CD-1a and (very different) CD-2 both inherited, gaining respectively the "Component of the Year" and "Best product" awards in 1984 !

Dual 16bit DACs (yes!), 14kg on the balance, an amazingly complex disc-drawer arrangements, classy looks almost second-to-none the CD-1 is however extremely finicky to adjust. I won't even try to get mine to play CDs again - I'd need first to un-stuck the program drawer and that requires a complete dismantling :-)

The digital-to-analogue ICs are Sony's original 16bit CX-890 DAC ; the rest of the audio-related chips btw is mostly Sony-sourced: CX-7933, CX-7934, CX-7935...

The CD-1a can be seen at K.Nisi's website

Thanks to Siglo XX, you can see two CD-1s
(and two CDP-701ES, too)

More on the CX-890 DAC, right here.