Sony MDP-911
(may 1989 - c. 1992)

One of the Sony biggies... Japan-only :(
G-Chassis, aluminium, steel and copper all over, selected parts like ELNA for Audio and Nichicon Muse caps, extreme good-looks and a fair 48dB video S/N ratio. The video section still boasted cool video effects like "multi-motion" or "multi-flash" but already allowed S-Video output. "Digital picture" for freeze-frame of CLV discs was there, allowing for said video effects and an optional sharpening of the image.
The audio section still was multi-Bit, with a 4fs filter, but no PCM output was yet present...

The structure of the MDP-911 is common to quite a few players, from the smaller MDP-700 (US-only) up to the later and definitive MDP-999 - same optical pickup, same chassis, same dual-spindle/dual-motor system, same basic design. Only more G plates added, better video circuitry for the upper models and auto-reverse for the 999 can differentiate them - and looks.

These go for very very cheap in Japan but I'm not sure if spare optical blocks can still be obtained. Pity.