Quad CDP-2, distortion out of left channel after hours of play

[postjack]

Hey-

Bit of a bummer. Got my Quad CDP-2 on Monday, and a problem manifested itself late Wednesday evening. Large amounts of distortion started coming out of the left channel. I tried everything: switching interconnects, switching inputs on my amp, different digital cables (even though the distortion is also present when playing a CD), different power cords, and different power outlets. The distortion is present out of both the fixed and variable outputs of the CDP-2. Its not the speakers, because my 840C and TT perform fine.

The weird thing is the distortion doesn't show up until the player has been playing for 3-4 hours. I'm starting to feel crazy, because before I goto sleep the player is spitting crackles and whatnot through the music in the left speaker, and then I turn it off and by morning everything is hunky dory. It sounds fine when there is no distortion*. The time thing makes me wonder if heat is somehow involved.

* - Actually, listening very closely just now, there MIGHT be a channel imbalance, or that could be in my head. It does sound like the bass and overall volume favors the right channel.

I've emailed Quad and the service department is on holiday until January 5th, so hopefully I hear back from them then. The player is still under warranty, and I have the blank warranty card, but I'm not sure how Quad is with warranty transfers and what not, so for the time being I'm playing it coy. Having said that, the guy I bought it from was the original owner. He's been a super nice dude, and I'm not holding him accountable for the faulty player, and he's willing to help me out with returning the unit if need be.

But until then, anyone have any experience with a problem like this, or any ideas?

[kirkwall]

I'm not sure how relevant or helpful this will be but I had two problems with my CDP-2, and this was one of them. The other was that the transport was spotty and would flat-out refuse to read entire discs more or less randomly. Both problems were traced to the upgrade board installed along with the new transport (mine had been upgraded by Quad from CDP to version 2) and bugs with these upgrade boards are pretty fairly well documented on Quad owner sites. Is yours an upgraded unit or a stock CDP-2? I'm guessing the latter, given the date of purchase.

The bad news is that I had to get the player replaced after several trips to the service depot but the new US distributors are very good and if you can't get joy from them you can email Rob Flain in the UK service department who may well have a quick fix for you. Quad service charges are pretty reasonable and if the player is still under warranty they may well fix it for free.

hope this works out and best,

k

[postjack]

kirk, your post is the best news I've heard all week. thank you! I'm sure quad will make it right.

[Knuckledragger]

That sucks, PJ. \ I own a CDP-2, but I'm afraid I haven't much helpful advice. How does one determine if a unit is a CDP-2 or a CDP-1 that's been upgraded?

Tangentially, I will say that with oh, about 15 minutes of comparison time, the CDP-2's DAC is noticeably better than the one HeadRoom puts in their Balanced Desktop. I have a tin ear, so it might be that others won't hear it this way. It's also possible I might revert my opinion. I tend to doubt it, though. The CDP-2's soundstage is amazing.

[diebenkorn]

Use thine healing powers father. Heal Quad, Heal, Distortion demons out!

[kirkwall]

kirk, your post is the best news I've heard all week. thank you! I'm sure quad will make it right.

I'm pretty sure they will. I have contact info for Rob Flain in the UK and he's pretty good about responding to emails -- happy to pass it on if you need it. It is a great-sounding player and still hold its own in and above its price range, I think. Best of luck getting it sorted out,

k

[postjack]

For the record mine is a stock CDP-2. I believe Rob is the one I emailed, at least it was Rob before the @ in the email address. I'm not stressing, I've got plenty of digital sources to keep me company until this gets remedied.