Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

    
    	Saw the unit this noon at the Radio Shack in Littleton Common.
     They are selling it for $399  (!!).  The manager liked it so much,
    he bought one.  He was telling me of a party where he hit RANDOM,
    or some such, and it was like a radio station that only played your
    favorite stuff!  I think the Technics SL P-15 is vaporware (the
    50 disc unit), so I may be forced to this one.  Chris

        Cumos at Salem, N.H. had it on sale for $399 last week.
        I wasn't particularly thrilled with the salesman's attitude
        so I went across the street to Lectra City which had it on
        sale for $450.  I told them about Cumos' price and asked them
        to match it.
        
        They did and that's how I got mine.  I am totally impressed by
	it's sound quality, innovative user interface and impact resistance.
	The January '86 issue of "Stereo Review" had a lab test report on it
	and gave it very high marks.

	Here are some of the PD-M6's features:

	    o Loading magazine holding up to 6 CD's for continuous playback;
	      single-disc tray also supplied for conventional operation
	      (single disc cueing time about 3.5 seconds and cross-disc
	      cueing time less than 10 seconds)

	    o Random-access playback of any track on any disc in magazine

	    o Programmed playback for up to 32 selections from any of the 
	      discs in any order

	    o Random-play function automatically selects tracks in random
	      order from random disc

	    o Repeat single track, single disc, all discs, or programmed
	      sequence

	    o Manual fast search with audible program, skip search in either
	      direction

	    o Display window shows total time and number of tracks on loaded
	      disc, disc and track number of selection being played, or track
	      number and elapsed time of selection being played

	    o Analog low-pass filters

	    o Infrared remote control

	    o Subcode out connector, one unswitched a.c. outlet, and
	      line-level audio outputs

	- Paul

	ps.  I particularly like the 6 PACMAN-shaped icons that are used
	     to depict which discs are in play.

    	I saw it advertised for $429 at LECHmere's in Woburn.  It sure
    seems like a sexy unit.  It would be nice if the manufacturers
    would standardize on a juke box or cartridge format.  Six sounds
    like a good number.  If you want twelve just produce a two cartridge
    player or make it expandable and so on and so on.      
    
    Ron

        Re: .3
        
        	No, it doesn't do INDEXING.
        
        Re: .5
        
        	For this week (Mar 9-15), Lectra City has it for $449 
        	and Lechmere for $469.
        
        - Paul

    Such a deal.....
    
    I just bought mine in PA at the Vanity Fair outlet (The Electronic
    Store) for $349 + 6% sales tax or $369.94
    
    They have Pioneer (all models) at similar prices. I also bought
    the SXV500 for $299.00.
    
    They are not taking mail orders but I suspect if you call them,
    ask for prices and send a check then you will find a UPS package.
    
    Call 215-374-9600 and ask for Dan (manager)...
    
    Merle

    
    
    	A few questions to the lucky owners.
    
    	How much is the cassette sticking out from the player? ( The
    	one for 6 disks )
    
    	When the player changes disks is it audible?
	When the player is playing, any noise?
    	Whats the price for extra cassettes?
    	Any problem loading the cassettes?
    	Any problem handling them?
    
    	>>>Peter
    

    Reg,
    
    I don't understand your comment relative to indexing. The unit has
    a programmable memory which lets you store up to 32 commands. You
    can repeat 1, 2 3, or whatever tracks, inserts pauses automatically,
    etc. It can do everything you are requesting by just programming
    it (if I understand your comments properly).
    
    In terms of the other questions the multiple disk unit is flush
    with the front panel. It does make some noise when changing disks
    and is totally silent when playing (but since I am running the output
    at 5000DB I wouldn't hear it anyhow :^). 
    
    I absolutely love the random play. you push the random button and
    it plays 6 discs forever. 
    
    The unit is programmable as stated earlier which allows you to really
    make a great selection from 6 discs. 
    
    After a week of non-stop playing I can not wait to pickup more
    cartridges. The only problem is nobody has them in stock.......
    
    I love it !!!!!!
    
    
    Merle 

    
    re: .8
    
    I recently purchased one of these units from Lectra City in Nashua
    for $449.00.  Prior to buying the unit I looked at just about every
    sale circular I could get my hands on and did not NOTICE a lower
    price.  Needless to say i'm still looking at sale prices to see
    if Lectra will stand behind their word.  I bought it primarily 
    for the convenience it offers and because of the "bells and
    whistles".  my wife and i listened to several different players and 
    did not feel that we heard enough of a difference between them to 
    justify spending more than $500 on a player.
    
      
    
    As for the convenience of the unit, I can't say enough.  it is really
    great just to load up six discs and hit "random".  I've a single
    play turntable and a couple of reel-to-reel tape decks (one with
    auto-reverse) and at times it has been a real inconvenience to stop
    what i'm doing to change an album/tape.
    
    as for the lack of indexing, the majority of the music i listen
    to (jazz - mine, pop, r&b - got a 12 year old too) i wouldn't use the 
    track feature for anyway.
    
    The only problem now is finding what i consider reasonably priced
    discs.
    
    jack 
    
    

    
    
                               -< I just got mine >-

    Radio Shack in Littleton is running a sale on the PD-M6 this weekend;
    price - $399.98.  (This should be of particular interest to .13.)
    I got mine Friday night (sale was to start Saturday, information
    which was very willingly volunteered by the proprietor, who of course
    offered the unit to me at the sale price.  The shop is small, but
    based on my one interation, they are interested in serving their
    customers.)
        

    I went to Lechmere's to buy this unit when it was announced on sale
    last January or February--and they were out. But they gave me a
    raincheck and got the new models in later that week, one of which
    they sold me at the sale price. Like most of the respondents to
    this, I'm crazy about the thing! In fact, it converted me to a CD
    enthusiast.
    
    Someone asked about the lack of an indexing feature, which I think
    I can explain. Every CD that I've bought so far has the bands labeled,
    and you can choose whichever bands from whichever one of the 6 CDs
    you have in the magazine in whichever sequence you like. But I also
    have a few CDs (one, as I recall, is the Philips recording of
    Mengelberg conducting the Bach "St. Matthew Passion"--or is it the
    "Mass in B Minor"?) that SUBDIVIDE the numbered bands with what
    they describe as "Index numbers." The Pioneer cannot be programmed
    (as far as I can tell) to search down that extra level to find the
    index points.
    
    I've had the unit for about seven months now, and have only noticed
    a problem with it twice. Once I put on a CD for a friend, and it
    jumped over about a minute of music right at the beginning of the
    disc; on another occasion, I was taping a disc, which played normally
    for about two minutes and then jumped back to the very beginning
    and played it all over again (fortunately it kept on going on that
    attempt!). The time that it skipped, I took the CD out, wiped it
    off, and reinserted it. No problem.
    
    One other thing I should mention. When I first bought the machine,
    I was forced to use cables about five feet long to connect it to
    my Mark Levinson preamp. In my new place, I've switched to very
    good (and very short) interconnects. The improvement in sound has
    been quite dramatic (although the acoustics in the new place may
    account for part of that).
    
    
    Cheers,
    Jack Truslow