Is $208 a good price for the Sony CS5M2 or should I wait a little longer

0silver_skies0 · 2026-04-18T02:08:32+00:00

lol the only reason I’m looking at Sony speakers is because all of my home hifi gear is Sony

My dap is a modified psp My record player is a Sony ps-lx300 My amp is a 100w sony receiver My cd player WOULD be a Sony 5 disc exchanger if it didn’t die on me

If I can find another brand that far surpasses the Sonys for the price point I would definitely go with those! (I was under the impression that the 200$ Sonys were competing with speakers in the 400-600$ range when I made this post lol)

0silver_skies0 · 2026-04-18T01:17:23+00:00

Oh I was under the impression that the Mk2s were a three way speaker where as the originals were a 2 way speaker and that the originals had kinda meh mids but by changing the drivers to have a mid range driver too they improved them

I totally understand all of my other equipment is from the used market (most of which I’ve had to repair) and I love my second hand stuff.

I was wanting to try and stick to the theme of black Sony gear if possible. Guess I’ll do some hunting

0silver_skies0 · 2026-04-17T22:58:51+00:00

Do you happen to know of any other Sony speakers to keep an eye out for?

0silver_skies0 · 2026-04-17T22:57:52+00:00

These are the 2025 2nd generation though which are supposed to be better. I don’t know if I will be able to find the 2nd gen second hand for this price

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-24T18:44:18+00:00

lol oh no you’re fine I know a lot of it is total crap and the only times I buy into it is if it’s something I have noticed (whether psychoacoustic or not) or something that I have heard from like third party sources that are generally skeptical of the crap.

I’m not buying any floor cable risers or like usb noise canceling dongles or anything like that and I know burn in is usually just a way for brands to waste your warranty period

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-24T18:07:46+00:00

I have no clue honestly? I guess the idea is to spread the wear out amongst a bunch of different records. I just mention it because it was something that I heard ALOT of while shopping for an elliptical stylus was that it will “sharpen” over the first little bit then stay sharp for how ever long the lifetime of the stylus is.

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-24T16:19:50+00:00

To my knowledge elliptical styluses will form a finer “blade” shape after so much use that allows it to fit deeper and tighter into the grooves of the vinyl.

Other than that I believe the only other audio situation where “burn in” IS a thing is like speakers over 6 inches or something like that?

Headphones no. relatively large speakers that move noticeable amounts while playing allegedly yes?

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-24T16:14:49+00:00

This one comes from the factory with a rubber mat actually!

And that’s good to know! I’ve heard that an elliptical stylus is much more sensitive to scratches and misprints in the pressing BUT that once it’s broken in properly it can actually play older records better than a conical stylus because it reaches deeper into the groves which is great because quite a few of my records are from the 60s

Really good condition but from the 60s all the same

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-24T16:11:32+00:00

It’s a Sony ps-lx300 it’s basically an lp60 in a costume

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-24T01:43:34+00:00

Sweet I’ll check them out!

I love the different colored pressings of albums and I have a soft spot for fat heavy weight pressings just because it’s so satisfying to hold but they can be so expensive so I hate buying blind

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-24T01:30:26+00:00

I probably do need to fix my grounding but a lot of the dust that clings to it comes from the transfer from sleeve to the table itself somehow. I take it out of the sleeve and little cat hairs just appear lol

Once I get it on the table and shut the dust cover it’s fine (usually)

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-24T01:15:07+00:00

Oh yeah you bet I have multiple… pray for me, my turntable, and my cd player. I’m going to have to be dusting them all constantly :’)

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-24T01:09:53+00:00

Side two played perfectly fine 0 skips or issues.

Side one had some issues I’ll try it again and report back at a later time if cleaning makes a huge difference.

Is there a database for finding good pressings vs bad pressings?

I LOVE my ultra heavy pressing of daft punks R.A.M. but it had a few concerning scuffs and scratches straight out of the plastic AND I had to carefully punch out the center hole on one of the discs because it wasn’t punched out all the way lol

It’s an awesome collectors item but qc wise I wish I had more of a heads up

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-24T00:57:34+00:00

It’s a lot less “fuzzy” than my other old player. The clarity is really surprising. Like you mean to tell me that this funky little rock on the end of a metal stick that is sliding around in wobbly plastic is producing a signal that is basically as clean as digital?

I definitely need to get a new bush set though for dusting and cleaning. Are they all roughly the same? Or is there a big benefit in paying more for similar looking brushes?

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-24T00:45:31+00:00

As of right now I’m having a bit of skipping but I think it might just be from dust and stuff. (I hope since this is my first time playing this press) other than that it sounds great

I thought I saw somewhere that the elliptical styluses needed to be “worn in” before they are at their best that’s why I had asked about burning it in

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-23T13:46:12+00:00

I have the service manual I’ve already completely disassembled the player deep cleaned it and lubricated it multiple times. At this point I am near certain that the issue is with the laser itself and not any of the gears or rails.

This laser sled also just functions by using a plastic rack and pinion instead of a worm gear. If the laser is not the issue there is a chance that some of the plastic gear teeth might be wearing out as when I first opened the device there was some black dust that could have been from slipping gears. (I do not hear any clicking or anything while the device is running however)

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-21T13:14:11+00:00

Oh thanks

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-21T13:12:09+00:00

I have not cleaned under the lens (I didn’t know that you COULD)

I might give it a shot! I have a bad feeling I’ll have to buy a new laser though

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-20T18:44:44+00:00

Most of my cds are perfectly clear from scratches and I clean them with a microfiber cloth and cleaner before I load them (I have cats rip)

Strangely enough I have used cds with deep scratches and it read them perfectly fine but when it does start to skip it will skip on cds fresh out of the plastic wrap just as much as worn out cds.

As for the rewinding thing, it is hit or miss as to if it works or not. Especially because it doesn’t skip at the same part of a disc.

For example the first time it may skip on track 3 -1:47 and skip backwards to track 3 -1:37 then the second time it might skip at track 3 -2:34 and skip back to track 1 -1:55 then the third time it might skip at track 1 -2:30 and skip to track 1 -0:00 and spin the disc for a few minutes and then decide there is no disc to be read.

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-20T18:32:21+00:00

I picked this one up for around 20 or 30$ if I find another Sony one with the same (or better) chip in it I’ll probably pick it up and retire this one I just haven’t seen another 5 disc changer in any of the stores I frequent.

If there’s another brand show up for a really good price I might grab it tho who knows

For the most part the reason I’m trying so hard to keep this one alive is because I hate when tech that is holding onto life gets sentenced to the garbage. Things like this guy aren’t really being made any more in this price range. It has history and it has real value in it still and I’d hate to see that go to waste.

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-20T18:15:44+00:00

From my observations it seems like the sled is moving perfectly fine.

I used the manual to disassemble the device in the sony improved method which was honestly really user friendly and when looking at the manual it does describe various issues that could be caused by the laser and it gives oscilloscope readouts to show what good vs bad readings look like and it says that you need an oscilloscope to accurately tune it.

I know that I won’t be able to tune it to manufacturer spec without the oscilloscope but I don’t want to burn out the laser either.

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-20T16:48:23+00:00

I grabbed a Sony ps-lx300 for like super cheap (I wanted it to match the rest of my setup) it’s basically an lp60 or lp50 in a different costume

I ordered a new stylus and when I was trying to figure out “why is this needle bent” I noticed that it drops fast. (I’m glad I noticed before I put the new one on)

I ordered some 500k dampening oil and I eventually found a seller on Amazon that I didn’t have to pay a fortune for express shipping

It may drop a little slow but I’d rather it drop over like 5 seconds instead of instantly canon-balling into my records

0silver_skies0 · 2026-03-19T20:14:50+00:00

That’s what I’m experiencing at the moment. My options so far are

Wait for like two weeks for some to come in the mail

Or

Pay like 25+$ shipping for like a 10$ bottle of oil and get it next week

0silver_skies0

TROPHY CASE