[prepress]

Originally Posted by Formerly YB-2

As the OP morphed this one into the MCD500 when he traded for same, I'm guessing he doesn't mind. But, I'll start another thread if I come up with more questions or info on the MCD550 or its double, the MCD1100. For now, the MCD301 is performing yoeman service. No complaints.

Most of the threads I started are about the exploration of an idea or the outworking of a process. This one started with a seemingly inordinate amount of time (to me) for a repair on my 301. The same problem manifested itself again, which gave increased impetus to the exploration of other options and the eventual trade-in toward the 500 I now have. So there's a kind of flow to it all.

As for the 550, I did consider it but was swayed by the opportunity for an NOS unit (500) over a used one (550); plus, as I said earlier, Mike at Audio Classics said that the 500's disc drive mechanism was more robust than the 550's; those two things sealed the deal for me, especially since it was my 301's disc drive mechanism (probably the belt, thought Mike) that was problematic. But since I mentioned the 550, I suppose it's fair game to some extent for it to come up.