I have over the last year or two isolated the ERR problem with my CD3 and solved it. I looked for a similar fix on the site and didn't see it - so I thought I would share the info:

Firstly - I had the well reported squeaking and the puck not gripping - rotate or replace the rubber grips on the bottom of the puck - easy and it works - I do not need tape or inserts any more

Now for the dreaded ERR problem

It gradually appeared and the player just couldn't read the table of contents (TOC) and gave up with the ERR message. I found by selecting track 6 or 7 and pressing play repeatedly it would eventually play (most times) and then once started skip the disk back to track 1 and it would play. It would work for a while and then I had to repeat - and then it became SOP for any disk - really depressing.

I became convinced that the disks weren't being centered properly and the laser just couldn't read the TOC. I thought for a while CDrs were the solution (they seem to be a shade thicker and always gripped (see rotating the puck rubber solution above) but they were inconsistent. Infuriatingly they would play and then get the ERR problem so I worked out it wasn't the solution. I think it was me looking for a solution and mentally distorting the results.

I was thinking dark thoughts about the transport giving up and the player was end of life but I concentrated on tinkering with centreing the cd on the transport.

I started dropping the puck from a height of about 3-4 mm onto the cd and it is a magical cure, it plays every time as it centres itself. Previously I was placing the puck and was (unknowingly)) getting the CD slightly off centre.

My guess is that something is wearing out and it is probably mechanical as I now know it is a physical disk centreing problem that has progressively appeared.

The next logical step is to buy a new puck and test that out - if I do I will update the forum.

This technique has rescued my CD3 as it was getting worse and worse, so much so that it was taking ages to get a disk to play - I was looking to buy a new transport off the web or replace the player, dreaded having guests round and I was getting bumped into replacement.

I would like to be able to say that I had inspiration from watching hockey on the tv but that isn't the case. I just plugged away (as an empirical scientist) and refused to give up.

I am sure that there are cases where the transport really has given up or the laser has died - but this is worth trying as it was unusable and is perfect now.

Of course the down side is that as I prepared myself for replacing the player - I started thinking about options and new kit - not what I want to do but the CD3 could go into the bedroom and be reunited with the other parts of system #1 which has been replaced over the years......... Guess I am back on the slippery slope and will update if I experiment.

Nice report, zip. Thanks !

And, welcome to the mad house...

cheers
Stefan

If a CD player is unable to read the table of contents on all but perfectly centred CDs, then as you say, it is wearing out, or has a fault.
As it has difficulty in reading the TOC, then in all probability it has difficulty in reading the rest of the disk. It therefore possibly relies heavily on error correction to produce the final sound.
Therefore, I would have your player serviced - there may well be an improvement in the sound if you do.

Just a thought.

Don Phillips

My CD3.5 started going err 2 years ago, initially new puck helped but it just got worse until earlier this year, every CD either err'ed or skipped or plain stopped. Had a new transport fitted after it had a trip to naim (a vam 1205 from the more modern machines) and it's like a new CD player ('cos it is I guess!) and sounds better than ever.

Hi Don,

Thanks for the observation - I have listened carefully to the servo and noticed the read time - I don't hear laser physically hunting for the data and there is no delay in reading the TOC - so my guess is that (if the disk is centred) it is reading the disks with no problems. However, I reckon that it will completely fail/wear out at some stage (although it is perfect right now).

On the 'giving out' front; I have been watching the classifieds for a while and have sniped a second hand (current) player and PS and will have a good listen to see if the bump up is worth the $$$. I'll feedback when I have the info.