Seeking for some help solving strange problems with my brothers 557 (in original state). First symptoms were: play-back stops without any obvious cause, after some rattling (mechanical) noise from the cdp-mechanism, it slows down to stand-still in a few seconds (music had stopped at the moment the noise started). Display reads: DISC*MEMO. Starting again sometimes results in uninterrupted playback, but mostly in the same error after about 2-3 minutes. Moving this heavyweight from his place to mine at first seemed to cure things. It even played on ‘repeat’ successfully for 24 hours or so. But after a few days the same problems popped up again. Sony Netherlands wasn’t willing to accept the machine for repair (too old.....) nor to provide a service manual as an alternative (not available....).

Next step was to bring it to a well known Dutch repair and modification expert. At his place it played for weeks without any problem at all... He had no clue of what could cause those at other places. Finally a friend in yet another city gave it a try. First weeks: no problems; then - at intervals: the Disc*Memo obstruction. Thorough cleaning and lubrication of all moving parts seemed to help, but after a few weeks another symptom occurred. Playback was ok, but the drawer didn’t open anymore. Pushing the in-out button only stops play back. Until yesterday, now it plays ok again....

Any suggestions to solve the problems are very welcome!

TIA Lourens