She's a little ragged at the edges, but a fine player in her time...
a heavyweight at 22 lbs or 11 kgs on my bathroom scale.
Sadly, this 'ol Belgium gal needs new lenses.
A joy if she can be restored,
... a shame to dunk it !!

        If anyone is FOR the idea of returning it to service and can provide a lead, I'd most appreciate it ...
If anyone is AGAINST the idea, let me know and I may re-evaluate ...
Either way, I'm heading in the "right" direction.

Summary:
" I have listened to a lot of CD Players since the first units became available, and I had always thought that if manufacturers can make these things sound more realistic, (or more like vinyl) they would really have something here. I was never too impressed with the cheapish ten pound Japanese units, they sounded way too thin, with brittle highs and lack of bottom end weight.

When I stumbled upon the Philips CD880, I was quite impressed. This CD player has some weight to it (about 25 lbs.), and when you crack the cover open on it, you quickly realize that this is not a me too product. The build quality is superb (Made in Belgium), and the parts layout is very logical (no wonder a lot of lunatic fringe companies chose to use this model as a platform to stuff their own circuitry into, and market them under their own labels).

The transport is die cast, and the laser unit is the CDM-9 swing arm one of the finest available. All of the digital circuits are well shielded from the laser servo mechanism. As for the sound of this CD Player, what can I say. It certainly made me a believer in the promise that the performance of Compact Disc will surpass that of vinyl, if it is done right.

The low end on this player has phenomenal slam, the midrange is just right, and the high end is silky smooth. The unit also has a two digital outputs, Toslink (optical) and coaxial, so this player would make a great transport when coupled with an outboard D/A convertor. I'm sure there are those who might believe that you have to spend somewhere in the $2000 to $4000 range to get a satisfying performance from Compact Disc, and they are entitled to their opinins.

For those of you that are into high end sound for a mid fi price, do yourselves a favor and listen to a Philips CD880 and then draw your own conclusions".