My source is broke - PCDP line-out dying

[HiWire]

After over 12 years of service, my "home" source, a portable Panasonic SL-S160 player, might be finished. Yesterday afternoon, I heard a popping sound (like static) every few minutes about a half hour into listening to some Jane Monheit - suddenly, the volume dropped out entirely. I turned the amp off, disconnected the line-out and re-connected it, and turned the amp back on. The sound came back, but much quieter, very echoey and distant.

At first, I panicked and thought either my headphones or amp was dying. Some testing today proved that both seem to be fine. If I fiddle with the line-out (pull the plug slightly out) on the player, I can get the volume back without echoes, but I'm sure the signal is in mono. Pushing the plug back in all the way results in the echoey distant sound mentioned above. So this might be the end for the faithful Panny. I might take it apart to see if I can solder something in the line out, but the odds of recovery aren't good.

I guess my search for a source just got a little bit more urgent. Without a player that has a line-out, I can't use my HP-2 or headphone amp. Fortunately, my newer PCDP, the Sony D-EJ2000, has a line-out (note to '2000 owners, the line-out only works if you plug the player into its stand; it won't work if you try to use battery power or the AC plug directly into the player - this is not mentioned in the manual). I noticed that its output is weaker than the Panasonic's through the amp.

Since I'm not going to constantly plug and unplug my '2000 to the amp, I'm trying to figure out if I should look for a Sony D-NE20 that I've seen and check for a line-out, or just continue to focus on my home player search. The timing was just perfect, I guess, to get my butt in gear for source shopping season. \