Well as cd players go 12 years is fairly old although he did say his old cds sound ok. Maybe a loose connection somewhere or speaker connections out of phase.

2xM80 VP180 2xQS8 2xM3 HSU STF3 LG 60PS11 Denon 3808 ATI 1506 LCR 2xATI 1502 Oppo BDP-83