I've had a Rega Planet 2000 for more than five years and have been quite happy with it. A few months ago, it started having difficulty reading some of my cds. I'd do a good cleaning and sometimes this would do the trick. Eventually it would read nothing or start skipping. I took it to a repair shop. They replaced something called an optical pickup head (Sony K55-213B) for a bit over $100.
When I got it home, it seemed to lack its old luster at first, but after about 10 cds.....wow!!! I'd swear it's better than it was when I first got it. Unfortunately, I got carried away and purchased a replacement before I took it to the repair shop. Now, I'm going to get rid of the replacement as the Rega sounds much, much better.