I've got an Arcam Alpha 8 CD player with a somewhat tired laser, the
player has started to skip on occasion and checking the RF (eye pattern)
shows that the levels are a bit low. Cleaning hasn't improved matters.

I understand that these laser units haven't been made for a number of
years but there are many 'clones' available. I've now tried two different
replacements and quite honestly they seem to be pretty poor, in both
cases the sled rack doesn't 'mesh' at all well with the drive pinion
which doesn't inspire much confidence!

In terms of electrical performance the first (labelled as NKS210A) 'sort
of' worked but checking the RF showed gross distortion and the player
skipped in the presence of the slightest surface damage on the CD. The
second (labelled as KSS210A), gave a much better eye pattern (levels
'OK' / clean and undistorted) and plays fine except for two CDs where it
has 'issues' (both of these played fine with the original laser assembly!)

Looking on Ebay there are a multitude of different KSS240A lasers for
sale at differing prices, are there any known good ones to go for?

I also see some sellers have listings like: 'Laserpickup, Original Sony
KSS240A'. Is it possible (likely) that these could be genuine Sony laser
assemblies? Is there an easy way to tell a fake from an original?

Any ideas?

Nick