Marantz CD63 & CD67 mods list

disco said:


That's why I like good recordings from the 50-70ies eara on my turntable. It really does not need an expensive hifi to enjoy the music :)

Ahh, the vinyl. My limited experience is that even a modest (£200) turntable on cheap hi-fi will flatten a good cd player on a more pricey setup. But we don't all have vinyl...

However, these fully modified Marantz players are beyond good, and when you feed a nice recording from the 70s or thereabouts (like something by Joni Mitchell, Yes, Dire Straits or Herbie Mann for example) the realism is beautiful. Some modern recordings sound good too (like the ubiquitous Diana Krall album we all seem to enjoy!). Most are a touch too distorted by compression and somehow sound too far removed from real life sounds.
 
SimontY said:
Just a normal musician's site. Has a list of his equipment, including which speaker brand he uses ;) And a list of albums, one of which is now on my Amazon "wish list". Looks good.

He is a double-bassist.

Simon

He plays the upright with the appropriate slam.

Another one is http://www.caecilienorby.com Really worth listen to. Could be harder to get "outside".

SORRY for the OT :)
 
disco said:


Frank, there's a lot of smoke hanging at your place. You might suffer from a similar problem as compressit (see http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=968156#post968156)
Find out if the laser is gone by transferring the transport from your good CD53. A new laser unit is sold cheaply these days. Have a search around the thread for details.
Regards, Jaap
Well I swapped in the good transport from my 53 and it does the same thing, the disk doesnt spin. So its not the transport. Any ideas what would cause the disk to not spin??? It was working fine and in the middle of a cd it just stopped, very strange.b Its weird because now im getting error code 12 instread of 02. Which seems to be a sled error. ANy ideas what would cause this. I just have bad luck with these players. I was so careful with this 67 so I wouldnt have the problems I did with the 53. I havent even touched anything except the output stage. Please help!
 
imperfectcircle said:
Well I swapped in the good transport from my 53 and it does the same thing, the disk doesnt spin. So its not the transport. Any ideas what would cause the disk to not spin??? It was working fine and in the middle of a cd it just stopped, very strange.b Its weird because now im getting error code 12 instread of 02. Which seems to be a sled error. ANy ideas what would cause this. I just have bad luck with these players. I was so careful with this 67 so I wouldnt have the problems I did with the 53. I havent even touched anything except the output stage.
Basically the drawer opens but the laser does nothing, doesnt spin or anything not even any noise from the laser or motor? Can you guys please help me out here!.

All I can advise is to search for a copy of the CD67 manual and check voltages around Servo and motor drive ICs. There's a link somewhere in this tread.:xeye:
Jaap

NB No shorts because of leads flying around?
 
Nah no shorts this time:) I didnt touch anything except taking out the output caps and Hdam. It was playin fine and in the middle of the cd it stopped. And the laser doesnt do anything and the disk doesnt spin. I havbe a feeling the servo chip went bad or something. I probably cant even return it to the seller because of the mods:( I have bad luck with these players. I cant seem to find the 67 service manual any place ?
 
imperfectcircle said:
Nah no shorts this time:) I didnt touch anything except taking out the output caps and Hdam. It was playin fine and in the middle of the cd it stopped. And the laser doesnt do anything and the disk doesnt spin. I havbe a feeling the servo chip went bad or something. I probably cant even return it to the seller because of the mods:( I have bad luck with these players. I cant seem to find the 67 service manual any place ?

Are you sure it's not the main ribbon cable? You could try making the fit of it tighter by placing a piece of electrician's tape on the non-conducting side of it and reinserting it. This was a tip I got from Poynton about 5600000 posts ago lol
 
Yeah it isnt the ribbin I tgreid wiglleing it and treid a differant one i have from my other player. It wasnt like I took it apart and then when I put it back together it just wouldnt work. It was playing fine and in the middle of a cd just died. I dont think it was anything I did. All I did was to disconnect the Hdam and outout caps. Nothing anywere near the servo was touched. I cant even find a service manual for the 67 anywere onnline? ANyone have the service manual?? I need to know what vvoltages I should have at the servo chips. Im really having bad luck lately, Im starting to think something is wrong with the power in this house. I know that the power on my block is pretty screwy, theres to many houses on the transformer, and when my neighborslarge air conditioning unit switches on all the light on the block dim, at night you can see the street lights turn off then back on when his A/C switches on!! All the lights in my house dim as well. We filed numerous complaints with the power company to no avail. But im seriously thinking the power has something to do with my equipment all dying. I just moved to this house about a year ago and Ive had three components die on me already!!! Maybe I need to invest in a better power condittioner, im just use a very basic Monster Cable AV1000 for everything except my amp which gets plugged direct to the wall socket as per Exposures recomenddation.
 
Okm I found one thing that maybe the problem. Im ionly gettin 4.9v from one og my 5v regulators q811. Could this be the problem possibly?? The transport doesnt do anything doesnt spin, ;aser doesnt do anything, and I tried two transports that I know are good with the same results. Very strange stuff. Any ideas what would cause something like this.
thanks
Franki
 
OK Im almost ready to give up messing around with these players, my cd53 descided to stop working again, I didnt even touch anything, it was working for a week fine and it just stopped and i get error o2. I check everything, all voltages look to be ok. So now i have two non working players. I think im ready to rtry something else. Im thinking since most of my music is on my hard drive anyways, maybe a usb Dac would be the best way to go, no more sled and focus errors! Im wondering if I could some how connect my computer up to the dac in my cd53?
 
PRaT and Mains Power Filters

Just noticing some posts a little while back (last week/23000 posts ago) that there was mention of how PRaT is affected by noise from the power mains. Would I be correct in my understanding that after the mains transformer and filtering, this noise still finds its way into the clock, DAC circuits etc? I saw the KE Balanced Isolator Source that Ray refered to on post 1248 and was wondering if anyone had used anything else. I was thinking of using a good quality desktop pc UPS to filter the mains and prevent other things like surges and spikes etc which could damage the input circuitry. I have not tried this option but imagine it would help the KI63 with PRaT and its general health.
I would also wonder whether one would still get the earth loop causing hum amongst two or more devices on the same circuit provider (mains earth). I see one of the latest marantz cd players does not have the earth pin in the IEC plug. Is this to remove the possible earth loop and hence impact on sound quality?

Many thanks

Justin
 
Justin,

Most CD players don't have the earth pin, which is to avoid the earth loop hum, as you said.

I use an isolation transformer. Big improvement I found, but not to PRAT. It seemed to make the sound more fluid and coherent, and less grainy.

I doubt a UPS is the ultimate way to go, but I'll let the more experienced have their say! Maybe Imperfectcircle could use one to stop his CD players from dying though :xeye:

Simon
 
Re: PRaT and Mains Power Filters

JustIN8 said:
Just noticing some posts a little while back (last week/23000 posts ago) that there was mention of how PRaT is affected by noise from the power mains.
Sorry, PRat is depending on the ability of the PSU to maintain the voltage and deliver current fast. The common mode filter I suggested is used (a.o.) to get rid of 100Hz hum and helps to keep the supply capacitors (before reg) low, presenting a lower load to the small transformer, enabling it to better maintain the voltage at changing demands. Placing the reg as close as possible to your opamps is beneficial. In that case there's only need for a small cap behind the reg to cancel some reg born noise (47uF could be sufficient, experiment with values).
Would I be correct in my understanding that after the mains transformer and filtering, this noise still finds its way into the clock, DAC circuits etc?
Yes, via the voltage rails (after reg).
I saw the KE Balanced Isolator Source that Ray refered to on post 1248 and was wondering if anyone had used anything else. I was thinking of using a good quality desktop pc UPS to filter the mains and prevent other things like surges and spikes etc which could damage the input circuitry. I have not tried this option but imagine it would help the KI63 with PRaT and its general health.
I can't think of one reason to use a switched PSU for hifi, unless currents are getting real large.
I would also wonder whether one would still get the earth loop causing hum amongst two or more devices on the same circuit provider (mains earth). I see one of the latest marantz cd players does not have the earth pin in the IEC plug. Is this to remove the possible earth loop and hence impact on sound quality?
Ground on one device might be at a higher or lower level (voltage) than in another device. If the ground connection of your CDP RCA is several volts below the RCA of your amp, there's a current running through your cable, interfering with the audio signal. A solution might be (not always true, depending on the grounding technique used in the device) to connect all housings with a wire, eliminating potential differences between cabinets.

Regards, Jaap