Tonight : 8 x BYV95A diodes in and without burning and lifting any pads for a change
and 3 new larger FC's with bypass caps.
Can't turn the volume up enough to hear any audible gains but it all works.
I can only guess the noise floor is a bit lower maybe and a bit of glare has gone too.
I hope it's been worth it.
Foil caps, few resistors, extra tants and direct dac powering in that order later in the week.
Building a CLC filter next while I wait for the posty and I'll start drilling out the spare chassis for IEC and new toroid.
Today I'm shocked at the price of bitumen sheets !
and 3 new larger FC's with bypass caps.Can't turn the volume up enough to hear any audible gains but it all works.
I can only guess the noise floor is a bit lower maybe and a bit of glare has gone too.
I hope it's been worth it.
Foil caps, few resistors, extra tants and direct dac powering in that order later in the week.
Building a CLC filter next while I wait for the posty and I'll start drilling out the spare chassis for IEC and new toroid.
Today I'm shocked at the price of bitumen sheets !
Hi,
The 7805 is definately grounded in the std player, I guess those pics are of a modded machine that someone's played with. Are the pics from lampizator, I remember he added some additional 7805s for the dac.
For bitumin sheets try sound deadening sheets on ebay. They work a treat.
Regards
Pete
The 7805 is definately grounded in the std player, I guess those pics are of a modded machine that someone's played with. Are the pics from lampizator, I remember he added some additional 7805s for the dac.
For bitumin sheets try sound deadening sheets on ebay. They work a treat.
Regards
Pete
Just repaired my cd5000.
Took the opportunity to fix some flying leads to the 1549 outputs direct, albeit with just some wima mks2 as blocking caps. Switching between the 2 at the moment and it's sounding at least as good as through the opamps.
Might have to get some better caps
Tempted to leave it as is though, it's a very fragile board
Pete
Took the opportunity to fix some flying leads to the 1549 outputs direct, albeit with just some wima mks2 as blocking caps. Switching between the 2 at the moment and it's sounding at least as good as through the opamps.
Might have to get some better caps
Tempted to leave it as is though, it's a very fragile board
Pete
Great !
I'm pleased your doing it - you've really encouraged me to push on with this and in the hope there is a monster hiding away.
I've just about let it out too....it's trouncing my Alpha in so many areas apart from absolute drive in lower mids.
I reckon I'll get it soon - once I've powered the DAC chip and sorted a few other things.
Every single thing has reaped noticeable and sometimes sizeable rewards - loosely based on your list.
New ideas every day though but they're decent and some are going to be vital.
Here's a few pics then...
Andrew
I'm pleased your doing it - you've really encouraged me to push on with this and in the hope there is a monster hiding away.
I've just about let it out too....it's trouncing my Alpha in so many areas apart from absolute drive in lower mids.
I reckon I'll get it soon - once I've powered the DAC chip and sorted a few other things.
Every single thing has reaped noticeable and sometimes sizeable rewards - loosely based on your list.
New ideas every day though but they're decent and some are going to be vital.
Here's a few pics then...
Andrew
Attachments
This has put my mind at rest - the cable connected to the little green board originally carried 10v ac directly underneath the DAC chip - which is plain stupid - bit like the 240v mains cable taken directly across the top of the output stage too.....hello ?
When you consider the super high end machines that Phillips and Marantz have produced over the years you'd think that someone would have said....' why have we done that ' ?
Sorted
When you consider the super high end machines that Phillips and Marantz have produced over the years you'd think that someone would have said....' why have we done that ' ?
Sorted
Attachments
Last edited:
Here's my interpretation of the Ray reg - albeit minus the caps on input and output pins.
I can add them later and I already have another idea on the bench which is similar.
It worked a treat and provided a noticeable gain too.
I'm a bit nervous about the dac powering and can't decide whether to wait till I have the right traff and do it properly or just apply a ray type regulator and take the power from the large BHC and ground from one of the ' gnd solder blobs ' on the board.
To complete then :
Filtered IEC socket ( ordered ) screened mains cable, ferrites on inbound primary and outbound secondry ac wires, posh resistors, tin foil caps, casework damping ( now ready to apply ) proper independent ps for dac chip
I've got to say this project has re invigorated my interest in the hobby which I must admit consumed me a few years back.
The TDA 1541A ( whilst old but very nice sounding ) is not the only way to go to get an organic and rich analog sound.
1549 has it in spades if you push it and thanks to you and your help Pete - I've had my eyes opened.
This cheap little machine has really entertained me and in a few weeks will be going in to my main system permanently - it's that nice in almost every department
Thank you for that list !
I can add them later and I already have another idea on the bench which is similar.
It worked a treat and provided a noticeable gain too.
I'm a bit nervous about the dac powering and can't decide whether to wait till I have the right traff and do it properly or just apply a ray type regulator and take the power from the large BHC and ground from one of the ' gnd solder blobs ' on the board.
To complete then :
Filtered IEC socket ( ordered ) screened mains cable, ferrites on inbound primary and outbound secondry ac wires, posh resistors, tin foil caps, casework damping ( now ready to apply ) proper independent ps for dac chip
I've got to say this project has re invigorated my interest in the hobby which I must admit consumed me a few years back.
The TDA 1541A ( whilst old but very nice sounding ) is not the only way to go to get an organic and rich analog sound.
1549 has it in spades if you push it and thanks to you and your help Pete - I've had my eyes opened.
This cheap little machine has really entertained me and in a few weeks will be going in to my main system permanently - it's that nice in almost every department
Thank you for that list !
Attachments
Just repaired my cd5000.
Took the opportunity to fix some flying leads to the 1549 outputs direct, albeit with just some wima mks2 as blocking caps. Switching between the 2 at the moment and it's sounding at least as good as through the opamps.
Might have to get some better caps
Tempted to leave it as is though, it's a very fragile board
Pete
Which Op Amps are you using ?
Must be good uns - I never rolled any so didn't find out what gains were possible.
In my head I was and still am thinking that fewer bits in the path to rca's is a good thing.
Like you said....get some nicer caps and see what you think.
I did use and listen to the std 48 for a few days while I was reading and researching and as soon as I got the courage to go ' direct from dac ' the change was fairly substantial - huge in fact.
The initially impressive hf glare and upper mid emphasis has balanced itself and has all but gone now, bass is more firm ( though I do want more lower oomph )
Instruments have real texture now and a lovely smoothness.
Dynamics, snap, stop and start speeds really haven't changed - magical.
I'm sure the ' oomph ' is possible and with other fixes plus the application of better caps and resistors ( replacing the economy ' keep the cost down ' crap that's in there ) it'll sing it's lid off
Andrew
Look at post 12 to see where the ' little green board ' was originally.
It's actually the ' on / off ' switch and now has a push button on the back panel of the player - it's really easy to access.
Of course I've now a gaping oblong hole on the left of the front panel which I'll tastefully disguise.
You'll never know that hole was there when it's all finished - I have a plan already
It's actually the ' on / off ' switch and now has a push button on the back panel of the player - it's really easy to access.
Of course I've now a gaping oblong hole on the left of the front panel which I'll tastefully disguise.
You'll never know that hole was there when it's all finished - I have a plan already
Good starting point and should give a good improvement. As long as you check it's giving a stable output before you connect it to the dac there shouldn't be any risk.
I only used a flea as I had one sitting around.
Regards
Pete
Blimey - plenty of grunt available there then !
Mine is tidy at the moment to make enough room to do what you've done - once I understand how to do it...haha
Apparently the bass in std form on the 5000 is a lot better than the 48 for some reason and I might look out for one like yours in the near future.
The boards are a bugger to work on aren't they ?
The luxury of a spare has been a god send - only 1 track repair so far ( thats good for me ! )
Mine is tidy at the moment to make enough room to do what you've done - once I understand how to do it...haha
Apparently the bass in std form on the 5000 is a lot better than the 48 for some reason and I might look out for one like yours in the near future.
The boards are a bugger to work on aren't they ?
The luxury of a spare has been a god send - only 1 track repair so far ( thats good for me ! )
The board on the 5000 is worse (to work on) than the 48 But it's only for the dac and power supplies, everything else is on a separate board attached to the mech.
Mechanism seems nicer though.
Display is terrible unless you're in a dark room, never seen one that's any good on a 5000. You can't read it from more than a foot away. Also the on/off only relates to part of the player, parts are permanently live when it's plugged in. I ended up adding a led in the headphone socket so I can see it's on and just powering on/off from the mains plug.
I found some no-name polyprops that I scavenged from some old mission speakers so I've replaced the wimas with those for the time being while I decide how much I'm willing to spend on new caps (and how big they can be to still fit in somewhere). Big improvement.
I also lifted out the opamp so it's not drawing any current (although I don't think that's much of an issue with the tx I have) but I've left the rest of the associated components for the time being.
Going to listen to it like this for a while.
Regards
Pete
But it's only for the dac and power supplies, everything else is on a separate board attached to the mech.Mechanism seems nicer though.
Display is terrible unless you're in a dark room, never seen one that's any good on a 5000. You can't read it from more than a foot away. Also the on/off only relates to part of the player, parts are permanently live when it's plugged in. I ended up adding a led in the headphone socket so I can see it's on and just powering on/off from the mains plug.
I found some no-name polyprops that I scavenged from some old mission speakers so I've replaced the wimas with those for the time being while I decide how much I'm willing to spend on new caps (and how big they can be to still fit in somewhere). Big improvement.
I also lifted out the opamp so it's not drawing any current (although I don't think that's much of an issue with the tx I have) but I've left the rest of the associated components for the time being.
Going to listen to it like this for a while.
Regards
Pete
I hope the step is as big for you as it was for me - I was shocked.
Having said that your player was already of a high standard anyway so it may just be the cherry on top.
I'm going to power the dac today - to hell with it - fingers crossed
Good luck with yours - looking forward to your thoughts on it
And
Having said that your player was already of a high standard anyway so it may just be the cherry on top.
I'm going to power the dac today - to hell with it - fingers crossed
Good luck with yours - looking forward to your thoughts on it
And