Hi, I know there have been a few older threads on the topic but I was wonder if anyone had tried replacing the laser pickup on a Shanling CDT-100? I know that the pickup is said to be a Philips 1201 but this is now obsolete and I've seen that the VAM1202.12 is supposed to be replacement for it, however I have spoken to a guy who says that the Shanling laser, although basically a Philips 1201, has a different ribbon cable which is unique to Shanling. Can anyone comment??
Steve
Steve
CDT-100
Hi Steve, I replaced mine with 1201vam but mine was or rather is a first generation import,before a distributer was appointed (to make free cash from us all) and it is different in some details.
It's not so easy to change either. The thing is buried in the alloy housing and then getting it back together was a ****.
If you have one of the newer uk specific (supposedly) models they may well have changed the spec. Give Real HI-FI a ring, I'm sure they are still the distributer. Thorsten worked for them or rather with them-actually probably in spite of them. I tried for three years to get a spare board from them and whan they finally got it after the first year had past, they used it to do repair for a customer. I never did get it. Just ring and ask the new tech guy. The business owner won't have a clue - too busy planning a stratergy for increasing margins with the accountant over lunch.
If it is 1201 you can still aquire it. Just make sure it's a genuine Philips mech you're buying and not (ironically) some Chinese tat.
Dronburg in Ireland had some a while back.
Best Wishes
If you get really stuck I'll sell you one.
I haven't listened to the Shanling for A couple of years, I'll have to blow the dust off it and give it spin. I spent a fortune modding it only for it to be crushed by the mighty Studer in plain BBC spec.
That day was surreal, I was gutted, but ellated.
It was a wierd day.
Hi Steve, I replaced mine with 1201vam but mine was or rather is a first generation import,before a distributer was appointed (to make free cash from us all) and it is different in some details.
It's not so easy to change either. The thing is buried in the alloy housing and then getting it back together was a ****.
If you have one of the newer uk specific (supposedly) models they may well have changed the spec. Give Real HI-FI a ring, I'm sure they are still the distributer. Thorsten worked for them or rather with them-actually probably in spite of them. I tried for three years to get a spare board from them and whan they finally got it after the first year had past, they used it to do repair for a customer. I never did get it. Just ring and ask the new tech guy. The business owner won't have a clue - too busy planning a stratergy for increasing margins with the accountant over lunch.
If it is 1201 you can still aquire it. Just make sure it's a genuine Philips mech you're buying and not (ironically) some Chinese tat.
Dronburg in Ireland had some a while back.
Best Wishes
If you get really stuck I'll sell you one.
I haven't listened to the Shanling for A couple of years, I'll have to blow the dust off it and give it spin. I spent a fortune modding it only for it to be crushed by the mighty Studer in plain BBC spec.
That day was surreal, I was gutted, but ellated.
It was a wierd day.
Thanks for the response MJW.
I've looked around the net and can only find the VAM1202.12 available and I guess this is not original Philips? Not sure if it would work as I'm inclined to believe Real HiFi that Shanling have modded it. I've exchanged a couple of e-mails with Shanling and they are happy to ship me a laser pickup. I think I'll take them up on this as it seem a small insurance fee. You mention you could sell me one - I'd be interested in this - can you pm me?
What other mods did you do to your CD-T100? I've swapped out the 4x OPA2604's for OPA627's on Brown Dog adaptors. I was wondering about the NE5532's...? I also changed the original Chinese tubes for Russian 6N3P-DR's.
Sound like the Studer is a killer! I'm envious! However having recently been made redundant I'm now watching the pennies!
I've looked around the net and can only find the VAM1202.12 available and I guess this is not original Philips? Not sure if it would work as I'm inclined to believe Real HiFi that Shanling have modded it. I've exchanged a couple of e-mails with Shanling and they are happy to ship me a laser pickup. I think I'll take them up on this as it seem a small insurance fee. You mention you could sell me one - I'd be interested in this - can you pm me?
What other mods did you do to your CD-T100? I've swapped out the 4x OPA2604's for OPA627's on Brown Dog adaptors. I was wondering about the NE5532's...? I also changed the original Chinese tubes for Russian 6N3P-DR's.
Sound like the Studer is a killer! I'm envious! However having recently been made redundant I'm now watching the pennies!
cdt-100
Google philips cdm-12.1
Donburg electronics Euros 29.99
http://www.donberg.ie/descript/2/21241-g.htm
So many mods but if like it and are keeping the machine.
Buy/build a good clock with power supply. The PSup is important because the transformer galvanically isolates. HAGERMAN has a nice little diy one which is good cos you get to fiddle and learn and you could use his little Psup for the Bugle phono. It easily adaptable. There is a guy on ebay who makes super regs and clocks Cheapish (search ebay uk for regulators in commercial electronics)
Net audio in the uk has a few
Burson Audio in Oz has one. They have a discrete single and dual op-amp that is excellent and tho it's pricey now it's become well known, it's the best i've tried.
My favorite in the Shanling was AN825 on adapters in the final position. The above is better tho.
Try 2604 you removed in the NE5532 position. The 627 is best suited to position 1 or have 627-627-Burson (which will be best)
Or better still there is great site Lampizator (a man who I could be best mates with) where he describes a mod where you just throw away everything after the dacs. GREAT. it was my biggest dissapointment when I realised after i bought the shanling what he describes in his article. Read it, you'll appreciate how they took a chance to make an excellent player and mucked it up.
It's this I discovered for myself Re the valve stage (cathode follower) being tacked on for effect that caused me to disconnect it all and concentrate on the solid state instead. At that time I didn't have the experiance to change the valve side but having read and learned much in recent years it's now possile but I'm off in a whole different directioion. I may give it whirl as the implimetation is inexpensive and looks V.good.
I fitted many super regs for analogue and digital and had to build a new base to increase the depth to make it fit. Twas expensive and a pain. I disconnected the blue LED's the headphone stage and the buffer as described above.
There are around £600 of the best Blackgate caps, 77 if remember correctly. Audionote tants, Vishay nude S102 (these are excellent but ludicrusly £££ which begs the Question what was i thinking!
Then I met an x BBC guy who worked Pebble Mill. He had bought some studer bits when the TV centre closed and they were made redundant. He had lots of cool stuff by Studer, reel to reel's that would cost 10's of thousands today.
I had read a little about some of broadcast machine's by Studer and EMT etc Long story short, I bought a mechanically and technically mint Studer A730 from him. I had already had/have a Marantz CD94 mkII which I'd bought a couple of replacment dacs for; TDA1541A S2 made in 97 in Taiwan (hadn't got round to fitting them) So i put one in Mr Studer to replace the TDA1541A S1 in there already, and that was me, gutted but mesmorised by this unasuming oddball machine.
It plays MUSIC thats all. No fuss or frills. I realised in the minutes, hours, and days that past that this machine had something special. I realised that the majority of companys building cd players stretching back 20 years didn't have much idea what they were doing. I realised i had wasted £1000's over the years and had I known, I'd have saved-up (I was poor then) and bought one these in 1989. I'd have saved a fortune over the years. I think they were @ £3000 then, so serious money.
Some research over months led me to this fact. Domestic machine's were -mostly- rubbish, even the pricey one's. Studer clearly knew how to get the technology to work and if others around the world realised it, they certainally didn't act on it.
It has an unusual clock derivation using a synth chip and a master clock distribution network. Something I was amused to see in a new chinese player ECS something or other. This touted as shiney and new but the Studer and the PHILIPS engineers clearly understood the importance of this and I believe a great deal more almost 20 yrs earlier. I't getting less funny by the second Eh! Its pcb is astoundingly good and over the last 2-3 years as Iv'e read and learned more I realised in the context of it's era it was light years ahead of the commercial competition.
In context understand this. It's not the most detailed and revealing player I have but it is the one above all others that plays music that sounds so obviously correct e.g. Piano's are correct in scale, tone, positioning and most importantly in weight, impact and gravitas. Timing, pristine. It's hard to critisize actually, especially via the balanced ouputs. No remote. Just studio busines it would say to us. If it could turn it's nose up, I'm sure it would '**** a snook' at us.
Remote, remote. Pfmmf..... I have no need of remote controls ya, danker.
Playing through Jadis JA200 mono's into martin logans SL3 Stats was simply stunning. HOWEVER I have turned away from this path because, in recent years I realised much of what our friend over at Lampizator extols. That music is wonderful pleasure and pass time. It sooths the soul. Domestic, commercial audio is garbage on so many levels.
It's true to say I've been fortunate enough to have enjoyed some fab audio equipment but the truth is that that magic is there for us all at price we can all afford. It just requires you to supress that desire to impress others with stuff, chasing a perfection thats not there to find.
Please don't be jellous. It's not worth the heartache. Get into Diy. Learn and explore. A world of relatively cheap but excellent oppertunties beckons and you can recline in the warm glow of satisfaction, knowing you made it/modded it, it's world class and it cost peanuts. Now where is that vegetable oil I need to make a new batch of diesel.....
Google philips cdm-12.1
Donburg electronics Euros 29.99
http://www.donberg.ie/descript/2/21241-g.htm
So many mods but if like it and are keeping the machine.
Buy/build a good clock with power supply. The PSup is important because the transformer galvanically isolates. HAGERMAN has a nice little diy one which is good cos you get to fiddle and learn and you could use his little Psup for the Bugle phono. It easily adaptable. There is a guy on ebay who makes super regs and clocks Cheapish (search ebay uk for regulators in commercial electronics)
Net audio in the uk has a few
Burson Audio in Oz has one. They have a discrete single and dual op-amp that is excellent and tho it's pricey now it's become well known, it's the best i've tried.
My favorite in the Shanling was AN825 on adapters in the final position. The above is better tho.
Try 2604 you removed in the NE5532 position. The 627 is best suited to position 1 or have 627-627-Burson (which will be best)
Or better still there is great site Lampizator (a man who I could be best mates with) where he describes a mod where you just throw away everything after the dacs. GREAT. it was my biggest dissapointment when I realised after i bought the shanling what he describes in his article. Read it, you'll appreciate how they took a chance to make an excellent player and mucked it up.
It's this I discovered for myself Re the valve stage (cathode follower) being tacked on for effect that caused me to disconnect it all and concentrate on the solid state instead. At that time I didn't have the experiance to change the valve side but having read and learned much in recent years it's now possile but I'm off in a whole different directioion. I may give it whirl as the implimetation is inexpensive and looks V.good.
I fitted many super regs for analogue and digital and had to build a new base to increase the depth to make it fit. Twas expensive and a pain. I disconnected the blue LED's the headphone stage and the buffer as described above.
There are around £600 of the best Blackgate caps, 77 if remember correctly. Audionote tants, Vishay nude S102 (these are excellent but ludicrusly £££ which begs the Question what was i thinking!
Then I met an x BBC guy who worked Pebble Mill. He had bought some studer bits when the TV centre closed and they were made redundant. He had lots of cool stuff by Studer, reel to reel's that would cost 10's of thousands today.
I had read a little about some of broadcast machine's by Studer and EMT etc Long story short, I bought a mechanically and technically mint Studer A730 from him. I had already had/have a Marantz CD94 mkII which I'd bought a couple of replacment dacs for; TDA1541A S2 made in 97 in Taiwan (hadn't got round to fitting them) So i put one in Mr Studer to replace the TDA1541A S1 in there already, and that was me, gutted but mesmorised by this unasuming oddball machine.
It plays MUSIC thats all. No fuss or frills. I realised in the minutes, hours, and days that past that this machine had something special. I realised that the majority of companys building cd players stretching back 20 years didn't have much idea what they were doing. I realised i had wasted £1000's over the years and had I known, I'd have saved-up (I was poor then) and bought one these in 1989. I'd have saved a fortune over the years. I think they were @ £3000 then, so serious money.
Some research over months led me to this fact. Domestic machine's were -mostly- rubbish, even the pricey one's. Studer clearly knew how to get the technology to work and if others around the world realised it, they certainally didn't act on it.
It has an unusual clock derivation using a synth chip and a master clock distribution network. Something I was amused to see in a new chinese player ECS something or other. This touted as shiney and new but the Studer and the PHILIPS engineers clearly understood the importance of this and I believe a great deal more almost 20 yrs earlier. I't getting less funny by the second Eh! Its pcb is astoundingly good and over the last 2-3 years as Iv'e read and learned more I realised in the context of it's era it was light years ahead of the commercial competition.
In context understand this. It's not the most detailed and revealing player I have but it is the one above all others that plays music that sounds so obviously correct e.g. Piano's are correct in scale, tone, positioning and most importantly in weight, impact and gravitas. Timing, pristine. It's hard to critisize actually, especially via the balanced ouputs. No remote. Just studio busines it would say to us. If it could turn it's nose up, I'm sure it would '**** a snook' at us.
Remote, remote. Pfmmf..... I have no need of remote controls ya, danker.
Playing through Jadis JA200 mono's into martin logans SL3 Stats was simply stunning. HOWEVER I have turned away from this path because, in recent years I realised much of what our friend over at Lampizator extols. That music is wonderful pleasure and pass time. It sooths the soul. Domestic, commercial audio is garbage on so many levels.
It's true to say I've been fortunate enough to have enjoyed some fab audio equipment but the truth is that that magic is there for us all at price we can all afford. It just requires you to supress that desire to impress others with stuff, chasing a perfection thats not there to find.
Please don't be jellous. It's not worth the heartache. Get into Diy. Learn and explore. A world of relatively cheap but excellent oppertunties beckons and you can recline in the warm glow of satisfaction, knowing you made it/modded it, it's world class and it cost peanuts. Now where is that vegetable oil I need to make a new batch of diesel.....
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