Cambridge Audio CD3 Player

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OK Guys, time I jumped into this with a few facts.
First I don't have a CD3 manual, period. Second I may have fragments of a CD2 manual but despite looking I've been unable to find it amongst 40 years worth of documentation.
The Cambridge Audio company had all the technical archives and all the manuals but I cannot say what has happened to them. It is up to them to support their customers. If they want the "goodwill" that goes with 40 years worth of reputation then they should give the support to ex customers as well as current customers.
The intellectual rights comment is a red herring; they have only to ask me and the permission would be forthcoming.
Certainly my actions do show I support enthusiasts. I have made some "unobtainable" schematics available on the Lecson website plus a lot of support; the same goes for the Cambridge Audio website which deals with the early product designs; and I uploaded the rare schematics of the Moth amplifiers onto my own website. Once I can track down some more Cambridge schematics I intend to upload those as well; but only when I get them.
As for my vocal critic Paul_Peraic, well he messed me about over buying some DAC chips; demanded a copy of the CD2 manual and has spammed me with well over a hundred emails, many threatening, abusive and downright unpleasant.
So far I have sat out his abuse but enough is enough. The fact is I do support enthusiasts and reply, eventually, to the 100+ emails I get each week. But I also have a life.
I never abuse people who ask me questions; even downright stupid questions and I feel I have a right to be treated with basic respect in return
With best wishes to you all
Stan Curtis
 
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OK Guys, time I jumped into this with a few facts.
First I don't have a CD3 manual, period. Second I may have fragments of a CD2 manual but despite looking I've been unable to find it amongst 40 years worth of documentation.
The Cambridge Audio company had all the technical archives and all the manuals but I cannot say what has happened to them. It is up to them to support their customers. If they want the "goodwill" that goes with 40 years worth of reputation then they should give the support to ex customers as well as current customers.
The intellectual rights comment is a red herring; they have only to ask me and the permission would be forthcoming.
Certainly my actions do show I support enthusiasts. I have made some "unobtainable" schematics available on the Lecson website plus a lot of support; the same goes for the Cambridge Audio website which deals with the early product designs; and I uploaded the rare schematics of the Moth amplifiers onto my own website. Once I can track down some more Cambridge schematics I intend to upload those as well; but only when I get them.
As for my vocal critic Paul_Peraic, well he messed me about over buying some DAC chips; demanded a copy of the CD2 manual and has spammed me with well over a hundred emails, many threatening, abusive and downright unpleasant.
So far I have sat out his abuse but enough is enough. The fact is I do support enthusiasts and reply, eventually, to the 100+ emails I get each week. But I also have a life.
I never abuse people who ask me questions; even downright stupid questions and I feel I have a right to be treated with basic respect in return
With best wishes to you all
Stan Curtis

I bought some DAC chips off (of course TDA1541A) you then asked you if I we could please not go ahead with the transaction you agreed that was all , no messing around you could of disagreed and that would be your right and I would of agreed to it nothing more nothing less , if you are to hold some eternal grudge against me because of this so be it?

As for the service manual I asked for , you said not a problem and it is now 7 months and I am still waiting , it would of been more polite for you just to say no instead of just ignoring and dragging it on for this long with false promises , if you wish to be treated with respect you must return it not command it as you do because of your so called status ?

I have been nothing but polite to you and E-mailed you twice a month and mainly received no replies and the ones I did receive were ignored when asking for the service manual , so I must have some really crazy methods of obtaining a service manual off a person I do not know , but "spamming you with well over a hundred emails, many threatening, abusive and downright unpleasant" , sounds a little far fetched if I actually want to obtain these off you ?

With the red herring comment of Cambridge Audio if they are not responsible and you are not responsible then who is ? will it just go around in circles with both of you passing the buck , I thought you and Cambridge Audio were professional companies , could you not converse to resolve this issue or is this asking to much.

I have searched high and low for these CD2-CD3 service manuals and not one service or retail outlet that I have searched world wide have these service manuals , how can this be ? not only Cambridge Audio U.K. mysteriously lose these service manuals but they have also disappeared world wide maybe they never had them , these 40 + years of documents should not be gathering dust like some pot of gold , but available to service out lets and enthusiasts that do not have them , this is the problem that they are gathering dust and you have made no conscious effort to make them available ?

This Hi-Fi Wigwan post 34 confirms your unwillingness to supply
DIY enthusiasts with 20 + year old schematics that have no real value only to enthusiasts and DIYers that wish to keep these cherished machines running (http://www.hifiwigwam.com/view_topic.php?id=32140&forum_id=31&page=2) .
Which you state verbatim : AND NO they are not available to budding DIY builders !!!!!!

I have always thought of you as a guru and admired your designs and also love your Cambridge CD 1-2-3 players but these other comments just reaffirm that though you may be all this and more but you clearly are not a decent person with these untrue comments.

You seem to have only replied and taken notice of this only because restorer-john brought it to your attention and also to settle some non existent score , being registered here since May 2008 and this your only input does not come across as helpful , this just reaffirms my prior comments of you not being helpful in any way this is a forum for discussion on audio not an arena for some invented public out rage , so please next time be constructive on the issue at hand , if there is to be a next time at all , it is very sad that you have had to resort to this ?

Paul Peraic
 
With the red herring comment of Cambridge Audio if they are not responsible and you are not responsible then who is ?

To be honest Paul, with something of this age, I don't think anyone is obliged to support it. That said, I would love to see the service manuals for the CD2 and CD3, they're pretty high up on my list of favorite CD players.

Cambridge Audio isn't the only company to do this either, ever seen a Musical Fidelity service manual? I wish they'd all take the same tact as Arcam, who'll give out old service manuals straight away if you ask.

Anton
 
To be honest Paul, with something of this age, I don't think anyone is obliged to support it. That said, I would love to see the service manuals for the CD2 and CD3, they're pretty high up on my list of favorite CD players.

Cambridge Audio isn't the only company to do this either, ever seen a Musical Fidelity service manual? I wish they'd all take the same tact as Arcam, who'll give out old service manuals straight away if you ask.

Anton

Agreed to an extent if not to support it then at least supply a service manual so other technicians can service these products if this always happens how do people service there cherished players . This then just reinforces a consumer throw away attitude and products that are made to a price , which is one reason I love these machines ok they also were made to a price but not the Highway robbery they do these days , I had borrowed a Cyrus DAD1 to see if these newer players sounded any better and to me in stock format the CD2 wiped the floor with it , and then later finding out on the Lampizator site that it has supposed Sony Walkman parts and is made as cheap and crudely as possible only reconfirmed this ?

Any way hopefully this can move on to doing something about obtaining these service manuals hopefully either off Stan's resources and contacts or some other generous sole , and continuing the discussion of the lovely CD3 and its modification ? :)
 
I have seen those pictures of the DAD1, for shame Cyrus!

The other thing to consider is that for the servo / decoder section in both the CD2 and the CD3, CA used the normal Philips chipsets. Though the layout differs, the circuit design is probably more or less identical to any Philips player using the same chipset combination.

  • From photos I have seen, the CD2 uses a two MAB8441s, a SAA7210 and a SAA7220. The servo probably uses a TDA5708 / TDA5709 pair. That's equivalent to a Philips CD160.
  • From photos I have seen, the CD3 uses a SAA7210, a SAA7220 and at least one MAB8441. It is probably equivalent to a Philips CD560.
The service manuals for these players will probably give you enough info to troubleshoot most faults.
 
Oh, I should mention, I made the above estimations without seeing an actual CD2 or CD3. If one of you who has one, and will post exactly what ICs one uses (radial error processor, signal diode processor, decoder, digital filter and microprocessor(s)), I can tell you exactly which Philips player each is equivalent to.
 
Oh, I should mention, I made the above estimations without seeing an actual CD2 or CD3. If one of you who has one, and will post exactly what ICs one uses (radial error processor, signal diode processor, decoder, digital filter and microprocessor(s)), I can tell you exactly which Philips player each is equivalent to.

Hello Anton

The CD 3 has the same servo board as the Arcam 70.2 I have the schematic for this but it does not show the values of the small value surface mount capacitors or resistors which I wish to replace with better quality ones to see if it can improve on things , I did so with a CD 63 and it did a world of good but that was easier because of the normal capacitors on it's servo board .

Having trouble with the old sight these days hence the want of an entire CD3 service manual to make it easier.

The CD2 is virtually the same except it has a 1k trim pot instead of the 4.7k and a few minute other things , but I have heard this may vary as some Cambridge CD2's had CDM2 mech's and some had CDM4 mech's with equivalent servo boards ?
 

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That board is pure stock Philips, I suspected as much. It's a 5886 non-uP servo board, one of the last ones before the servo was integrated into the mainboard. Unlike most of the other servo boards, this one doesn't have any major bug fixes, which is nice.

I actually have one of these, in a Philips CD670 I own. I'm not sure how many other players used it. See the photo below.

Anyway, the zipped .PDF I have attached should answer all your questions. It includes the artwork and schematic of the 5886 board.

I've also added the page that shows what adaptions are made to allow this board to drive a CDM-4. It involves changing some passive components to alter the bandwidth of the radial drive (I think that's all). The CDM-2 and CDM-4 are actually very similar servo-wise.

If you find out the number for the CD2 servo board, I may have similar info for it too.

Anton
 

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The five electrolytic caps are the ones you should be replacing, as you can see I have replaced them on mine. If you still have problem with the board, the four tantalum caps are the next ones to look at. I would be surprised to find any problems with the surface mount ceramic caps or resistors.
 
Tantalum caps

The five electrolytic caps are the ones you should be replacing, as you can see I have replaced them on mine. If you still have problem with the board, the four tantalum caps are the next ones to look at. I would be surprised to find any problems with the surface mount ceramic caps or resistors.
Sorry you must of mistaken me , my cd player works I need a schematic to modify my player .
Though it would be nice to know the values of those Tantalum caps ?
 
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