Finally, an affordable CD Transport: the Shigaclone story

The 1 mm copper plates in between 9 mm birch..
 

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I admire your handiwork Erik, well done on the progress so far. Actually it is a valuable lesson for us all - just keep at something and you will get it done....



Speaking of which I jerry-rigged up my shigaclone tonight and yes, it plays! Sounds not too bad either. I have only removed a few parts and used a quick and dirty PS. i had only 90R and 330R so they went in for the SPDIF.


Now to another question: What was the end result of the experiments with the different platters people made/bought? First thing I noticed when I put on the first CD was how much it was out of true. Did the fella in hong kong (?) that was making the screw down puck sort out the out-of-round issues?


Fran
 
Put mine into a quick test rig yesterday, nothing modded and just a couple of 75r resistors on the output.

Sounds decent but will definitely need the mods and a stable case to bring the performance levels up.

As the poster above i'm finding the cd has a fair bit of 'wobble'. Some of this is just a trick on the eyes from the cd printing being slightly off center. I definitely think that a proper screw clamp is needed, at elast for my setup anyway.

Out of curiosity woodturner-fran did you use a 31 or 51 model?
 
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woodturner-fran said:
I admire your handiwork Erik, well done on the progress so far. Actually it is a valuable lesson for us all - just keep at something and you will get it done....



Speaking of which I jerry-rigged up my shigaclone tonight and yes, it plays! Sounds not too bad either. I have only removed a few parts and used a quick and dirty PS. i had only 90R and 330R so they went in for the SPDIF.


Now to another question: What was the end result of the experiments with the different platters people made/bought? First thing I noticed when I put on the first CD was how much it was out of true. Did the fella in hong kong (?) that was making the screw down puck sort out the out-of-round issues?


Fran

I gave up on the platters I bought (the mechanism could not reliably read disks with either of the ones I was sent due to wobble and eccentricities) and went back to the stock set up. I had several to choose from and just found the combination that ran most true. I have a few recently purchased cds which are warped - no standard clamp is going to fix this.

Using a screw on clamp without some way to clamp the lower half of the platter so that it does not turn is a royal p*i*t*a..

Personally I think one of the cdrom ball clamps is a better bet and eventually I will procure one of those.
 
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Way Cool Erik! Just wondering how many versions of this transport have you built so far? :D This will obviously be the best of the lot.. Quite a lot of effort, you must enjoy the challenge of it all. I have just the one of course, but I am quite happy with it. (Although my Sony SCD-777ES sacd player has once again assumed digital supremacy.. )
 
I still use the same contraption which is electronic-wise ""finished""
...it gives me an enormous thrill and from scratch it plays 2-3 hours an evening ever since...

The idea is that when built it is/stays fully dismountable so we can mount all the electronics with transport afterwards when woodwork and copper is all finished....a bit more challenging to make I agree.....but that way you only build once....

The latest MUSICAL thrill gave me ....Horowitz....this thing is (for me in my set-up) as close to an analog rig as you can get......I have never ever heard him so full of colour as on my PiTbull.....

Forget the Weavers (yes I do have them) and check this out....STUNNING....hall...atmosphere...electricity...topnotch play.......IN SPADES....:Piano: :Piano: :Piano: :Piano:
 

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Well i took some photos of my progress but after seeing the further steps that Erik has made mine will look pretty poor next door.....

Anyway, here goes:

Chassis - granite and alu with a damping layer of "glue":

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


Next showing the alu plate it will sit on within the whole box:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


Then the chassis sitting on the plate. The springs are fairly stiff and definitely need to be damped a bit. The brass rods will keep the chassis in place if the shigaclone needs to be moved around:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


Top view of the granite. I made up 2 support posts from alu and the mech can slip in and out if needed. Mech will be rigidly coupled to the posts:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


And the front of the case for the shigaclone:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.



Sorry some of the pics aren't great, just didn't have time to set up lighting. i haven't done any mods to the mech yet except remove the inductor and the SMD caps on the back of the board. I think I have nearly all the caps now barring one or two and when I get the chassis sorted and playing I intend doing the standard mods. This will probably play into either a buffalo or else into Peters NOS DAC which hopefully will be on its way in the near future. I will put it up against my eastsound E5 to compare too....


Fran
 
More progress!

(BTW, sorry about the blurry nature of some of the photos - shooting with no flash and 1/8" exposures not a happy combo)

So I finished the base plate for the transport within the case. Its held down with 12 M4 bolts and is very secure. It takes a lot of the ring out of the case too.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


I experimented a bit with damping for the springs and ended up using some 1/2" pipe insulation cut to size. This fills the spring nicely, allows for the pillar and also takes a good bit of the "boing" out of the spring - which was something I was a bit concerned about.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


Next up is another base plate, this time for under the case. There will be a layer of damping between it and the case. Heres the plate:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


and with the M6 screws which will take the feet:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.



So taking a lead from the ceraballs but with a love of wood, I decided to make my own version. Here are the components, a machined pillar with grooves for some o-rings and a dimple in the bottom for a ball bearing. The top is tapped for the M6 screws mentioned earlier. The base is some ebony bored to take the pillar:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


And assembled....

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.



The idea is that the ball provides decoupling along with the bit of give in the o-rings. The pillar fits with a suction fit into the base.

Lastly tonight a rather poor pic of the feet in place under the base plate - they look better in real life. The M6 screws are held in the plate by some thread lock so the feet can be adjusted for levelling (about 4mm each foot)

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


I've decided to go BNC on this job. I've never used them before, but have some connectors. All my DACs use RCA, so I have made up a cable adaptor to suit. If i could just find my roll of damping I would be set!



Fran