Basic CD player Mods - where to start

[a.wayne]

Hello All ,

I'm doing the digital thing for the first time and have a Rega Jupiter to play with and would like to upgrade (mod) and would appreciate if i could get some directions as to where and what basic stuff to Mod !

1. Does PSU mods make a difference ?
2. Diodes , caps , or what about seperate PSU altogether .


there is plenty here , but where to start for basic improvements , before diving in 2 deep ...


regards,

[Mooly]

If it uses opamps for I/V conversion and buffering what are they ?

[SoNic_real_one]

Any OpAmps that are used in the comercial CD players should be replaced. I didn't see one player (in less that 1000$ range) that has decent ones.

[a.wayne]

Thanks guys , i was not able to procur a schematic on the rega , so i will pull the cover and take a peek, at that time i will post a pic of what is there for discussion .


regards.

[abraxalito]

Originally Posted by SoNic_real_one

Any OpAmps that are used in the comercial CD players should be replaced. I didn't see one player (in less that 1000$ range) that has decent ones.

Turns out that this one was listed at USD1895 (in 2002). Can't find a consistent story about what DACs it uses - one site says it thinks BB and another, Wolfson. What's obviousy a marketing smokescreen is Rega's claim (on their website) that the DACs are 'custom built IC40 DAC chips' and 'Rega 24 Bit Sigma Delta IC40 DAC'. Rega does not generate the sales volumes to build its own DAC chips.

[Andersonix]

Originally Posted by SoNic_real_one

Any OpAmps that are used in the comercial CD players should be replaced. I didn't see one player (in less that 1000$ range) that has decent ones.

The Oppo 980 ($170 new) has four NE5532 for the analog outputs. Are they decent? I don't think I have the nerve to desolder them just now.

Too bad all the caps are Acon and Midcon which I've never heard of, so not confidence inspiring. I will be digging in there soon.

I've had success in the past just swapping diodes and caps for larger values with a film cap across: whatever would fit from my box-o-caps. But on this Oppo I think I'm going with a mix of Elna RFS and Nichicon poly solid electrolytic type from DigiKey.

[SoNic_real_one]

NE5532 are middle-of-the road OpAmps. Sure you can find something better.
I was nervous too to work on SMD, but I did swap all mine. In the receiver, in other three players...
Start with something else, less expensive ( I have started with another player).

[Mooly]

The 5532 is a bjt device... you could try the LM4562, or something like a FET device such as the OPA2604 which I still rate very very highly sonically.

[Andersonix]

Indeed by far the single biggest improvement in my system came from swapping OP249 in my preamp for LM4562. I cannot gush enough about this op amp! No amount of fooling with the PS could approach the difference the LM4562 made!

And my older DVD player in which I had previously beefed up the caps and put in nicer diodes (1N4947) has an SMD (NJM4558?) opamp to practice on, so I'm going to psych myself up for that...

[SimontY]

2604 sound awful to me. LM4562 are very smooth and clean (can seem clinical in some players). 5532/5534/JRC2114 are musical but grainy. I heard 249 once and they were rubbish.

If the Jupiter comes with op-amps these can be changed. A clock upgrade is also very easy usually.

Power supply mods are the most important thing for any cd player! The op-amps can change the character and grain but not the real quality.

Simon