Arcam Alpha mods - Page 52

amc184 · 31st December 2011, 11:04 PM

Could you describe more specifically what it does when it cuts out? Does it just stop playing, does it lose the ToC info or does it shut off completely?

wlowes · 1st January 2012, 01:17 AM

Excuse a slightly off topic moment. I too have sidelined my Alpha for a bit. Recall in my case I messed up the main board and the balance ended up as a USB/1541a/tube dac. The PCM2706 USB died. No, that's good news as I wanted to upgrade to asyncronous USB. Have ordered an XMOS based board from a cool guy on this site. The interesting thing is it will enable me to play high res content on the Arcam audio board. 24/192 will be possible. I know the 1541a is only 16 bit, but it will apparently ignores the extra bits and sounds great. Should be interesting to hear.

This has spawned a couple of projects.

USB2 is best supported in Unix, so I am dabbling in those waters toying with a dedicated Alix processor that picks music off a netserver and passes it to the USB. Easy to build power supply and may even fit in the arcam box. Very cool, but complicated.

Meanwhile, I messed with my backup CD to the point of destroying it.

So last night went looking for a new Alpha and tripped over a Rotel 855 for sale in my home town. Its the real deal, German engineered, 1541A N2 chip & Blackgate caps for $100! With just a power cord swap to take conditioned power, its rivalling my earlier efforts. I plan to take our best learnings from this site and like Andrew take my time this time. Who knows where that will end up. I must say I am addicted to the 1541a

I am enjoying a quiet new years eve at home with my wife, fine food, German beer and fine music. All the best for a happy and safe new year.

SimontY · 1st January 2012, 02:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amc184

Could you describe more specifically what it does when it cuts out? Does it just stop playing, does it lose the ToC info or does it shut off completely?

It stutters and then stops just as if the stop button had been pressed. The display shows the TOC. If you press play it will fail very quickly in exactly the same manner.

Happy New Year everyone

amc184 · 1st January 2012, 03:57 AM

That's exactly what mine was doing. I'd have at look at what the mainboard's +5V rail is doing once the player has warmed up. I'd also check on the temperature of the mainboard's 7805 regulator and make sure it's still well mounted to its heatsink. If it's a 78M05 type (the medium power version) I'd replace it with a 7805.

If that doesn't turn up anything of interest, maybe it's time to get a can of freezer spray and see if cooling anything has any effect.

SimontY · 1st January 2012, 11:12 AM

Fantastic, cheers.

And Walter - that project sounds amazing. It does sound rather complex too! The Rotel sounds fun too.

Chivvyp · 2nd January 2012, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimontY

Once it has warmed up and "crashed" pressing play will only get it moving for a few seconds before it shuts down / resets again. Based on this it's surely temperature-related, but that could be regs, caps, mechanism grease, ceramic caps(??) etc.

Hi Simon,

Don't want to be a doomsayer

I had a similar problem once, turned out to be the 1541. It was easy for me to check as I had a spare chip and it was on a socket. Once the new chip was in I never had the problem again.

Regards

Pete

SimontY · 2nd January 2012, 09:36 AM

Hi Pete,

Could that be random chance? I didn't think the 1541 chip actually affected playback in these machines - just whether you can hear it or not.

Simon

Chivvyp · 2nd January 2012, 03:16 PM

yeah, I missunderstood your symptoms, thought you were just losing sound

SimontY · 2nd January 2012, 03:18 PM

Nope, it just stops with an "error" after a 35-40min warm-up period of perfect playback. I've got an annoying cold or something so feeling lazy about fixing this!

AndrewGM · 7th January 2012, 10:26 PM

New topic :

On the Phillips main board I, like everyone else who have them, have several factory made solder blobs on link wires that act as grounds - which are pretty handy.
Being that they are all effectively soldered ( connected ) to the copper cladding on the surface can I just create my own anywhere I please ?
This is purely for my own convenience as I decide where to put my regs - in an effort to get them as close as possible to the receivers.
Am I wrong in assuming I can just add solder to it and use that new point or must I connect to ground at the nearest available original solder blob ?

Thanks

31st December 2011, 11:04 PM	#511
amc184 diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Christchurch	Could you describe more specifically what it does when it cuts out? Does it just stop playing, does it lose the ToC info or does it shut off completely? __________________ Inside Classic Audio, my blog on repairs, modifications and anything else to do with audio.

1st January 2012, 01:17 AM	#512
wlowes diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Blog Entries: 7	Slightly off topic update Excuse a slightly off topic moment. I too have sidelined my Alpha for a bit. Recall in my case I messed up the main board and the balance ended up as a USB/1541a/tube dac. The PCM2706 USB died. No, that's good news as I wanted to upgrade to asyncronous USB. Have ordered an XMOS based board from a cool guy on this site. The interesting thing is it will enable me to play high res content on the Arcam audio board. 24/192 will be possible. I know the 1541a is only 16 bit, but it will apparently ignores the extra bits and sounds great. Should be interesting to hear. This has spawned a couple of projects. USB2 is best supported in Unix, so I am dabbling in those waters toying with a dedicated Alix processor that picks music off a netserver and passes it to the USB. Easy to build power supply and may even fit in the arcam box. Very cool, but complicated. Meanwhile, I messed with my backup CD to the point of destroying it. So last night went looking for a new Alpha and tripped over a Rotel 855 for sale in my home town. Its the real deal, German engineered, 1541A N2 chip & Blackgate caps for $100! With just a power cord swap to take conditioned power, its rivalling my earlier efforts. I plan to take our best learnings from this site and like Andrew take my time this time. Who knows where that will end up. I must say I am addicted to the 1541a I am enjoying a quiet new years eve at home with my wife, fine food, German beer and fine music. All the best for a happy and safe new year.

1st January 2012, 03:57 AM	#514
amc184 diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Christchurch	That's exactly what mine was doing. I'd have at look at what the mainboard's +5V rail is doing once the player has warmed up. I'd also check on the temperature of the mainboard's 7805 regulator and make sure it's still well mounted to its heatsink. If it's a 78M05 type (the medium power version) I'd replace it with a 7805. If that doesn't turn up anything of interest, maybe it's time to get a can of freezer spray and see if cooling anything has any effect. __________________ Inside Classic Audio, my blog on repairs, modifications and anything else to do with audio.

1st January 2012, 11:12 AM	#515
SimontY diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sheffield, North England	Fantastic, cheers. And Walter - that project sounds amazing. It does sound rather complex too! The Rotel sounds fun too. __________________ Fave. threads: Marantz CD63 \| Philips CD650 \| my 3-way dipoles \| T-bass for dipoles \| EnABL treatment \| Arcam Alpha (CD)

2nd January 2012, 09:36 AM	#517
SimontY diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sheffield, North England	Hi Pete, Could that be random chance? I didn't think the 1541 chip actually affected playback in these machines - just whether you can hear it or not. Simon __________________ Fave. threads: Marantz CD63 \| Philips CD650 \| my 3-way dipoles \| T-bass for dipoles \| EnABL treatment \| Arcam Alpha (CD)


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2nd January 2012, 03:16 PM	#518
Chivvyp diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: London	yeah, I missunderstood your symptoms, thought you were just losing sound

2nd January 2012, 03:18 PM	#519
SimontY diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sheffield, North England	Nope, it just stops with an "error" after a 35-40min warm-up period of perfect playback. I've got an annoying cold or something so feeling lazy about fixing this! __________________ Fave. threads: Marantz CD63 \| Philips CD650 \| my 3-way dipoles \| T-bass for dipoles \| EnABL treatment \| Arcam Alpha (CD)

7th January 2012, 10:26 PM	#520
AndrewGM diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2008	Main board grounding New topic : On the Phillips main board I, like everyone else who have them, have several factory made solder blobs on link wires that act as grounds - which are pretty handy. Being that they are all effectively soldered ( connected ) to the copper cladding on the surface can I just create my own anywhere I please ? This is purely for my own convenience as I decide where to put my regs - in an effort to get them as close as possible to the receivers. Am I wrong in assuming I can just add solder to it and use that new point or must I connect to ground at the nearest available original solder blob ? Thanks

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