Sony DVP-S725d upgrade and modding

[mark31385]

Hi everyone,

Think this is the right area to ask.

I have been recently been looking in to upgrading components in my DVD player (Sony DVP-S725d) and amplifier (Sony STR-DB1080).

I was wondering if anyone had any past experience with this? In the DVD player I've noticed on the audio board that "Nichicon fine gold" capacitors are in use. I know these to be quite desirable with the DIY amp builders and valve amps due to the sound qualities.

My questions are;

If I was to upgrade the capacitors to the higher "Nichicon MUSE" ones in both the amp and DVD player would there be a noticeable difference (i imagine in the amp there will be)

Also is there any other upgrades worth considering, ie, schocty diodes and resistors. As I know manufactures build to a budget.

Long shot but any help or advice much appreciated

[Mooly]

My feeling on this is that it's probably not worth the effort and yet I don't want to put you off. If you believe it will sound better then it "probably will".

DVD players tend to be compromised at best on audio performance due to so much processing (not just for CD replay) going on.

Sorry if that sounds harsh.

The receiver is an unknown quantity to me but again, any gains (if any) will be very small.

[mark31385]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

The DVD player is quite good on CD play back, better than some £200 dedicated cd players I have owned. Was just wondering if there was any worth while upgrades as I have the same model spare (laser gone) so would have a spare board to work on.

Also a quick question, as I can't find this answer anywhere. On my previous one it played CD-R and DVD-R etc, but on the newer model it won't play any CD-Rs? Does the laser need re-aligning in the service menu?

[Mooly]

The DVD probably uses opamps in the final analogue stages. Depending on what is fitted you might gain something sonically by looking at swapping them but I advise caution as although in 95% of cases there would be no issues sometimes a design can catch the unwary.

Swapping Op-Amps... you have checked to see it's stable haven't you ?

As to CDR's. First thing to try is some different CDR's recorded on a different PC.

Impossible to diagnose without doing some basic tests such as viewing the RF (eye pattern) from CD and CDR and see what is going on and whether there is problem or not.
The quality of signal recovered of CDR is poor compared to a pressed (normal) disc but it's rare for it to cause a total lack of playability. So try some different discs recorded on a different machine.

[mark31385]

Thanks, it's amazing how much you forget when you haven't worked in the trade for a while. Just been browsing the circuit and can't even find the opamp lol .

At this stage i'm curious as I have a spare audio board if I hash things up. Just wanting to see if there is anything more to gain from this board as it was a £600 DVD player back in the day and CD's do sound good.

Opamp will be the last thing I replace. Was just looking at the circuit diagram and noticed on the output stage, there is muting transistors on the left and right outputs, If memory serves me correct I'm sure I heard that removing these can gain advantages. Could you confirm this, or is this dependent on the circuit.

With regards to the CD-R, after some research my model only plays CD-RW which is what all my old mix CD's are on. Find this strange how it will play CD-RW and not CD-R.

[Mooly]

Muting transistors can be worthwhile removing or perhaps better still replacing with fet's which another diy member always recommends. Essentially a straight swap as long as the control signal is suitable which it usually is... must go negative when unmuted to pinch off the fet's.

Try with them removed first.

It is strange that CDRW works as the reflectivity od CDRW is far less than CDR (reflected signal is much lower) so can't really explain that. Would have to try as mentioned a different brand of CDR and different burning equipment an look at the recovered signals off each to make any judgement.

Changing opamps an actually give the greatest sonic gains on many a cd player so if it does use them and they are of the 4558, 4560 or even 5532 type then worth considering.

[rabbitz]

The DVP-S725D and S525D can't play CD-R so I'm surprised CD-RW works.

These are getting very old now and my S525D (still works but no longer used) did need regular adjustment of the laser via the service menu. Only use the auto alignment and not manual.

To access service menu place player in standby and press the remote keys in this order: title, clear, power on. It will ask for SL, DL discs etc but make sure they are clean and not scuffed or scratched. If a test fails, just re-run again until it passes.