Pioneer DV-565A tweaking

[BritishSpy]

Hi, I'm new to this forum.

I think that many of the contributions are very interesting. Very nice forum indeed.

After intensive listening tests I found out that the major problem with the Pioneer is the treble, it is not very clean, somewhat smeared. But after a look into the PSU the source of this problem seems clear, no transformer means normally smeared highs.

The 565A managed to beat a tweaked Sony CD Player from the QS range with chip and tube outputs! The Pioneer offered much more space and detail, the timbres of natural instruments seemed more natural with more textures and managed a wonderful body and bass to the music. The heavily modified Sony will be kicked out now, the 565A offers much more capacity for further tweaking.


Well, I changed all caps to Elna/Panasonic, some of them bypassed. The output caps were changed to Solen 630V/10mF, bypassed with 0.01 Jensen paper in oil for smoothing the Solen with their only fault: A slightly nervous top. I also replaced the rectifiers (23ns ultrafast 600V 25A).

Next step:

1. Tube output stage with tube/choke PSU (2xEL34 & 2xECC81).

2. Complete removal of the case. The new case will be out of 10mm aluminium on all sides (15kg).

3. Decoupling of the drive, this is extreme important!

4. Complete new PSU for the DAC with a capsulated torodial transformer.

5. Cardas RCA sockets.

6. Rewiring of all PSU, digital & signal lines with 99,99% pure silver
wire.

7. Extensive mains filtering.

8. Ceramic feets for the case.

9. Switch for turning off the display.

10. Pure silver mains cable with ferrite clamps.

Salute

[krishu]

Hello,

just got my DV-656 as well as the service manuals today and am looking forward to reading your report ...

I succesfully modded a pioneer PD-S507 and will do the same tweaks on this DVD/SACD/cD-player. In original condition it sounds not very promising compared to my tweaked 507.

Cheers
Christian.

[BritishSpy]

After listening tests (original version versus tweaked version, see my first post) I found out that the treble is still not O.K. but overall it is better and also the clarity and detail retrievel is much better. Thanks to the Solen's the bass lost it's woody color due to the cheap caps at the output (electrolytics sound really awful). This first tweaking steps are very promising. A lot more miles to go....

Info: I recorded some CD / SACD / DVD-Audio tracks on S-VHS recorder to document the tweaking steps so I have the opportunity to make A/B comparisons.

[Michele Spinolo]

guys,

do you have service manual and schematics of 565a player?

[krishu]

Hi,

sorry, I have no 565 manual.

I replaced the opamps, removed output resistors and replaced ouutput caps with Black gate NX. A large number of panasonic FCs for all p/S buffering is waiting.

sounds nice enough, but still some harshness in the heights.

Cheers

Christian.

[Nic.M]

Hi guys,

Why don't you check-out what's already been done on this family of machines on this forum.

Follow the thread below.

Poogeing the SACD: The Pioneer 563A

Regards

[krishu]

Hi,

@Nic.M:

I did; this thread is somewhat too big to be read in a few minutes

I replaced a lot of electrolytics yesterday and yes it works! I think it is far less harsh now.

I will replace the ceramic (?) smd caps later on and i will remove the HF filter completely and install a new passive bessel filter (40kHz) between the two opamps.

Cheers
Christian.

[roibm]

Considering that I could get only the 565A here in Europe, I will post the question here as well:


Hey guys, I have a question...
I would like to get a similar device and tweak the heck out of it. I mean the best I can.
So since I am tweaking it and all the stuff, would it be possible to add some digital SP/DIF input to the player? This way I would be able to use all the goodies inside(DAC mainly).
I know it sounds like crazy, but is it possible at all? If so, how big a deal is it to implement it actually?

[krishu]

Hi,

why do you get 565 only in EU? 656, or now 668 is available everywhere...

Apart from that I recommend the outer route: build a decent DAC, e.g. Elektor DAC2000 with upsampler (get the parts from Schuro) and connect the DV as source via sp/dif.

apart from that it depends on what format the PCMs are fed with. If it is I2S (I do not know) you would need to convert it using a receiver; if the dac accepts sp/dif just find the pin and solder a jack there ...

Cheers
Christian.

[roibm]

Originally posted by krishu
why do you get 565 only in EU? 656, or now 668 is available everywhere...

I meant you can't get the 563A here(unless one imports it). This is because I have posted the same stuff on the 563A thread.

Apart from that I recommend the outer route: build a decent DAC, e.g. Elektor DAC2000 with upsampler (get the parts from Schuro) and connect the DV as source via sp/dif.

apart from that it depends on what format the PCMs are fed with. If it is I2S (I do not know) you would need to convert it using a receiver; if the dac accepts sp/dif just find the pin and solder a jack there ...

I won't argue with that. That is a nice way to do it, but more resources are required(money, space etc).
And that is valid only for stereo. What if I would like to use this dvd-player(if possible at all) for decoding DVD-A streams(or DTS/dolbyd etc.)
It was more like a general question, if possible at all. Considering only the quality, and somehow unlimited resources(for DIY) an external device is the way to go, no comment on that.