Cambridge Audio CD2

[Sarion]

Hi there!

I just got a CD2 from someone, and it has a faulty laser (probably). Do you guys think it`s worth the effort to put in a replacement laser?

I know it has the CDM2 mechanism, and 4 * TDA1541 DACs, but that`s about it...

Kind regards,

Berend

[TV Man]

Are you sure it has a CDM2 transport. I have 2 dead Cambridge CD2 players and they both have CDM4/19.

Nice sounding player... no service manual available

Mine have a heavy buzz on the output and the CD tray door opens and closes randomly. Display gets funky too flashing etc.

[jean-paul]

Nice cdplayer if you can live with its peculiarities. I recently wrecked a unrepairable CD3 which is very similar ( less wiring, nicer pcb ) but I kept some parts/boards/remote. I also have a spare laser for it ( CD3 had CDM 1 however ).

The display problems and tray with its own character are standard, after all it is british I would not put too much time and/or money in it.

[Sarion]

Originally posted by jean-paul
The display problems and tray with its own character are standard, after all it is british

Hi Jean-Paul,

Are these the peculiarities you mean? Is the sound good? I now have a Rotel rcd975, which probably sounds better, or...?

[jean-paul]

Stick with the Rotel, it is OK and listens to the boss. The CD2/CD3 players are a bit like girlfriends. When you want to play a disk CD2 does not want that. After a few futile attempts it'll accept your command and it will start playing but with unreadable response on the display.

They do sound good ( their single quality ) but they are stubborn disobedient machines. Casing is even worse than the plastic Philips boxes.

[Sarion]

Right, well, I`m trying to find a laser mechanism now, but I don`t know where to find it.

I need a CDM2/29, does anyone know where I should look? I think the CD650 from Philips has one...

Thanks!

Berend

[Lenin]

Just to reiterate Jean Paul's point - are you absolutely sure yours has a CDM2 mechanism?

My dead-'ish' CD2 has a CDM4 and I happen to know that the player was specifically designed around it. Maybe it was replaced - If it was, hunt around for a CDM4 - It will read just about anything.

I managed to get a complete service manual from Cambridge, as a result of a connection I used to have with the company. Its like no other, with a long, rambling explanation (from the unit's designer, Stan Curtis) of the rationale behind the design, etc, etc. It (along with my CD2) is at the other end of the country, where a friend has been playing around with it. I'll get hold of it and post it here.

The service manual also explains what the various fault codes that appear on the display from time mean (and how to clear them).

Jean Paul, you sound like you know my girlfriend...

[Sarion]

It has a cdm2/29, it says so on the mechanism.

And wonderous things still happen...

I opened the player up to look at it. Then I closed it up again. It seems to play fine!

The right LED display however is blinking all the time, apparently switching between displaying time and something else. The left hand display (track etc.) is working fine. Also the Disc Error light blinks now and then, although I can`t hear anything going wrong over the speakers. And one LED light seems to be out (horizontal bar in the middle of one 8)

Additionally, the player cracks (over the speakers) when I open and close the drawer.

Could it be a grounding problem?

I've just started to look at it properly now. More errors may appear!

And I would love to see the manual! Thanks!

Regards,

Berend

[JonPike]

My dead-'ish' CD2 has a CDM4 and I happen to know that the player was specifically designed around it. Maybe it was replaced - If it was, hunt around for a CDM4 - It will read just about anything.

I managed to get a complete service manual from Cambridge, as a result of a connection I used to have with the company. Its like no other, with a long, rambling explanation (from the unit's designer, Stan Curtis) of the rationale behind the design, etc, etc. It (along with my CD2) is at the other end of the country, where a friend has been playing around with it. I'll get hold of it and post it here.

The service manual also explains what the various fault codes that appear on the display from time mean (and how to clear them).

I'd be very interested in that service manual too.. a buddy of mine has owned one for over 10 years.. even picked up a second on Ebay for pretty cheap. I've been reverse engineering it and fixing things up, some months ago. He wanted me to look at it because of a slight hum it picked up.. turned out 2 out of the 4 TDA1541A's were blown and cooking themselves on their little boards! Ordered some new ones, and it sounded SO much better! Kinda shocked that it would sound so good with half the DAC's dead!

A very interesting design, rather different... I'd like to read the notes on the design idea. The display problems that they ALL seem to get should be easy to fix.. There are a LOT of area's that can be improved on in this model, power supplies, buffering or reclocking the digital lines from the main board to the outboard DAC/line out section, better clock, improved I/V, etc. It's rather an econo job for what was about an $1800 player back when they were new... but 4 TDA1541's summed together make for a very respectable player, even stock...

I'll see if I can check them for which drives the two he has has...

[rcross42]

I spent a lot of time upgrading my original CD2 but it is now also dead and in need of repair. If there is a service manual available I would be interested in getting hold of a copy as I would like to resurect it one day.

The CD2 runs the DACs hotter than usual by using over 6 volts on the supply instead of the standatd 5, without the heatsinks and good ventilation they do cook over time. I removed the TDA1541 DACs from the daughter boards on mine added IC sockets and modified the PCB so that they accept TDA1541A chips. I got 4 of the S1 variety and it sounded superb for a few years till it cooked and killed them.

The main area to get improvements is the power supply decoupling (lots of polypropylene and silver mica capacitors work wonders) as well as reworking the ground routing. The transformer was converted to a torroidal and moved to a seperate box.
Other enhancements were to fit IC sockets and upgrade the 5534 Op amps to AD845 and also replace the standard 1% resistors with holco 0.1% for the current to voltage converters. I installed an additional Op Amp stage to get rid of the two output capacitors which was tuned to remove the DC offset and produce a fully DC coupled output stage.

Obviously the display died long ago but the player worked well for years without it. I eventually bought a Cambrigde CD5 but that couldn't even compare to the standard CD2 so I upgraded again to an Audiolab 8000CD/8000DAX which is very respectable. I'd still like to hear it next to my old CD2 though.

It's been a few years now and I can't exactly remember whats wrong with the old CD2 but if I can get hold of a manual I'll dig out my oscilloscope and have a probe around it.