Marantz CD-17 K.I. Signature Mk1 - Upgrading ?

wytco0 · 29th September 2004, 07:58 AM

I have a Marantz CD-17 K.I. Signature (Mk 1) CD player that I have had for a few years, it is beautifully built and to me it still sounds very good. When I bought the CD17KI it cost about £1200 making it by far the most expensive single bit of HI-FI I have ever bought.

The big problem I have is knowing if any of the normal routes such as switching to an external DAC, clock upgrades etc are worth doing on this CD. Is the machine good enough already that it would not benefit?

I am interested in any experiences of upgrading this player? I have never seen any posts about it and I guess this is because its not a particularly common machine. But it may also be that the tweaking done by Ken Ishiwata has already pushed the player to the limits of what it can do?

So has anyone done anything to their Marantz CD17 KI and was it worth it?

Thanks.

wytco0 · 2nd October 2004, 10:53 AM

Anyone ???

TimA · 2nd October 2004, 12:06 PM

I dipped my toe in the water with this machine a while ago, removing the four muting transistors so that the four silmic caps on the output could be removed (and replaced by wire) without problem. The dc voltage present on the output was no more than 80mV or so, and the removal of the muting transistors caused no audible noises (for example when skipping between tracks) apart from a slight 'thump' on switch-on/off, not really a problem in my view.

The sound became better defined with an improved sense of depth, it also became a little 'brighter'. If the latter is acceptible and a few mV would cause no problem I suggest it is worthwhile.

Tim.

wuffwaff · 2nd October 2004, 12:52 PM

Wytco0,

changing the internal clock for a better one will certainly help this player too. The changes in sound quality are not subtle!
I´m not shure if it uses the HDAM modules (like the CD16) otherwise you could change output opamps.
It is also possible to upgrade the power supply, substituting caps for better (and bigger) ones. Allmost all of the caps are important, not only those from the output stage but also those feeding the servo etc.
It would be good to have a shematic of the player so you can see what you are doing.

William

29th September 2004, 07:58 AM	#1
wytco0 diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Hastings	Marantz CD-17 K.I. Signature Mk1 - Upgrading ? I have a Marantz CD-17 K.I. Signature (Mk 1) CD player that I have had for a few years, it is beautifully built and to me it still sounds very good. When I bought the CD17KI it cost about £1200 making it by far the most expensive single bit of HI-FI I have ever bought. The big problem I have is knowing if any of the normal routes such as switching to an external DAC, clock upgrades etc are worth doing on this CD. Is the machine good enough already that it would not benefit? I am interested in any experiences of upgrading this player? I have never seen any posts about it and I guess this is because its not a particularly common machine. But it may also be that the tweaking done by Ken Ishiwata has already pushed the player to the limits of what it can do? So has anyone done anything to their Marantz CD17 KI and was it worth it? Thanks.

2nd October 2004, 10:53 AM	#2
wytco0 diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Hastings	One last Try :) Anyone ???

2nd October 2004, 12:52 PM	#4
wuffwaff diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Ingolstadt Germany	Wytco0, changing the internal clock for a better one will certainly help this player too. The changes in sound quality are not subtle! I´m not shure if it uses the HDAM modules (like the CD16) otherwise you could change output opamps. It is also possible to upgrade the power supply, substituting caps for better (and bigger) ones. Allmost all of the caps are important, not only those from the output stage but also those feeding the servo etc. It would be good to have a shematic of the player so you can see what you are doing. William __________________ een ooievaar is geen konijn want zijn oren zijn te klein!

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2nd October 2004, 12:06 PM	#3
TimA diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: UK	I dipped my toe in the water with this machine a while ago, removing the four muting transistors so that the four silmic caps on the output could be removed (and replaced by wire) without problem. The dc voltage present on the output was no more than 80mV or so, and the removal of the muting transistors caused no audible noises (for example when skipping between tracks) apart from a slight 'thump' on switch-on/off, not really a problem in my view. The sound became better defined with an improved sense of depth, it also became a little 'brighter'. If the latter is acceptible and a few mV would cause no problem I suggest it is worthwhile. Tim.

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