Nakamichi mute section disable

[hiwiho]

Hey!

With all but one problems solved on my nakamichi cd player 4, the last remains tricky:
I've got strong harmonic distortion on all analog outputs which hasn't gone away after changing the opamp in the analog section - so I started measuring with the help of pure sine and my computer soundcard. I've got a clean signal on the digital output, only minor distortion on the analog outs of the ad1864, even after the opamp. Only thing between opamp and analog out ist the dc coupling cap (Nichicon muse 47my/16v) and the mute section, build by two 2sc2878 per channel. Could it be an error in the mute section driver causes massive harmonic distortion to the signal?? Check out the attached screenshots.

The distortion is equal on both channels... Do I risk pops or noise while skipping when I remove the mute transistors? Finding an error in their driver section would be quite hard for me - the manual gives no info about the mute signals specs...

Matthias