AR CD-4 mods?

[dnsey]

I've just picked up an Acoustic Research CD-4 for next to nothing (it has a display problem, but that should be easy to sort).
The sound is very laid back, warm and vinyl-like, with just a bit of harshness/coarseness in the upper mid and top.
The build seems quite decent.
Has anyone sucessfully tweaked one of these players?
Any suggestions welcome!
Thanks,
Dave.

[dnsey]

Any comments at all on this machine??

[Elso Kwak]

Originally posted by dnsey
Any comments at all on this machine??

Hi dnsey,
Maybe you can remove the harshness with the clock-mod.
Never seen this player.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...928#post199928

[dnsey]

Thanks Elso,
I've been thinking of building your clock for my CD63, so I'll try it with this one too.
Evidently it's a rare machine, but nicely built, and should sound good with a bit of work.

[Fin]

Hi

I've just bought an AR CD-04 on eBay - waiting for it to arrive.

Found the following description - seems interesting, especially if it is well build:

When AR introduced the "Black Line" in the mid 80's it had one CD player in the lineup in the form of the CD-04, it featured the Philips 14bit 4x oversampling converters rather than a 16 bit one since the engineers at the company thought they sounded better than the 16 bit ones available at the time (and they were probably right, but this was an unusual design choice). The unit also had a separate converter for each channel but at the time many of the designs out there (in particular the 14bit models) multiplexed the converter leading to a tiny phase error, otherwise the CD-04 was pretty much run of the mill and was at it's best used in conjunction with other AR Black line components since it had a remote control link. Introduced the CD-06 in late 1988, it was made at their UK plant and featured the then new 4x 16bit oversampling hardware from Philips, interestingly the unit had a remote control of output level so it could be used to drive a power amp directly, fit and finish was also considerably better than with previous CD players from the company.

So - it has CDM2 and 2 x TDA1540. Did you do anything to yours yet?

Regards
Fin

[Phasenoise]

Most of the AR components were made by Rotel from what I remember if that helps. Might help you find some service info i.e Rotel diags etc...

[Fin]

Thanks - that's interesting.

[Fin]

Well - it arrived - and what a nice CD player it is:-)

[wooffer]

I just picked up a used AR CD 06 in clean and nice condition. It was advertised as Audiophile Quality and I was immediately impressed with the sound as soon as I played it. Warm, and rich with very good sound stage. This particular unit was manufactured in March 1991 and it has not misread a cd yet; even at high volumes with lots of bass shaking. I pulled the cover and revealed a cdm2/10 transport, quite solid, and one TDA 1541 A chip. The unit plays hot (literally) and is a 16 bit with 4x oversampling. The only drawbacks I have found are small, unlit function buttons and a small display. Very happy with the player.

[Fin]

Hi Woofer

This is a picture of my AR CD 04. Does your CD 06 look similar?
Any chance of a picture?