Please do not use the 2604! Too bright and horrid. Short out the two fuses with some wire and have a listen. See what that does to the sound
Brent
Leave the glass fuses out!!!!! They'll strangle dynamics. Also replace the smoother caps on the rails here (+ and -) with something very large and low ESR. 22,000uF/16v panasonic TSUP are great here or audio upgrades are even better!!! 
Here's a pic ive posted previously showing the 8v regs I put on the driver IC's. That coupled with decent large value caps is a big help to the bass!
As also mentioned put the decent opamps in. They wont suddenly give the bass though without the decent caps on the servo rails.
Read back for 10 or so pages, its been done several times recently.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-source/54009-marantz-cd63-cd67-mods-list-1617.html#post2536980
:0)
Here's a pic ive posted previously showing the 8v regs I put on the driver IC's. That coupled with decent large value caps is a big help to the bass!
As also mentioned put the decent opamps in. They wont suddenly give the bass though without the decent caps on the servo rails.
Read back for 10 or so pages, its been done several times recently.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-source/54009-marantz-cd63-cd67-mods-list-1617.html#post2536980
:0)
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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Have you re-clocked DAC or servo yet? Have you got the HDAM in or out? Have you shorted out the 4.7R "fuse" resistors that feed the op-amps and HDAM? What is the base model you're working with - CD63, SE etc? Have you shorted out the output DC blocking caps? These things, and your output stage or op-amp choice, along with beefiness of servo and output stage power supplies are the main things that determine how good the bass is going to be.
Matthieu - what, did I poke a hornet's nest?
So long as the primary side is properly fused (long time since I had a 63... is there one on board for non-UK users?) - you can bin the secondary side ones, in fact I would anyway. The crappy transformer will go open-circuit before much damage is done. IIRC it has a thermal one-shot in it anyway (I might be wrong on this of course)
But I'll not apologise for requiring the highest standards on the Primary / Mains side. The only way around that is to do whatever you want downstream of a conservatively-rated mains fuse /RCCB. Unrated speaker crossover parts across an unfused mains feed is idiocy of the highest order: even if it sounds good to you, it is not worth the wider risk.
So long as the primary side is properly fused (long time since I had a 63... is there one on board for non-UK users?) - you can bin the secondary side ones, in fact I would anyway. The crappy transformer will go open-circuit before much damage is done. IIRC it has a thermal one-shot in it anyway (I might be wrong on this of course)
But I'll not apologise for requiring the highest standards on the Primary / Mains side. The only way around that is to do whatever you want downstream of a conservatively-rated mains fuse /RCCB. Unrated speaker crossover parts across an unfused mains feed is idiocy of the highest order: even if it sounds good to you, it is not worth the wider risk.
I've said it loads of times and bring up what Simon and Ian have said but the 63 will never do things right until the psu for the servo section is sorted. A larger VA tx for the +/- 10v rails is required, fuses bypassed, quality large value caps and regulation. It makes a massive difference to dynamics and bass. Then add in all the usual mods and these players hit a very high level.
Brent
Brent
That's a lot of help!! Tnks guys, I really appreciate it!!
I did these on my CD63 SE:
- clock hack
- clock regulator (http://www.grønholdt.dk/diyelectronics/marantz CD63MKII/marantz.html)
- earthed the crystal
- HDAM and blocking caps removed
I don't know about the 4,7R resistor. Is this RD01? I used this one with the regulator.
So I'll be needing 6x MC7908CTG? But where do I put them? Do you have to drill holes in the PCB? It looks like they are put in R127/R128/C153/R164, but that 's probably a stupid thing to say... A picture of the bottom of the PCB would be very handy, but I wouldn't dare to ask for that.. ;-)
I'm not sure what you mean (because I'm an electonic noob ;-). Which parts do I need for this and how do I connect it? Can I use my Rotel transformer? It seems to be of the same type as the Marantz; can't find the specs though.
There's no fuse before the transformer. Shall I put one in and short out the other two? I do have an 250mA fuse from the Rotel. I'd like to feel free to leave the house without the fear of it being burned to the ground or "end all of humanity" ;-)
I did these on my CD63 SE:
- clock hack
- clock regulator (http://www.grønholdt.dk/diyelectronics/marantz CD63MKII/marantz.html)
- earthed the crystal
- HDAM and blocking caps removed
I don't know about the 4,7R resistor. Is this RD01? I used this one with the regulator.
So I'll be needing 6x MC7908CTG? But where do I put them? Do you have to drill holes in the PCB? It looks like they are put in R127/R128/C153/R164, but that 's probably a stupid thing to say... A picture of the bottom of the PCB would be very handy, but I wouldn't dare to ask for that.. ;-)
I'm not sure what you mean (because I'm an electonic noob ;-). Which parts do I need for this and how do I connect it? Can I use my Rotel transformer? It seems to be of the same type as the Marantz; can't find the specs though.
There's no fuse before the transformer. Shall I put one in and short out the other two? I do have an 250mA fuse from the Rotel. I'd like to feel free to leave the house without the fear of it being burned to the ground or "end all of humanity" ;-)
I'm not qualified to talk about fuses so I'll not do so, except to say they're definitely audibly detrimental to sound in many instances.
You will need 3x 7908 (as you've listed above) and 3x 7808 (the positive version: +8V fixed regulator). No drilling is needed for this mod and the original transformer may or may not be sufficient. Hopefully, being an "SE" model your transformer will be able to supply these servo regulators to the point of the player reading discs and sounding excellent. On the standard base model the regulators may not work - this is my personal experience. What happens is they measure fine and the player powers up but is extremely fussy when reading the TOC and skips a lot during playback. This is probably due to the supply voltage dipping too much and upsetting the regulators' operation and therefore corrupting control of the focus, motor drive etc.
A larger VA tx means a larger-powered transformer. VA = volts x amps, the same as power basically. The standard transformer may have 20VA of capacity on this winding and an upgraded add-on version may have 50 or 100VA. Bigger to the point of being comfortable usually sounds better, often MUCH better. The standard Marantz transformers seem to get warm, indicating poor efficiency and/or being undersized for the job. I think if you don't know terms like VA you might want to read around the subject a touch more before adding your own power supplies. Get to grips with it fully before connecting stuff to the mains, just to be safe. As I've said the standard transformer may work just fine powering these extra regulators.
The extra regulators go where those resistors were... One pin is floating in the air and is supplied by the + or -10V supply that originally fed the servo op-amps. The ground pin is typically soldered onto the ground plane. You can access this by scratching the pcb's top layer off with a fibreglass pencil. The other pin is the output (look at the datasheet as positive and negative have different pinnings) and can be soldered into where those resistors came from - just make sure it's on the "output" side of that resistor.
I guess you'll have more questions, but if you find the pictures and descriptions about this from earlier it saves saying it all again. Also look at that service manual and try to work out where the power to those chips is coming in and how that affects what you're doing.
You will need 3x 7908 (as you've listed above) and 3x 7808 (the positive version: +8V fixed regulator). No drilling is needed for this mod and the original transformer may or may not be sufficient. Hopefully, being an "SE" model your transformer will be able to supply these servo regulators to the point of the player reading discs and sounding excellent. On the standard base model the regulators may not work - this is my personal experience. What happens is they measure fine and the player powers up but is extremely fussy when reading the TOC and skips a lot during playback. This is probably due to the supply voltage dipping too much and upsetting the regulators' operation and therefore corrupting control of the focus, motor drive etc.
A larger VA tx means a larger-powered transformer. VA = volts x amps, the same as power basically. The standard transformer may have 20VA of capacity on this winding and an upgraded add-on version may have 50 or 100VA. Bigger to the point of being comfortable usually sounds better, often MUCH better. The standard Marantz transformers seem to get warm, indicating poor efficiency and/or being undersized for the job. I think if you don't know terms like VA you might want to read around the subject a touch more before adding your own power supplies. Get to grips with it fully before connecting stuff to the mains, just to be safe. As I've said the standard transformer may work just fine powering these extra regulators.
The extra regulators go where those resistors were... One pin is floating in the air and is supplied by the + or -10V supply that originally fed the servo op-amps. The ground pin is typically soldered onto the ground plane. You can access this by scratching the pcb's top layer off with a fibreglass pencil. The other pin is the output (look at the datasheet as positive and negative have different pinnings) and can be soldered into where those resistors came from - just make sure it's on the "output" side of that resistor.
I guess you'll have more questions, but if you find the pictures and descriptions about this from earlier it saves saying it all again. Also look at that service manual and try to work out where the power to those chips is coming in and how that affects what you're doing.
BTW, one of the easiest and super-important mods is adding extra 5V regulators all around the player. You seem to be missing that trick and therefore missing 80% of what is available in terms of sound quality. You can't even imagine what these players can do when fully tricked-out... seriously.
Simon, you are very helpful to a lot of people and although i've been in this business for a long time, you have helped me in the past (and I hope in the future). I remember when this thread started both of us were fairly ignorant regarding the 63/67s and have learned a lot over this time. I can confirm that fuses are overdone and ARE detrimental in circuits after the transformer. Although I never like to tell people to short out fuses, it is a fact that in the cd63/67 the internal fuses should be shorted. I can explain why, but it's boring.
As far as the HDAM goes, I would personally bypass them. But only if you fit good op-amps. (I think with them is over emphasised bass) but then with regs sorted an equilibrium will be achieved. Good luck. Can't wait for my Naim CD3 to mod!
As far as the HDAM goes, I would personally bypass them. But only if you fit good op-amps. (I think with them is over emphasised bass) but then with regs sorted an equilibrium will be achieved. Good luck. Can't wait for my Naim CD3 to mod!
Nice of you to say so Barry. Actually, when this thread started I knew nothing of modifying cd players beyond sticking bitumen on the lid! This thread sent me on a crazy journey to being quite close to audio-nirvana with my mega modded Arcam Alpha and speakers I designed and built myself. I owe it to the thread to try and help when possible, and to the rest of this amazing forum.
I'm still struggling to get the cosmetics done (wooden cheeks made to fit exactly and still can't get my hands on a small sheet of Lexan for the top) I'm about to glue sheets of lead flashing to the underside, as much to add mass as to offset all the weight which is on the back due to the three transformers) this is going to be very problamatic if and when I ever ship it back to Brent!) Just a by the way; I have had the fuses by-passed for going on ten years so I confirm it works and nothing bad happens. The 67' has two internal ones.
