Marantz CD63 & CD67 mods list

So a possible way to do it would be :
a) build 2 separate regs board with as many 78xx for each 5V line as needed on each ; one board for analog and one for digital.
b) add a tx for digital reg board and another one for analog reg board.
c) upgrade the 78xx to superraygulator or even spower (with priority on the digital line)

Did I get it correctly ?
 
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So a possible way to do it would be :
a) build 2 separate regs board with as many 78xx for each 5V line as needed on each ; one board for analog and one for digital.
b) add a tx for digital reg board and another one for analog reg board.
c) upgrade the 78xx to superraygulator or even spower (with priority on the digital line)

Did I get it correctly ?
well, the more separation you can add, the better it will be. The DAC has 3 x +5 inputs and the decoder has 2 x 5v inputs, so you could add a separate 7805 to each of these for example. If you add another for the display chip, and 2 more for the RF and LF, that will be best, but it's up to you.
The 3 for the DAC will make the most difference if you only want to put a small number in.
You don't need to make a board for the 7805, just add a small capacitor and a resistor. The cost for a 7805, a small input capacitor and a resistor to make sure the regulation is stable is less than £1, so you can do a lot without spending a lot of money.
 
Think you'll find the dac has 4 and the decoder has 3 although its not easy to separate the 3rd.

Then you got the HF amp plus 2 for the servo chip and another for the RF amp on the mech. Another 6 for all the driver ic's and 4 on the analogue output stage.

There's also a vref on the servo chip ;)

I think I got to 21 plus 2 more external on the analogue psu and 1 more on the clock psu.

7f658d6f.jpg
 
Thanks dwjames, I will look into that.

What is a good alternative for Rubycon ZA? They have stopped manufacturing them and they seem to be hard to get. I cant find them on Farnells site. Thats where I will order all my components.
I am thinking about:
decoupling for PSU
decoupling for opamps
decoupling for DAC
 
Hi all,

I'm thinking about improving the 5V and +/-12V reg/supply. I think I may also add an extra tx for that. Can I upgrade those in multiple stage ? I mean : 1st I put some super reg just instead of the actual 7805 and 7812 and 7912, and 2nd, I fit new tx and relocate the super regs nearer of the DAC, servo, opamp, etc... ?

Can someone confirm what voltages the standard CD63 MKII KI Signature model provides via the torroid? I am considering using this chassis to house a new project (Nadja board - preamp/dsp crossover) and would like to use the existing torroid if that is feasible.

I will need the following supply;
Output 1 +5 V 1 A
Output 2 +12 V 1 A
Output 3 -12 V 0.3 A

Admittedly, I would have to do some serious study to develop my understanding of electronics wiring (especially when working with high voltage of course). My backup is using a lab supply I use for my current preamp (it has fixed 5V 1A and will do +-12v).

Thanks for any pointers:)
 
How to change CD63's TXs

The most noticeable improvement in modding a CD63 is by changing the stock TX with BIG TX to ensure a very stable voltage being supplied to the Servo and the opamps.

What I have done is using a 50VA 12Vx2 Toroidal TX for the servo; a 30VA 15VX2 Toroidal TX for the opamps (I use +/- 15V regulators instead of 12V to drive the opamps which performs better) and a 7VA 12Vx2 for the front panel display.

The circuit diagrams and its connection is shown in the diagram attached.
Two photos were taken to show how the TX unit was fitted together and is self-explanatory.

The TX unit fits perfectly at the rear of the CD drive and you can see the layout in Thread 19156 below:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-source/54009-marantz-cd63-cd67-mods-list-1916.html

If you have a SE or KI you can still put back the bridge bar without any problem.
I have done 6 modding and this TX unit is for the 7th modding project for my friend.

Hope my experience is useful to those who would like to change the stock TX.
 

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Can someone confirm what voltages the standard CD63 MKII KI Signature model provides via the torroid? I am considering using this chassis to house a new project (Nadja board - preamp/dsp crossover) and would like to use the existing torroid if that is feasible.

I will need the following supply;
Output 1 +5 V 1 A
Output 2 +12 V 1 A
Output 3 -12 V 0.3 A

Admittedly, I would have to do some serious study to develop my understanding of electronics wiring (especially when working with high voltage of course). My backup is using a lab supply I use for my current preamp (it has fixed 5V 1A and will do +-12v).

Thanks for any pointers:)
Please refer to the attached schematic.
 

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  • Toroidal_wiring.pdf
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Thanks for the pdf. I suppose regulators convert those voltages to 12V and 5V which I believe this player requires?


Is my idea even feasible, the 5V and +-12V from this transformer?

Right, if you want +5V take the voltage from the output of regulator 7805 which is in the right front side of the transformer with a heat sink fitted.
For +/- 12V take them from regulators 7812 and 7912 which are at the side of the transformer and near to the back panel.
 
Right, if you want +5V take the voltage from the output of regulator 7805 which is in the right front side of the transformer with a heat sink fitted.
For +/- 12V take them from regulators 7812 and 7912 which are at the side of the transformer and near to the back panel.

That's very interesting, thanks. I will however want to remove the board entirely (perhaps sell it!?) and replace it with the new preamp board. I know I should not ask if I do not know considering this is high voltage stuff, but this is a long term project so your help is much appreciated.

I guess my question is, if I remove the board then I can reuse the identified voltage regulators on a new PCB and connect them to the relevant cables (U312-U305 and so on), and any redundant cables can be...?
 
That's very interesting, thanks. I will however want to remove the board entirely (perhaps sell it!?) and replace it with the new preamp board. I know I should not ask if I do not know considering this is high voltage stuff, but this is a long term project so your help is much appreciated.

I guess my question is, if I remove the board then I can reuse the identified voltage regulators on a new PCB and connect them to the relevant cables (U312-U305 and so on), and any redundant cables can be...?

If I were you I will not bother with the CD63 but reconstruct a dedicated power supply unit from scratch.

Buy one of these for +5V
VERY LOW NOISE 40?V Adjustable Voltage Regulator Board, out 2.5 - 19.5VDC / 3A | eBay

and Buy one of these for +/_12V
Low noise LT317/337 dual rail regulator board for preamplifier/headphone amp ! | eBay

Then buy 2 transformers and a case to complete the job.
 
I would suggest buying an old Rotel pre amp or an integrated amp even for that matter because they would have all the required holes in the right places. And you can also derive the voltages you are looking for. Before tearing apart a KI chassis!!
What exactly are you aiming to build?

Hi, in my original post above I mentioned I am looking to build with the Najda board - preamp/dsp crossover.
WAF - Wroclaw Audio Force

Funnily enough, having printed a scaled template, the CD63 cutouts match exactly to seven connections including the square USB. That'll save me some work. My CD63KISig has an issue, making noise as it plays, so I may give up on it ("Hiss -white noise- is caused by the focus coil in the pickup acting like a speaker. Its something many players do and can be caused by the focus gain adjustment being set to high in the servo").

I suspect an external supply will be my best bet. With I2S inputs I can add all sorts of extras to that lovely copper chassis - front and rear USB inputs, SD card reader, etc. I hate to cover it up with the black top plate again:(
 
I've done a load of work tonight with separate regulated supplies for the decoder and HF amp and moved the decoder caps C511 and C510 I put in before (Nichicon NS Solid Polymer) to the C509, C512 places where the ceramic caps were. Removed those ceramic caps but bridged the new caps with a 100n PPS surface mount, then added new regulators in to the C510, C511 positions with the R508, R510 resistors removed.
I also decoupled the DAC's VDD1 to 4 with teeny surface mount PPS caps as per Ray's pic here http://raylectronics.nl/pictures/cd63/CD63_DAC_0805.jpg
And I also removed a load of redundant components from the output stage and headphone circuit which I don't use any of because of my valve stage.

Now, it almost works great and all the voltages show correctly at 5v where they should, but I have a problem somewhere :(
Quiet, simple sounds are produced accurately, but anything loud or busy has a distorted, slightly fuzzy edge to it :(
I've definitely done something wrong or got a faulty part somewhere.
I've done a fair bit of testing and troubleshooting with the new 5v supplies and I'm fairly sure they're good, which makes me wonder if I've either got the DAC decoupling caps wrong (I tested them with a meter and showed no bad bridges and all as I'd expect) or if I've cooked one of the Solid Polymer caps in the process of moving it and soldering the surface mount chips across it. The legs were real short and I used desoldering braid, so it's possible I heated it for too long I guess..
Would a bad cap make sense for this problem?

Any suggestions gratefully received,
thanks,
James
 
I guess my late night ramblings boil down to a couple of questions :
1) is it fairly easy to bust a solid polymer capacitor so it effectively has no capacitance by getting it really hot?
2) assuming that's a possibility, if I lost the main electrolytic cap for the either of the decoder's 5v supplies and was left with just 100nf of pps cap in place of the original ceramic and 22uf of tant cap on the output of my new regulator, would that explain the characteristic of basically working, but struggling with loud/bassy/busy sections of music?

I guess I could test the theory by temporarily adding an extra cap to the output of the new decoder regulators. I could bodge that in without having to take the board out.