Thomo said:
Hi Lee,
I'll start a thread to discuss it later, as I can add photos from home. I too will be making a p2p version so I can get rid of extraneous parts and put psu caps in the correct places etc. I think LM4562 is worthy of nice treatment.
Looks like with a CD63ki, chip preamp and LM3886 power amp our systems are similar! At least until speakers.
Simon
My system improved dramatically after removing the Rotel Rc1090 pre amp and replacing it with this attenuator...
I'll buy some resistors to experiment with other values, hoping that this will give the results I want.... otherwise we'll see what to do..
right know i'm going to study for my exam and in between I'll do some reading in this tread
I'll buy some resistors to experiment with other values, hoping that this will give the results I want.... otherwise we'll see what to do..
right know i'm going to study for my exam and in between I'll do some reading in this tread
Luke said:nice pre Glenn. Modded it yet
Oh BTW thanks for your advice re cd6000 laser, found a local supplier selling them and I changed it. Annoys me my last cd player (cd67)I had done by agents cost me NZ$220.00 and the part for cd6000 cost 60 bucks plus an hour labour.
No, that's Paulus1981's pre not mine.
I'm using a common-or-garden PM-66KI.
Well done on the laser. The nice thing is you've got fresh motors as well.
NZ$60 sounds about right as they are twenty quid here in Blighty.
Get yourself a spare if you have the cash!
Simon, interesting point hidden there. Let me play devil's advocate.
Realise that the raw cost of consumer items like, say, a preamp is about 1/8 of the price to the buyer, due to manufacturer's overheads, mark-up in the onward sale chain via dealers etc.
So your £100 preamp has to take on £800+ commercial offerings or you haven't actually bettered it, if you follow my logic: I know that's the fun and charm of DIY, but we do tend to overlook the effort involved (or consider it's 'free'). If you actually put a reasonable rate against your time, and then calculated cost on say, a basis of the hours of reading-up, playing about, fixing it when you let the smoke out, reconsider and rewire, swap a few more parts in and out, then finally putting together a 'good enough' case... you understand why most simply save for and buy what they want, and settle for a sense of immediate gratification !
Realise that the raw cost of consumer items like, say, a preamp is about 1/8 of the price to the buyer, due to manufacturer's overheads, mark-up in the onward sale chain via dealers etc.
So your £100 preamp has to take on £800+ commercial offerings or you haven't actually bettered it, if you follow my logic: I know that's the fun and charm of DIY, but we do tend to overlook the effort involved (or consider it's 'free'). If you actually put a reasonable rate against your time, and then calculated cost on say, a basis of the hours of reading-up, playing about, fixing it when you let the smoke out, reconsider and rewire, swap a few more parts in and out, then finally putting together a 'good enough' case... you understand why most simply save for and buy what they want, and settle for a sense of immediate gratification !
Absolutely Martin. I'd be happy enough buying things, if I was loaded! The only reason I started on DIY was because products that sound acceptable are very expensive and unobtainable, unless I tweak things or build them myself. My time is valuable but when it's a hobby you don't count the hours!
I'd say the case for speakers is a little less clear-cut though, I think it can be hard to match manufacturers' best efforts. I'd be stunned if I could achieve the midrange and bass of the B&W 702s for example (not the bright, tizzy treble though!).
And CD players....I really could not face building one, so tweaking the heck out of one is definately the way forward!
Re. my preamp, someone actually gave me the parts, boards and 1u case (costing them ~£100). I've spent maybe £80 tweaking it (insulated phonos, tasty regs, caps, op-amps, pot) and I'm 90% sure it would stand up to any Rotel you could buy.
DIY is fun
Simon
I'd say the case for speakers is a little less clear-cut though, I think it can be hard to match manufacturers' best efforts. I'd be stunned if I could achieve the midrange and bass of the B&W 702s for example (not the bright, tizzy treble though!).
And CD players....I really could not face building one, so tweaking the heck out of one is definately the way forward!
Re. my preamp, someone actually gave me the parts, boards and 1u case (costing them ~£100). I've spent maybe £80 tweaking it (insulated phonos, tasty regs, caps, op-amps, pot) and I'm 90% sure it would stand up to any Rotel you could buy.
DIY is fun
Simon
Hi
Just been reading thru this forum and I too own a CD63 Mk II KIS. I'm thinking of modding it primarily because I want a better sound quality or something comparable to an Arcam 72/82 CD player which are 24Bit. Are these mods worthwhile and how big an improvement will I get?
Many thanks
Just been reading thru this forum and I too own a CD63 Mk II KIS. I'm thinking of modding it primarily because I want a better sound quality or something comparable to an Arcam 72/82 CD player which are 24Bit. Are these mods worthwhile and how big an improvement will I get?
Many thanks
DaHood said:
lol. CD72 & 82 can't compete with a modded CD63ki. There are many mods to choose from. The ones you really need are: new op-amps, hdam bypass, reclocked DAC, reclocked servo, dedicated 5v power supply rails for each circuit, and a few others (less important). With these in place you should be competing with Arcam's Full Metal Jacket range, not the budget players (good thought they are).
If you have £200 or so to spend you can make a CD63ki mind-blowingly good. The last word in naturalness costs more of course (fancy regulators EVERYWHERE and precision parts EVERYWHERE and a discrete output stage). See Brent's modlist for truly high end options.
Simon
Brent - thanks for the PM-66KI link!
Those PSU caps look like coffee mugs. Respect!
Don't suppose you have a PDF of the service manual, or even just the schematic, do you?
Though I think I'll leave mine alone until I'm bored with molesting my 67SE....
On another note, after setting myself up as anti-LM4562 I'm now coming round....
Those PSU caps look like coffee mugs. Respect!
Don't suppose you have a PDF of the service manual, or even just the schematic, do you?
Though I think I'll leave mine alone until I'm bored with molesting my 67SE....
On another note, after setting myself up as anti-LM4562 I'm now coming round....