Marantz CD63 & CD67 mods list

Probably not. Not sure that I can be bothered to take the whole board out again. I have added the regs by snipping the legs of the resistors and surface mounting them. Much less hassle:D

Rob.

I know what you mean. I'm adding screw terminals to my regs to allow removal for further mods at a later date. Otherwise, I too would not remove the board.My plans are to add regs and transformers and then do the co ax mod and call it a day on the 67. I'm half tempted though to do another CD player afterwards. :)
 
I have just completed modding my CD63 and 2 photos are uploaded here for reference.

In brief I have carried out the following changes:

Disable the entire HDAM;
Disable the phones circuit;
Replace the two opamps with two Burson discrete opamps;
Replace C813 and C814 with 22000uF caps;
Replace Q801 and Q802 with + and - 15V SPower low noise regulators;
Replace C803 and C804 with 10000uF caps;
Replace C805 and C806 with 470uF caps;
Replace CD15 & CD16 with 470uF caps;
Replace CD04 and CD07 with 470uF caps;
Fitted 5V low noise regulated supply to DAC;
Fitted a 16.934MHz low jitter clock (with own filtered power supply) to DAC;
Replace C510 and C511 with 470uF caps;
Fitted 5V low noise regulated supply to Decoder;
Fitted a 8.46Mhz low jitter clock (with own filtered power supply) to Servo;
Replace C120 and C122 with 470uF caps;
Fitted 5V low noise regulated supply to Servo;
Fitted 5V low noise regulated supply to RF section;
Fitted 5V low noise regulated supply to HF section;
Shielded (and earthed) all the ICs and the two low jitter clocks with thin copper sheets; and
insert an IEC socket for the main power supply.

(The 5V independent voltage supply to the DAC; the Decoder; the Servo; the RF and HF sections are being sourced from five low noise LT1763-5 regulators.)

Now the CD63 has transformed into an excellent CDP. The background is extremely quiet; the bass is extremely tight and extended; the SQ is very analogue with excellent transparency and soundstaging; the mid range is particularly warm and pleasant to hearing. The CD63 can now reproduce all the very minor details in the HF range but will not cause any hearing fatigue.

In the next step I will remove the stock transformer and replace it by three transformers, i.e. 50VA 2x12V; 30VA 2x15V and a 1.6VA 2x12V transformer to totally separate the source to different circuits. The only problem is for me to figure out how to fit them into the limited available spaces.
 

Attachments

  • P1010502.jpg
    P1010502.jpg
    658.3 KB · Views: 226
  • P1010503.jpg
    P1010503.jpg
    640.1 KB · Views: 220
Last edited:
Edit: Sorry, I did not read the last line of your post. I had a late night last night. Duh!
No problem at all. Actually I have placed order for the said 3 transformers.
I think I will place them at the back of the CD drive unit near to the power supply IEC socket. I will upload a few photos when I have completed the project, hopefully within the next 2 weeks.
 
Hi Ray

Can a jitter filter like this one https://www.silabs.com/Support Documents/TechnicalDocs/Si5317.pdf be used in the CD53 ?
TBH I don't think it is necessary to have such filter in CD53 or CD63. A decent low jitter clock with its own power supply should be good enough. BTW this surface mount IC is 6mmX6mm which is too small to solder.
The voltage regulators I used is 4mmX3mm with 8 feet on it. see the data sheet http://cds.linear.com/docs/Datasheet/1763fg.pdf
I can tell you the soldering work is not easy at all.
 
Last edited:
No problem at all. Actually I have placed order for the said 3 transformers.
I think I will place them at the back of the CD drive unit near to the power supply IEC socket. I will upload a few photos when I have completed the project, hopefully within the next 2 weeks.

I am in a similar position to you in terms of modifying, except you are a bit ahead of me. I originally started working my way through Ray's original list, but then changed direction and moved more towards Brent's list.

What I've decided to do, in conjunction with my CD guru who is helping me through this – I am a dangerous novice and can't tackle this on my own – is to mount the transformers and power supplies in a separate case. I bought a fully-working 63SE on ebay for £50 and have stripped the innards (and now have some valuable back-up components as a bonus – delicate ribbon connectors spring to mind). This will be my case for the transformers and power supplies (diodes, smoothing caps).

Aesthetically, it will look good as a matching pair with 1 sitting on top of the other, transformers on top. Early on, power will be going to 2 cases, but gradually as all transformers are mounted in the 1 box, power will eventually only run to 1 when finished.

As you are doing, I'll post my findings on here as I progress.

Good luck!
 
I am in a similar position to you in terms of modifying, except you are a bit ahead of me. I originally started working my way through Ray's original list, but then changed direction and moved more towards Brent's list.

What I've decided to do, in conjunction with my CD guru who is helping me through this – I am a dangerous novice and can't tackle this on my own – is to mount the transformers and power supplies in a separate case. I bought a fully-working 63SE on ebay for £50 and have stripped the innards (and now have some valuable back-up components as a bonus – delicate ribbon connectors spring to mind). This will be my case for the transformers and power supplies (diodes, smoothing caps).

Aesthetically, it will look good as a matching pair with 1 sitting on top of the other, transformers on top. Early on, power will be going to 2 cases, but gradually as all transformers are mounted in the 1 box, power will eventually only run to 1 when finished.

As you are doing, I'll post my findings on here as I progress.

Good luck!
Right. Your approach to separate the power supply from the player actually will be better than putting a few more transformers in the same case as there will be less interference and you can have lots of working spaces and can try various means to ensure the power supply is stable, smooth and with minimum of noise.

Like your goodself my modification is base on Brent's list that has saved me a lot of time in figuring out the mods myself. Actually Brent has also recommended separating the power supply from the player in his list.

Good luck to you as well and do post some photos here for experience sharing.
 
Hi Ray

Can a jitter filter like this one https://www.silabs.com/Support Documents/TechnicalDocs/Si5317.pdf be used in the CD53 ?

No.
That part is aimed at commercial use of PLL-based clocks. None of the stats quoted are relevant to audio.

The things that matter for audio clock purposes are essentially the very-close-in phase noise, esp the LF skirt component down around 10hz or less. All stuff that the commonly-quoted pS measurements utterly hide (unless a stated bandwidth of the integrated measurement is given), and almost all commercial regs do not adequately address.
 
Member
Joined 2006
Paid Member
No.
That part is aimed at commercial use of PLL-based clocks. None of the stats quoted are relevant to audio.

The things that matter for audio clock purposes are essentially the very-close-in phase noise, esp the LF skirt component down around 10hz or less. All stuff that the commonly-quoted pS measurements utterly hide (unless a stated bandwidth of the integrated measurement is given), and almost all commercial regs do not adequately address.

Thank you so much Martin
 
Yep....me too. In the end, I designed my own PCB and started making my own regs using the same principles as the SPower. I've not tried the new discrete version yet, but as I now have a new toy (sa7001) to play with, I'm sure I'll try them very soon.

Generally, you get what you pay for so the cheapest option is to built it yourself.

Do a google search for Opamp regulators then the same for a l weekes and you will learn something about how regulation works.

Personally, I would doubt that the claimed specs (whatever they are) are anywhere near accurate. Continue to separate supplies and look to use decent regs where you can afford to. I would say that spending £30 on a reg instead of £50 was a false economy. Some would say to spend £50 on a reg was also maybe not worth it. I would disagree and that's why I now build my own, it's the only way you will get decent quality cheaper!!!!!!

Of the eastern sourced electronic items I've purchased, they are normally by good in some area's and very poor in others. I.e. I has some LM3886 amps on my rear channels. Both output devices failed and were replaced with items sourced from Farnell in the UK. The new chips have lasted several years now! My green DAC lost the cs8412 which I replaced sourced via this forum and again no trouble since.

I think they say "buy cheap, buy twice????" Having said that, I'd be interested to try one of those regs just to see what they are, how they work and if they are any good!!
 
Actually in my mod I have used two SPowers on the analogue rail, ie. + and - 12V but they are not cheap at all. They costed me £100 :whacko:
That is why I built my own low noise regulators for the servo, the decoder, the DAC, the RF and HF section providing independent power source to them.
What I did was using a cheap but effective low noise regulator chip LT1763-5
http://cds.linear.com/docs/Datasheet/1763fg.pdf
This chip gives 20uV(rms) low noise output and 500mA current which should be good enough for the different sections of the CD63.
You may wish to have a look at the few photos of my DIY work.
The total cost of five chips and five 0.01uF caps is £10 but the result is stunning after fitting them onto the CD63. May be it is not as good as SPower but in considering the money spent I think is extremely cost effective.
To make this cheap but effective regulators the only thing you need is a pair of steady hands and good eyesight. The chip is surface mount having a size of 4mm X 3mm.
 

Attachments

  • P1010521.jpg
    P1010521.jpg
    412.7 KB · Views: 302
  • P1010522.jpg
    P1010522.jpg
    421 KB · Views: 291
  • P1010523.jpg
    P1010523.jpg
    331.9 KB · Views: 293
  • P1010524.jpg
    P1010524.jpg
    398.1 KB · Views: 275
This photo shows the location and connection of the DIY voltage regulators (on the right hand side of the photo). It supplies +5V low noise steady voltage to the Servo, DAC, Decoder, RF and HF sections of the CD63.
On the top are two SPowers supplying + and - 12V to the opamps (with heat sinks added). The BIG capacitor (1000 uF) is connected to one of the outputs of the DIY regulator supplying source power to the HF section.
 

Attachments

  • P1010500.jpg
    P1010500.jpg
    732.9 KB · Views: 279
I have just completed modding my CD63 and 2 photos are uploaded here for reference.

In brief I have carried out the following changes:

Disable the entire HDAM;
Disable the phones circuit;
Replace the two opamps with two Burson discrete opamps;
Replace C813 and C814 with 22000uF caps;
Replace Q801 and Q802 with + and - 15V SPower low noise regulators;
Replace C803 and C804 with 10000uF caps;
Replace C805 and C806 with 470uF caps;
Replace CD15 & CD16 with 470uF caps;
Replace CD04 and CD07 with 470uF caps;
Fitted 5V low noise regulated supply to DAC;
Fitted a 16.934MHz low jitter clock (with own filtered power supply) to DAC;
Replace C510 and C511 with 470uF caps;
Fitted 5V low noise regulated supply to Decoder;
Fitted a 8.46Mhz low jitter clock (with own filtered power supply) to Servo;
Replace C120 and C122 with 470uF caps;
Fitted 5V low noise regulated supply to Servo;
Fitted 5V low noise regulated supply to RF section;
Fitted 5V low noise regulated supply to HF section;
Shielded (and earthed) all the ICs and the two low jitter clocks with thin copper sheets; and
insert an IEC socket for the main power supply.

(The 5V independent voltage supply to the DAC; the Decoder; the Servo; the RF and HF sections are being sourced from five low noise LT1763-5 regulators.)

Now the CD63 has transformed into an excellent CDP. The background is extremely quiet; the bass is extremely tight and extended; the SQ is very analogue with excellent transparency and soundstaging; the mid range is particularly warm and pleasant to hearing. The CD63 can now reproduce all the very minor details in the HF range but will not cause any hearing fatigue.

In the next step I will remove the stock transformer and replace it by three transformers, i.e. 50VA 2x12V; 30VA 2x15V and a 1.6VA 2x12V transformer to totally separate the source to different circuits. The only problem is for me to figure out how to fit them into the limited available spaces.

As promised this is an update on my mod. I have completed replacing the stock transformer to three independent transformers. See the uploaded photo.
You can also see a small square encapsulated transformer on the left hand side which is used to supply power to one of the the low jitter clocks (for Decoder/DAC).
You may appreciate the difficulties of placement of the 4 transformers in the very limited space. Now the CD63 sounds really GOOD to my ears !!!
I have just purchased two 10,000uF 35V good quality Panasonic capacitors to replace the low quality (cheap) 10,000uF caps I previously installed on the analogue rail. I hope this will make the bass even more solid, tight as well as making the overall SQ more analogue from the Burson opamps.
 

Attachments

  • P1010499.jpg
    P1010499.jpg
    694.2 KB · Views: 187
Last edited:
Hi All,
I have started modding my CD53. I replaced
C805/06 with BG STD 1000uf 16v
C813 with BG STD 4700uf 16v
C815 with cerafine 6800uf 6.3v
611..14 with BG STD 220uf 16v

When trying to replace cd05 and cd06 I got doubt that in which direction I have to place the cap. I mean polarity. Can you please shed light on that? A picture will do good. I have CD53.

Thanks
Badri