I listened to a high end system in a hi-fi store a couple of weeks ago. I was interested to hear how their Focal speakers compared with my B&Ws. The player hooked up to them was a very nice new Marantz SACD, and I didn't pay attention to the amp. I listened to some CDs and was not much impressed. The system sounded very 'digital' and thin to my ears. I kept my opinion to myself (no reason to be rude), thanked the dealer for the demo, and was about to leave when I noticed the speakers were plugged into an integrated DAC and amplifier which I later found was selling for no less than $16,000.
I wonder how you can squeeze all the Tx and regulators inside the case. If you have completed the work please post up a photo
@UV101 I dunno, but the Marantz SACD was only being used as a transport. My system is polar opposite to that one - lots of VA, lots of large boutique caps, huge bass and a very analogue sound - very lifelike to my ears, and not much audible difference between CD and a new vinyl record. In fact if I queue the same album up on both sources and switch between them, most people can't tell which is which.
@higlander - No idea. Fingers crossed. Sure I'll post a pic when I work something out.
Edit: Wow Ian, that mega post came in while I was typing.
@higlander - No idea. Fingers crossed. Sure I'll post a pic when I work something out.
Edit: Wow Ian, that mega post came in while I was typing.
I am in the process of modding my CD63 (not the KI version). I have finished changing the opamps to 4562; changed the analogue rail 7812 and 7912 with + and - sPower;increased the digital and analogue rail caps with 4 X 22,000uF; change critical caps as suggested by Brent (mostly 470uF and good quality 0.047uF). It is now working perfectly. I am now waiting for the 3 Tx to arrive and will figure out how they should be located. I will also add another Tx for the external clock which I will add after completing the PSU part. Then I will add independent supplies to the Decoder, DAC and servo. I forgot to mention that the phone and HDAM have been completely removed.
One thing I like to mention is that I follow the changes that had been made in the Decoder circuitry in the supplementary service manual for KI vesrion. With the new circuit in, the CD drive just could not read the Table of content and the front displace always returned with "DISC". I have to remove everything and use the original circuit and everything was back to normal. I don't know why?
One thing I like to mention is that I follow the changes that had been made in the Decoder circuitry in the supplementary service manual for KI vesrion. With the new circuit in, the CD drive just could not read the Table of content and the front displace always returned with "DISC". I have to remove everything and use the original circuit and everything was back to normal. I don't know why?
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I have uploaded a photo showing what I have done so far. You can see most of the stock caps have been changed and 2 sPowers for the output session are installed. This CD63 was purchased in eBay for £30 inclusive of postage. I have also drilled a number of ventilation holes at the back panel for cooling and the entire case (and cover) is lined with vibration damping sheet. When I have completed changing the 3 Tx and low jitter clock I will upload another photo. Forgot to mention that I have also ordered more than 10 pcs of fast acting diodes which should arrive shortly.
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One more thing I want to add is that I am considering to change the 4562 opamps with either Burson opamps or Ray's DOS. The only drawback for DOS is on it size which is a bit too big to fit into the case. Anyway changing to discrete opamps will be the last on the roll and I will make a decision when all the other mods have been completed.
The diameter of the four 22000uF smoothing caps are far too big to be placed anywhere near the rectifiers. I have tried all locations and eventually I have to completely remove the HDAM to freeze some space for them, in particular the headroom. Unfortunately the side slots are not wide enough to accommodate them
I should have bought some slimmer caps.You may have also noticed that I have completely remove all the components of the phone circuits and I will use this area to fit the low jitter clock.
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Hey higlander,
Like Ben says, those long leads are not good... Especially if it's the rectifier caps. There are mean charging pulses going through those wires; they act as antenna's and will radiate noise into the player and pollute every signal. You should really try to change it.
Regards,
Ray
Like Ben says, those long leads are not good... Especially if it's the rectifier caps. There are mean charging pulses going through those wires; they act as antenna's and will radiate noise into the player and pollute every signal. You should really try to change it.
Regards,
Ray
I know the problem and I am thinking of shielding the long wires to the caps by wrapping it with thin aluminium and then earthed it.
Since there has been some discussion on the last few pages regarding where to mount transformers, I thought I would post where I am up to so far. I was going to wait until I was a little further advanced, but here goes...
I used the pcb as a template and cut a base for the TXs out of 3mm ply. Well, not quite a true template, since I made my new base a little bigger. I also had to cut out a hole (left mid) since 1 circular section of the metal floor was raised higher than the rest of the floor. Here it is and it fits!
Then if in doubt I paint everything black!
Following another planning session with my guru we went for this configuration. Note the shrink sleeves – time-consuming! Please note that the rubber band on the power cable will not be a permanent feature; I plan to mount a filtered IEC plug (shown) on the back panel when I work out how best to cut the hole. Please note that the case is earthed via the brass screw near the front. Yes, it is earthed as I checked it with my multimeter. The transformers will be hooked up to the terminals on the right hand side, 2 per terminal (so 6 as it stands with capacity for 2 more).
The only problem with doing it this way is that you have to do a helluvalot of work and wait a long time before you can play it and hear the differences! I'm still waiting!
I have just ordered some copper foil self adhesive tape like this:
Guitar Pickup Copper Foil 30mm x 4m Shielding Screening Tape Standard Adhesive | eBay
I will use it to wrap around the big caps and the wirings as well as all the ribbon connectors.
Nice work! I'm curious: the Marantz CD63SE is really such a good player? It is worth to have &modding?btw, how is the sound on the stock form 63SE? I have the newer CD5001 and the sound is amazing but after some mods(opamps, caps, iec)..but now I'm tempted to buy the CD63SE , it is worth?any comparasion between this player and others with the classical TDA1541 audio dac, please?