Marantz CD63 & CD67 mods list

You're welcome, Ricardo.

No, Mauro's tweak only applies to the opamp output circuit.

Ray

Hi All,
I was about to do Mauro Penasa's tweak by adding 330pf caps in filter section. Is this tweak applied only if we use opamps? Or can it be done even if go for discrete output?
Just to clarify before doing it. Thanks in advance.

Badri

I got the answer for my above question. Thanks.

Badri
 
Excellent work, Higlander. Please tell us... how does it sound now compared to stock version?
When I first switched on my newly modded CDP I notice there are lots of details that I have not heard before when compared with the stock unit, the bass is much much more tight and extended, the vocals are extremely pleasant to my ears. The high frequencies are very clear and fine but not causing any fatigue. Overall the sound reproduction is extremely analogue and free from digital glitches. In general I can only describe it as similar to listening to TUBE amplifier and black plastic.

Having said that, on the first few minutes after initial switching on the unit though I could hear the music as what I have just mentioned it seemed there was something lacking and it is difficult for me to describe what has been missing. But after one to two hours' running the the music is becoming better and better. I eventually understand that as all the components are new (such as all the capacitors, the 2 low jitter clocks, the Burson opamps etc) burn in time is required!!! Now I have continuously run the unit for more than 10 hrs and the SQ is entirely to my satisfaction.

You may wish to know that roughly I have spent more than £600 on the mod including the KI and all the components and I can only say the money is well spent. I wish to mention that the CDP is dead silent and there is no humming noise what so ever even when I crank my amplifier up to its max. volume at 130W !!
 
Well, I modeled my work making reference to VU101's excellent workmanship ;)
My experience told me that planning ahead before putting into action is very important to minimize mistakes and re-doing.

Thanks :)

Indeed, planning ahead is definitely the way forward.......that and a bit of practice ;)

Very impressive work indeed :D I see you have a C3 too! How are you finding it? Mine made a very big difference in my sa7001.

Got a clock 4 and power supply comeing from trichord may beable to get them at a good price if anyone is interested

Went from a Trichord clock 4 to one of Brent's C2's in my CD960 and it was a massive step up in performance. Both were running from their own psu. I've never tried a never connected unit but I can't see that it would be any better than a cascaded SPower psu. I still have the clock 4 driven by an audiocom reg on a DAC which is just sat on the shelf!!!! Bit of a waste really.

One thing I will say is that the Trichord C3 is rather disappointingly very very basic. Std linear (LT323a) reg into the oscillator. The clock 4 has a fully discrete linear reg. you can improve its performance swapping out caps for SEPC's (that's what I did with mine) ;)
 
I see you have a C3 too! How are you finding it?

I am not sure how the C3 clock performed when compared with the other products but as C3 clock is highly praised so I use it to clock the servo. I also used FA's filter regulator to power the C3. However the DAC and decoder is clocked by a low jitter clock from Korea as it costs much less :eek: This clock is powered by another low noise regulator with somewhat lower specification (output noise < 40uV).
You may have noticed that I have also changed voltage regulator 7805 with Audiocom's +5V low noise regulator supplying power to the +5V rail.
 
I have an idea in mind to simplify the flow of audio signal. I plan to test and just use the output from the first half of the opamp and connect it to the RCA out. I hope with such a simple circuit the music will have less coloration. Any comment on this approach, please ? I have an un-modded 63SE on my bench and I will have a try and see the difference.
 

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Rub it in, why don't you? :headbash::violin:;)
May be I am the lucky one :D:tongue:
I normally plan ahead what to change and cary out the mod one step at a time. What I had done for my CD63 was each time whenever I have changed something I will connect the CDP back to my amplifier and listen for improvements and to identy defects, if any. With this I can easily identify what has gone wrong in the very early stage.;)
 
I have an idea in mind to simplify the flow of audio signal. I plan to test and just use the output from the first half of the opamp and connect it to the RCA out. I hope with such a simple circuit the music will have less coloration. Any comment on this approach, please ? I have an un-modded 63SE on my bench and I will have a try and see the difference.

Hi,

Basically, you are bypassing a large section of the analog low-pass filter with this mod. That means lots of high-frequency noise from the DAC can enter your system. This is not a good thing, but the effect of it may vary from system to system. Some have reported a better sound because the extra opamp stage is bypassed, but it can also get worse and cause more distortion. So YMMV... and watch your tweeters!

Ray