Unfortunately nowadays all the Philips lasers are made in China. A Chinese Company is authorized to make them. All the lasers available on the markets are the same irrespective of whether you buy them from UK, China, Hong Kong or Singapore.
Where did you get it from ?
Try CPC,
VAM1202/12 - UNBRANDED - AIWA, VAM1202/12 CD PICK UP | CPC
or Charles Hyde,
Search results for vam1202
I got it from TheOneStopSatShop via Amazon. I don't think I can be bothered to take the thing apart again as there isn't much else I can do - seems to be clean and adequately lubricated. I'll give it some time and see if the skipping tails off before trying CPC for another 1202. I got a bit irritable and actually knocked the player when it was stuck so I'm wondering if the Irish approach helped...
I'll have a better idea of the quality I'm looking for at least.
By the way, why do they describe those as from "AIWA" - I only remember them as a cheap brand sold in Currys.
I'll have a better idea of the quality I'm looking for at least.
By the way, why do they describe those as from "AIWA" - I only remember them as a cheap brand sold in Currys.
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Its just the way CPC's part numbering works. The pickup will have been used in an Aiwa at some point and that one reference has carried forward. Aiwa, which was bought out by Sony, was a well known brand available widely. The cassette decks were top notch and gave Nakamichi a run for their money on sound quality.
Well, we will have to see which bit fails next. For no apparent reason it's started playing CDs without a problem after a few glitches. It must have something to do with that last "clean and grease" and a couple of taps to the mechanism when it got stuck. It's apparent to me why it's expensive to get someone else to repair a CD player given the amount of time I've spent fiddling about.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, I may have given up sooner without them!
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, I may have given up sooner without them!
Just received two regulators from eBay and I then replaced the 7805 regulator in my CD63 with one of them to check its performance. With a quick audition the SQ is found to be cleaner though by not much as I have already installed 6 separate self made low noise regulators LT1763 for the DAC, Servo and decoder chips. This replacement regulator now only supplies +5V to other remaining +5V circuits.
I then used my oscilloscope to measure the AC noise of this regulator in order of micro volts and I found the noise level of this regulator is about 1/3 of the LT1763 which is really a surprise to me. Then I dig out the datasheet for both and the noise level of LT1763 is 20uV while TPS7A4700 is only 5uV and that explains the reason.
This low cost low noise regulators might not be as good as FA's sPower but in considering it only costs a fraction of sPower IMHO it could be a budget choice.
I was waiting for you to audition those regs
I might use 6 * +/- 12v for servo drivers.
also, can you advise on TX wiring.
The 7VA TX i got has 3 wires on the primary.
Brown 230v, grey 115v and Blue neutral.
Do I wire the brown and grey together for 230v or just wire the brown and leave the grey unattached.
I assume this TX would normally be wired through a switch for 230 / 115 v options.
I'm
http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1448591.pdf
Cheers
Seems like a rogue part to me ive had a few no problems so try another
thanks alan
I'm giving the current setup a bit more of a chance as the skips seem a lot more random now. I suppose there could be some minor issue with the laser as I don't have any other non-original part to point at. If it doesn't stop completely I shall get another unit. Still, given that one chinese manufacturer produces all of them it's not obvious another supplier would necessarily have a better batch of them.
Does anyone know what goes into recent Marantz players?
Please see my thread #19290 and the circuit diagram.I was waiting for you to audition those regs
I might use 6 * +/- 12v for servo drivers.
also, can you advise on TX wiring.
The 7VA TX i got has 3 wires on the primary.
Brown 230v, grey 115v and Blue neutral.
Do I wire the brown and grey together for 230v or just wire the brown and leave the grey unattached.
I assume this TX would normally be wired through a switch for 230 / 115 v options.
I'm
http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1448591.pdf
Cheers
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-source/54009-marantz-cd63-cd67-mods-list-1929.html
For your 7VA TX just leave the grey wire and use Brown and Blue for 230V primary input.
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I bought a Marantz Pearl Lite a couple of years ago,
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-source/196316-anyone-recognise-pickup-mech.html
Since Marantz got merged with the Denon-group, I believe it's Sony transports all over the place. Not too happy with that TBH, the cheap KSS units can be a real PITA
Ray
It seems like a more important consideration than the actual sound with choosing a CD player, the reliability of the mechanism itself. Still I guess the manufacturers don't care if it gets more people buying new players.
I haven't got much patience with random skipping - the pickup can go through a whole CD without event and then it will get stuck another time. A firm jog to the unit starts it going again from exactly the same place, or replaying a track from the start.
I ordered another VAM1202/12 from CPC this time. If that doesn't work I am probably entering the world of diminishing returns in terms of cost/effort for a 97% functional CD player.
I haven't got much patience with random skipping - the pickup can go through a whole CD without event and then it will get stuck another time. A firm jog to the unit starts it going again from exactly the same place, or replaying a track from the start.
I ordered another VAM1202/12 from CPC this time. If that doesn't work I am probably entering the world of diminishing returns in terms of cost/effort for a 97% functional CD player.
Yes, this seems to be the case sadly. Even the higher end models are suffering from this.
For example, the HOP1200 laser unit from the SA8400/SA7001 is known for breaking down rather quickly. I was lucky because mine lasted quite long, but I had to buy two new ones before I got one that actually worked better than the old one. Although one could argue that this player is 'just' an entry-level SACD player
Time to get an SA11-S2
Ray
For example, the HOP1200 laser unit from the SA8400/SA7001 is known for breaking down rather quickly. I was lucky because mine lasted quite long, but I had to buy two new ones before I got one that actually worked better than the old one. Although one could argue that this player is 'just' an entry-level SACD player
Time to get an SA11-S2
Ray
In the past I have also had probs with CDs that were skipping or some that would not play at all. I was lucky in that I had a spare SE and was able to cannibalise it for its laser. (I kept my existing sled since the spare sled was noisy and 'jittery'.)
Just a thought: would it be possible to use another sled/laser assembly from another type or make of machine that has a better reputation than the Marantz? Or is this a step too far, and would it require too much fettling?
Just a thought: would it be possible to use another sled/laser assembly from another type or make of machine that has a better reputation than the Marantz? Or is this a step too far, and would it require too much fettling?
It would need to much fettling, yes
One word of caution while we are on about pickups... the worm gear and main gear are not always interchangeable between pickups of ostensibly the same appearance. I'm thinking specifically of the CDM12.1 and 12.4 here that use the white and blue gear sets respectively. Fit a 12.1 gear set to 12.4 pickup and the sled will just keep whizzing from end to end as it tries to read the TOC. I suspect the backlash rather than ratios are different.
One word of caution while we are on about pickups... the worm gear and main gear are not always interchangeable between pickups of ostensibly the same appearance. I'm thinking specifically of the CDM12.1 and 12.4 here that use the white and blue gear sets respectively. Fit a 12.1 gear set to 12.4 pickup and the sled will just keep whizzing from end to end as it tries to read the TOC. I suspect the backlash rather than ratios are different.