CD Player Micromega CDF1 PRO

[hawktoc]

Hello,

Can anyone advice on the type of mechanism used on the Micromega CDF1 PRO ( Philips CDM 1 ? ),where can i find it and which old players use the same ?
Also is there a way to upgrade the CD F1 PRO ?

Thanks in advance.

[lambo]

Hi,

Did you find anything out about this yet? I also have a Micromega F1 Pro which no longer reads discs. I found this site on the F1 Digital which looks identical so probably has the same transport:

http://www.vt52.com/diy/setup/micro_f1/micro_f1.htm

So I'm assuming it uses a CDM1-mkII transport.

If I find out anything else I'll let you know.

PS - Micromega are trading again and I am trying to see if they are able to repair these old players.

Cheers.

[tubenut]

You may be able to swap swing arms from cdm4 or cdm2.. Not sure of this. Do a search....

[hawktoc]

Hi Lambo,

I contacted with the Micromega Service Department,Sebastien SCHAER (sav@micromega-hifi.com) and told me that the CDF1 PRO is from 1989, the mechanism used is a Philips CDM2 and this mechanism is no longer available.

I'd be glad if you find out anything more,

Thanks in advance.

[lambo]

Thanks to you both for your responses.

I finally got a response from Micromega last week and they said I would need a new CD mechanism and it would cost Euro300. Now this is odd given what they have told you.

However, after that I decided to find out exactly what mech it was so took the lid off. Only 7 allen key bolts (2 on each of the side plates and 3 on the back) and the whole top plate and lid lifts straight off.

So, I found out mine has a CDM4/25 in it? Now either mine has had work done on it in the past or they put a range of different mechanisms in during the life of the product. Who knows, but this is good news as it is far easier to find this mechanism. My plan is to find an old Philips or Marantz player and strip it for parts.

So my advice would be to take the lid off if you haven't already done so. And fingers crossed you find a CDM4, not a CDM2.

By the way, if you do find a CDM2 or CDM4 there is a very common fault that sounds easy to repair. Here is the thread:

Extending Philips CDM4 Life??

And here is a comment someone makes:
"Hi! I repaired a B&O CD5500 version 2 (CDM4) once with the identical lowering of sampling test voltage after a few minutes. Turned out the 33ufd axial cap in the laser supply servo board was on the way out. After replacement the machine has worked flawlessly for the client with an excellent 50mv center of disc laser sample. This has been 5 years now. I've seen many CDM2 with this identical problem."

Look forward to hearing how you get on. And if you decide to sell your Micromega I may be interested. Hopefully you can fix and enjoy it though.

Cheers.

[hawktoc]

Hi Lambo,

Thanks to you both for your responses too.

After that, I took the lid of my Micromega to see what was the mechanism of the CDF 1 PRO.
I find out, that it had the Philips CDM 2 as can you see in the pictures below.

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/5073/dscn146313yp.jpg
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/5522/6d1b2xj.jpg

The thing that concerns me is that 3 CDF 1 had different mechanisms.
The 1st was DM1-mkII of the F1 digital.
The 2nd was CDM2 of my F1 PRO.
And the 3d (yours) with a CDM4/25.

What I also know that mine came with this mechanism from the company, it hasnt been altered (as you can see in the pics).
Now if the company did use the other 2 mechanism as well, why did that happen and if so, which is the best mechanism for it.

One last thing, please check the inside of my CD player (at the picture I posted) and compare it with yours to see if there are other changes made, except of the Lazer mechanism.

Thank in advance, I'm looking forward in your response.

[lambo]

Hi Hawtoc,

This is interesting eh!

I've taken a look at your pictures and your CD mechanis looks identical to mine other than the name! I did spot one capactitor that is different but that's all! The rest of the internals are identical except for the power supply board in the top left corner. So, I wonder if you could put a CD4/25 in yours? I guess the control electronics may be different?

Actually, I decided to strip mine down yesterday to look for that 33ufd capacitor. I took out the CD mech, took the circuit board off, removed the connectors (including the ribbon cable which slides out by lifting the white sleeve). I found something that could have been it, but wasn't sure so put it all back together. Would you believe it now reads CD's. I think it was probably a loose or corroded connector. I would try the same on yours.

Problem is, that seems to be just the beginning of the faults on mine. There is no digital or audio output!! So this could be a longish project but I'm confident it can be fixed cheaply. I've very little idea about electronics, but it is amazing what can be fixed with a little time and effort + the internet.

Anyway, keep me up to date on your progress and I will do the same.

Cheers.

[lambo]

Hi Hawtoc,

Take a look at this site - this will give you all the other players that use the CDM2 mechanism. Useful for spares.

http://hifi.nn.gx.cn/well/wellview.h...num=1&pernum=1

Cheers.

[lambo]

Well I'm making good progress. It turns out there is a bit of a design fault with the digital output socket on these players. It is mounted directly to the circuit board with no fixing on the chassis. So every time you push the cable in, it stresses the circuit board and connections.

So, I removed the plastic connector off the circuit board and wired in a nice chassis mounted socket. It now works very nicely through my Audio Alchemy DAC :-)

The final step is to work out what is wrong with the internal DAC, although I'm not too worried about that as I can probably just buy a nice DAC kit and wire it in as a replacement.

Cheers.

[hawktoc]

Hi Lambo,

Thank you very much for your quickly responses and in general for all the help.
Im glad you found out what the problems were at your player and fixed them.

From the list of players with CDM2 mechanism, from the site you posted, I noticed the follow ones:

MARANTZ CD273 - CDM2
CAMBRIDGE AUDIO CD2 - CDM2 / 4xTDA1541
MARANTZ CD45 - CDM2/29 / TDA1540
PHILIPS CD-150/1 - CDM2/29
PHILIPS CD-350 - CDM2/29 / TDA1541
MISSION PCM4000 - CDM2-10 / TDA1541
MARANTZ CD75NB - CDM2-160
PHILIPS CD-360 - CDM2 //CDM4/25
PHILIPS CD-460 - CDM2
PHILIPS CD-560 - CDM2 //CDM4/25
PHILIPS CD-650 - CDM2/29//CDM4/25 / TDA1541
PHILIPS CD-771 - CDM2-0500//CDM4/11

I would like to know, if you can tell me, what are the differences between: CDM2 , CDM2/29 , CDM2-10 , CDM2-160 , CDM2-0500.

Btw about the Alchemy DAC you are using, I would suggest, if you want of course, to try a Micromega DAC like DUO.PRO or something newer from Micromega.

I'm looking forward in your response.

Best wishes from Greece.