CD63 - modify or replace the analogue stage?

[DaveCr]

Hi Guys,

Working on my CD-63 SE. Has clock and digital power supply mods, mains filter, plus damping etc. and I am now starting to look at what I will do to the analogue stage.

Options seem to be either

1) do caps, op-amps, remove mute transistors and caos, power supply etc.

2) simply replace the analogue stage with a discrete one such as the ZAPfilter (or maybe others - that is the one I know).

Before I start putting $ into the component by component approach, I would appreciate hearing people's thoughts on which one is likely to result in better sound quality for the sort of $ involved to buy a ZAPfilter - about US$200.

My electronics expertise is limited, and so the concept of replacing the entire output has some appeal since I could do that. Doing the mods required to the existing analogue stage is where I would have difficulty. I could do it from the mechanical perspective, but where I would have trouble is really working out exactly where to start, what was the best order to replace components, best 'bang for my buck' etc.

Thanks in advance,

Dave

[Richard]

Hi Dave

I have modded a CD 63SE by doing the following:

Replaced all diodes with BYV26C
Bypass power supply caps with MKP/MKP types
Clock hack as described at:
http://www.acoustica.org.uk/t/63/63hacks.html

All this yielded a vast improvement, particularly extension at the frequency extremes. A shielded power cord also worked wonders.

I have also had good success with opamp replacement
AD826, OPA2604 in older philips based players. However there are recommendations for the LM6172/82 type opamps for players with a bistream dac. This would be an easy and cheap upgrade before you try an output stage.

A search of the forum will produce some DIY ideas for "transistor output stages", perhaps their creators would like to comment.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Richard