Yamaha CD500 or Mantz 50 Mod

[jaymanaa]

Hello, I just recently jumped into the digital age for my main home system (CD players). I normally use CD in the vehicles and vinyl in the house. I picked up a Marantz CD50 and a Yamaha Natural Sound CDC500. Seems like the likely one to mod would be the CD50 as it has a single disc transport (a pretty sturdy one). Any of you digital guys know where I can look for mods. The ultimate for me would be tube output, but maybe just a better DAC. I wouldn't have a clue on the potential for this thing but thought some of you may. Also is there any way to get it to read homebrew CDs? Thanks, Jay

[anatech]

Hi jaymanaa,
Don't write off a multi disc. They are all single play transports. Some are better than others.

Nakamichi made some really fine sounding multiplay machines that had D/A sections far better than many "high end" single play machines. I didn't care for some of the plastic transports though.

Don't you wish you could monitor the C1 error detector flag easily? That would end many transport arguments instantly! Anyway, as long as you get a relatively error free data stream, updating the D/A and audio section will always bring a benefit. I'll include the power supply as part of the analog section.

-Chris

[jaymanaa]

Thanks, Any idea where to get info or parts for such an upgrade (I hate the word kit). I dable in tube gear but would be starting at ground zero on anything SS. Thanks Jay

[Fin]

The Marantz CD50 is the one to mod. It has a CDM4/19 swing arm mechanism which is very reliable. It should have no problems reading CDRs - my CD40 and CD60 do.

The best thing about your CD50 it that it has a nice TDA1541A DAC. There are loads of mods available on this forum for this dac chip. It also has a fairly standard Philips PCB - with lots of possibilities.

Do a search for Marantz CD40, CD50, CD60 and for Philips CD630. They are all basically the same. Also search for TDA1541A - and you will find mountains of info - including non-oversampling options.