Hi All,
I've been reading and enjoying the forums for a few days. This is a great resource. Cheers to all that particpate! Now on to my query...
I've recently picked up a Sony CDP-X707ES for use as a transport only.
Among other things, I want to install a Tent Labs XO3. I've read over the directions and it all seems pretty straight forward, but I'm wondering...
Instead of tapping off the DAC board near the original oscillator, can I just remove the entire DAC board and wire the XO3 more directly to the transport mechanism? This player is quite lopsided in terms of weight distribution (massive transformer on the left side of the chassis) and pulling the DAC board would leave quite a bit of room for a nice sized shot-loaded maple block on the right side of the chassis to balance things out, as well as provide a nice, low vibration platform to mount the XO3/power supply.
Anyone out there fimiliar with the guts of this player or the nearly identical X779ES?
Kind thanks!
I've been reading and enjoying the forums for a few days. This is a great resource. Cheers to all that particpate! Now on to my query...
I've recently picked up a Sony CDP-X707ES for use as a transport only.
Among other things, I want to install a Tent Labs XO3. I've read over the directions and it all seems pretty straight forward, but I'm wondering...
Instead of tapping off the DAC board near the original oscillator, can I just remove the entire DAC board and wire the XO3 more directly to the transport mechanism? This player is quite lopsided in terms of weight distribution (massive transformer on the left side of the chassis) and pulling the DAC board would leave quite a bit of room for a nice sized shot-loaded maple block on the right side of the chassis to balance things out, as well as provide a nice, low vibration platform to mount the XO3/power supply.
Anyone out there fimiliar with the guts of this player or the nearly identical X779ES?
Kind thanks!
Hi X24 and welcome to this nice place.
I’m not really familiar with the ES-series. I ones repaired one and indeed, they are fairly nice build players.
I found this in the mounting instructions manual at TentLabs:
“Best location is closest to the original crystal oscillator, to keep critical wiring short. Locate the board such that it can be securely mounted, eventually using stand-offs in the 3 holes of the PCB (3mm).”
Hope this helps.
/Hugo
I’m not really familiar with the ES-series. I ones repaired one and indeed, they are fairly nice build players.
I found this in the mounting instructions manual at TentLabs:
“Best location is closest to the original crystal oscillator, to keep critical wiring short. Locate the board such that it can be securely mounted, eventually using stand-offs in the 3 holes of the PCB (3mm).”
Hope this helps.
/Hugo
Re: Re: Sony CDP-X707ES Mods
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the responses!
mlloyd1,
These players are indeed beauties! And I'd be glad to let you know how the mods work out.
My question boils down to this:
Instead of mounting the upgraded clock and power supply on the existing board as one would normally do, I'd like to yank the DAC board altogether. What I'm wondering is if there is any circuitry on this board prior to the clock that would prevent this. My hope is that the signal coming from the board beneath the transport mechanism is usable as is, and could run straight to the replacement clock.
Thanks again for your thoughts!
Best,
Chris
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the responses!
mlloyd1,
These players are indeed beauties! And I'd be glad to let you know how the mods work out.
My question boils down to this:
Instead of mounting the upgraded clock and power supply on the existing board as one would normally do, I'd like to yank the DAC board altogether. What I'm wondering is if there is any circuitry on this board prior to the clock that would prevent this. My hope is that the signal coming from the board beneath the transport mechanism is usable as is, and could run straight to the replacement clock.
Thanks again for your thoughts!
Best,
Chris
Many Sony players use a 45MHz clock near the DAC chip. Then on the DAC board is a special circuit that creates a 16MHz clock synchronous to the 45MHz one and this is sent to transport.
So basicly you can feed XO3 directly to transport (might even improve sound) but notice, YOU HAVE TO USE 16.9344MHz clock for this !!!!
You can take out the DAC board if you are sure there are no other essential parts of schematic on the same board communication to display PCB etc. I guess you can do it just by experimenting - even though be careful, it might not end well
Better to order service manual and see if it possible to leave out DAC board.
Ergo
So basicly you can feed XO3 directly to transport (might even improve sound) but notice, YOU HAVE TO USE 16.9344MHz clock for this !!!!
You can take out the DAC board if you are sure there are no other essential parts of schematic on the same board communication to display PCB etc. I guess you can do it just by experimenting - even though be careful, it might not end well
Better to order service manual and see if it possible to leave out DAC board.
Ergo
I also have a 707 that I would like to work on. I have been reading the datasheets for the BB PCM1730, and it looks like it will work well with a 16.9 clock as input (the transport clock in the present implementation. So, I am thinking that I might try to come up with a drop in board to replace the DAC, clock and output stage with a modern converter having a simple output stage. Based on the comments of some other here, the stop-band performance of the onboard digital filter is adequate to forgo the recommended second order active on the back end of the I/V unless you are very conservative. There are a few ways that one could go-- simply capacitor couple the I/V stage to the output or hand a follower on it. I would like to use the balanced jacks since they are available. Using a new Tent ocillator, this might well be the best upgrade for the 707.
I'm a real DIY newby, so I dont really have the design chops to do this on my own, perhaps there would be some interest from others to suggest power supply considerations and approproate layouts. The beauty of this is that the number one problem with the player, the non-integer clock divider, is eliminated and a common high quality system clock can be implemented for both converter and transport. The new converter and simple ouput stage is just a nice bonus.
I'm a real DIY newby, so I dont really have the design chops to do this on my own, perhaps there would be some interest from others to suggest power supply considerations and approproate layouts. The beauty of this is that the number one problem with the player, the non-integer clock divider, is eliminated and a common high quality system clock can be implemented for both converter and transport. The new converter and simple ouput stage is just a nice bonus.
Hi X24,
Refer to the thread 10 years ago, I am currently hope to follow your path to install the Tentlabs XO3.2 clock, could you share how should this be connected to x707es and make it as a transport?
Apart from the clock did you manage to do any other modification to the unit?
Look forward to hear from you,
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