hi, i am considering attacking my CD player with a soldering iron. what would be the most cost effective things to do (and most simple)
i am considering upgrading the capacitors inside it, but as most (if not all of them) are Elna cerafine anyway, i dont see much point and i doubt i will get much, if any improvement by doing so.
should i put a new clock, such as the 'superclock' in, and if so which one should i chose?
i am considering upgrading the capacitors inside it, but as most (if not all of them) are Elna cerafine anyway, i dont see much point and i doubt i will get much, if any improvement by doing so.
should i put a new clock, such as the 'superclock' in, and if so which one should i chose?
Hello fellow Brit. I cannot comment on the electrical mods you mention, but I can suggest some mechanical mods. All 3 of my CDP's have benefitted from dampening.
You could go to Maplin's and buy Brown Bread Roll (very similar to the very over-priced Dynamat); or Akasa pax.mate computer dampening matting; or Dynamat (available from Halfords). Blu-tack is also a very good dampening material - but I don't advise you use it on the underside of the top cover in case it falls onto the transport. The Akasa is a fairly light product; so I don't believe it is as effective a dampener as Dynamat or Brown Bread; but it may well be totally adequate for the purposes of CDP dampening.
Open your cd player (you might need a Torx T-10). Cover the underside of the top cover with the dampening material you chose (make sure you can still re-assemble the cover onto the chassis). Be brave and remove the pcb and transport from your chassis. Place dampeneing material everywhere you can on the chassis; again making sure that you can re-assemble PCB and transport. Place little strips on the transport sides. You might even want to try dasmpeneing the clock - get some good old blu-tack and wack a tiny bit on the clock (the clock is usually encased in a can and is situated near the DAC (the biggest chip on the pcb).
Adding mass and dampening is one of the best mods you can do for a CDP IMO.
Whilst you are at it - remove the feet of your CDP and see if they are hollow (they often are). If hollow - fill them full of blu-tack and re-assemble.
At the end of this your CDP will weigh up to 1kg more and will be better able to absorb vibration. I have found that sound resolution does improve with this mod..
You could go to Maplin's and buy Brown Bread Roll (very similar to the very over-priced Dynamat); or Akasa pax.mate computer dampening matting; or Dynamat (available from Halfords). Blu-tack is also a very good dampening material - but I don't advise you use it on the underside of the top cover in case it falls onto the transport. The Akasa is a fairly light product; so I don't believe it is as effective a dampener as Dynamat or Brown Bread; but it may well be totally adequate for the purposes of CDP dampening.
Open your cd player (you might need a Torx T-10). Cover the underside of the top cover with the dampening material you chose (make sure you can still re-assemble the cover onto the chassis). Be brave and remove the pcb and transport from your chassis. Place dampeneing material everywhere you can on the chassis; again making sure that you can re-assemble PCB and transport. Place little strips on the transport sides. You might even want to try dasmpeneing the clock - get some good old blu-tack and wack a tiny bit on the clock (the clock is usually encased in a can and is situated near the DAC (the biggest chip on the pcb).
Adding mass and dampening is one of the best mods you can do for a CDP IMO.
Whilst you are at it - remove the feet of your CDP and see if they are hollow (they often are). If hollow - fill them full of blu-tack and re-assemble.
At the end of this your CDP will weigh up to 1kg more and will be better able to absorb vibration. I have found that sound resolution does improve with this mod..
Hi fezz
I have been modifying my marantz cd6000 for the last 8 months...
You can do some simple things to improve your player.
First go to the link that preatorious provided, there you can find the cd6000 schematic. The ose version is similar but for me it sound's worse...
Grab the schematic and let's start...
1- Remove the mute transistors but be careful when connecting and disconnecting the player.
2-remove de the 100pf caps in parallel with the output. The typical capacitance of your audiophile cable is enough. The caps are: 2227, 2228
3-if you don’t use the headphones out, remove it... you will be surprised
Cut some tracks and 2 jumpers and you are done
4-replace the hdam, use opamps... my favorite is the ne5532 but the final choice is up to you but, with the other ones you only going to hear more distortion...also remove the output hdam
5-remove the caps labeled: 2111, 2112, 2117, 2118. I don’t use bypass caps any ware... listen and you will see
Here are some simple mods... if you want more contact me on my personal e-mail
Don’t waist money on caps and clock's... the return investment is small...
Best regards
Ricardo
I have been modifying my marantz cd6000 for the last 8 months...
You can do some simple things to improve your player.
First go to the link that preatorious provided, there you can find the cd6000 schematic. The ose version is similar but for me it sound's worse...
Grab the schematic and let's start...
1- Remove the mute transistors but be careful when connecting and disconnecting the player.
2-remove de the 100pf caps in parallel with the output. The typical capacitance of your audiophile cable is enough. The caps are: 2227, 2228
3-if you don’t use the headphones out, remove it... you will be surprised
Cut some tracks and 2 jumpers and you are done
4-replace the hdam, use opamps... my favorite is the ne5532 but the final choice is up to you but, with the other ones you only going to hear more distortion...also remove the output hdam
5-remove the caps labeled: 2111, 2112, 2117, 2118. I don’t use bypass caps any ware... listen and you will see
Here are some simple mods... if you want more contact me on my personal e-mail
Don’t waist money on caps and clock's... the return investment is small...
Best regards
Ricardo
Hello Fezz,
I would certainly waist money on a better clock since it really impoves your player. Modified a lot of cdplayers with clocks and after all I dare to day it is 50 % of all possible mods.
Elso Kwak's or Guido Tent's are some clocks you can choose. It really is an enormous improvement in some players. I never had one player that became worse or stayed the same if you would like to hear that as a assuring remark.
Concerning opamps there is some choice. Better drop-in replacements for NJM2114 are : OPA275, OPA2134, OP249 or OPA2604. I have experience with all of them and for me the 2604 and 2134 are the better choices. YMMV.
NJM2114 is in fact a modern replacement for a NE5532.
Others are AD8620 but it is available in SMD format only. Have received them recently, no experience with them yet ( stories are promising ). One could also use single opamps like OPA627 or AD825 ( SMD again ) but a special adapter is necessary if you want to use them. Price is high I have to warn you.
Further I agree with Ricardo maybe except for replacing the HDAM's for opamps.
I would certainly waist money on a better clock since it really impoves your player. Modified a lot of cdplayers with clocks and after all I dare to day it is 50 % of all possible mods.
Elso Kwak's or Guido Tent's are some clocks you can choose. It really is an enormous improvement in some players. I never had one player that became worse or stayed the same if you would like to hear that as a assuring remark.
Concerning opamps there is some choice. Better drop-in replacements for NJM2114 are : OPA275, OPA2134, OP249 or OPA2604. I have experience with all of them and for me the 2604 and 2134 are the better choices. YMMV.
NJM2114 is in fact a modern replacement for a NE5532.
Others are AD8620 but it is available in SMD format only. Have received them recently, no experience with them yet ( stories are promising ). One could also use single opamps like OPA627 or AD825 ( SMD again ) but a special adapter is necessary if you want to use them. Price is high I have to warn you.
Further I agree with Ricardo maybe except for replacing the HDAM's for opamps.
Stryder, did you ever build in a clock ? I did in tens of cdplayers varying from this Marantz, Marantz CD60's, Marantz CD63's, Marantz CD65's, Marantz CD67, Marantz CD80's , Pioneer PD 204, Teac VRDS 10's, to a Copland CDA288. Just to mention a few.
Damping is very good to do but the clock is the heartbeat of the player.
If the heart isn't good ( a simple crystal with an inverter IC isn't ) one can use damping as much as one likes and the player will never be top league.
Damping is very good to do but the clock is the heartbeat of the player.
If the heart isn't good ( a simple crystal with an inverter IC isn't ) one can use damping as much as one likes and the player will never be top league.
I'm not one to beat round the bush. I was just trying to raise the profile of damping as a mod; too many people overlook it or scorn it. Clock-change is a powerful mod that I have heard is worthwhile to do; but when all is said and done damping is as good or better and much much cheaper and less hassle.
Hi
Op amps are a matter o taste... but until you give me some proof, like distortion figures, that the opamp's you mention are better, they aren’t better, but simply different.
Go to Douglas self web site and see the distortion figures of the opamp's you propose... no comments
Many people like pass aleph power amps but I don’t like them, it's one of the worst amplifier I ever heard
If you guys like to listen to distortion...I don’t...
Audio in the end is just a mater of taste...
About the clock... did you measure the jitter specs after you installed the clock? Do you have a proof that the clock is better? How do you connect the clock to the main board? What measures did you take to assure that your clock isn’t polluting various stages of your cd player with RF noise?
Sorry for all the question's...
Sorry, I only believe in myself
Best regards
Ricardo
Ps: I’m not trying to offend anybody... it's just my point of view
Op amps are a matter o taste... but until you give me some proof, like distortion figures, that the opamp's you mention are better, they aren’t better, but simply different.
Go to Douglas self web site and see the distortion figures of the opamp's you propose... no comments
Many people like pass aleph power amps but I don’t like them, it's one of the worst amplifier I ever heard
If you guys like to listen to distortion...I don’t...
Audio in the end is just a mater of taste...
About the clock... did you measure the jitter specs after you installed the clock? Do you have a proof that the clock is better? How do you connect the clock to the main board? What measures did you take to assure that your clock isn’t polluting various stages of your cd player with RF noise?
Sorry for all the question's...
Sorry, I only believe in myself
Best regards
Ricardo
Ps: I’m not trying to offend anybody... it's just my point of view
Hi Ricardo,
On paper they may distort more but in practice they sound more neutral as experienced by a lot of people. There are more parameters of a chip that have influence on the soundquality than distortion alone. Just type one of the typenumbers here in the Search function and you will see. You don't have to believe me of course but please try them if you like. I know the site you mention and I am aware the NE5532 has the lowest distortion of them all. But is 0.005 % something you or I can hear ? It is not only a matter of taste, NE5532 is sonical old cake. Mr Self hasn't any info on his site about sonical differences, it's only measurements to prove the NE5532 is the best there is.
The clock I use has 3 ps jitter according the manufacturer and is mounted by me on a PCB with it's own supply in a metal box to prevent it from straying around. The way it is connected I am not going to explain as there are numerous sites with that info. The proof that it is better is heard by all owners of players in which I have built the clock in. Some of them respond quite emotional when they have their player at home and they listen to it for the first time with a better clock.
It is good to believe in yourself but it is not good to believe only in yourself.
Regards,
Jean-Paul
PS Fezz please leave the Cerafines where they are. They are OK.
On paper they may distort more but in practice they sound more neutral as experienced by a lot of people. There are more parameters of a chip that have influence on the soundquality than distortion alone. Just type one of the typenumbers here in the Search function and you will see. You don't have to believe me of course but please try them if you like. I know the site you mention and I am aware the NE5532 has the lowest distortion of them all. But is 0.005 % something you or I can hear ? It is not only a matter of taste, NE5532 is sonical old cake. Mr Self hasn't any info on his site about sonical differences, it's only measurements to prove the NE5532 is the best there is.
The clock I use has 3 ps jitter according the manufacturer and is mounted by me on a PCB with it's own supply in a metal box to prevent it from straying around. The way it is connected I am not going to explain as there are numerous sites with that info. The proof that it is better is heard by all owners of players in which I have built the clock in. Some of them respond quite emotional when they have their player at home and they listen to it for the first time with a better clock.
It is good to believe in yourself but it is not good to believe only in yourself.
Regards,
Jean-Paul
PS Fezz please leave the Cerafines where they are. They are OK.
Hi jean paul
Do you have a neutral system so I can compare my amplifiers and the opamp's?
I have tried all the opamp's you mention...and also, you can try the NE again just for fun
Mr. Self only states something when he as prof's about it... at least he can backup is statement's...
Listening is very subjective as you know...
And what type of cable do you use to connect the metal case to the main board? Cables can be an antenna as you probably know... and by the way, manufacturers state a lot of things...do you believes in them??lolol
Further reading: http://fnt-www.ss.titech.ac.jp/~hajime/uec/distortion/opa.html
Until you give me some solid proof, I won’t believe...
Best regards
Ricardo
Do you have a neutral system so I can compare my amplifiers and the opamp's?
I have tried all the opamp's you mention...and also, you can try the NE again just for fun
Mr. Self only states something when he as prof's about it... at least he can backup is statement's...
Listening is very subjective as you know...
And what type of cable do you use to connect the metal case to the main board? Cables can be an antenna as you probably know... and by the way, manufacturers state a lot of things...do you believes in them??lolol
Further reading: http://fnt-www.ss.titech.ac.jp/~hajime/uec/distortion/opa.html
Until you give me some solid proof, I won’t believe...
Best regards
Ricardo
Hi Wombat,
Never tried the AD826. Did you compare them with the above mentioned opamps ?
I will try them because they are new to me. And always open to changes. Have tried other AD non audio opamps like the cfb types as AD844. After a year their noise was higher compared to when they were new.
Just saw the datasheet at :
http://www.analog.com/productSelection/pdf/AD826_b.pdf
and it looks promising only noise figures are very high a I expected. Thanks for the tip !
Never tried the AD826. Did you compare them with the above mentioned opamps ?
I will try them because they are new to me. And always open to changes. Have tried other AD non audio opamps like the cfb types as AD844. After a year their noise was higher compared to when they were new.
Just saw the datasheet at :
http://www.analog.com/productSelection/pdf/AD826_b.pdf
and it looks promising only noise figures are very high a I expected. Thanks for the tip !
wow lots of replys - i am still quite reluctant to do some major mods like changing the hdam but i might...
i will definatly use some sort of damping material in the case as it seems quite important (the ose version comes with an extra base plate and a supporting bar acros the top of the chassis to keep it rigid - the ki version is even stronger and comes copper coated)
i will probably do some very basic mods first like a better power cable - the new one will be sheilded so there is less interferance with the phono cables
is it worth grounding the case or will this cause distruption in the eletronics as it looks like some sort of grounding is used already?
as for clock upgrades, which is the best one? (i reaslise there may be some conflict op opinion here) also are there any ones i can build myself?
i will definatly use some sort of damping material in the case as it seems quite important (the ose version comes with an extra base plate and a supporting bar acros the top of the chassis to keep it rigid - the ki version is even stronger and comes copper coated)
i will probably do some very basic mods first like a better power cable - the new one will be sheilded so there is less interferance with the phono cables
is it worth grounding the case or will this cause distruption in the eletronics as it looks like some sort of grounding is used already?
as for clock upgrades, which is the best one? (i reaslise there may be some conflict op opinion here) also are there any ones i can build myself?
Hi jean paul
Since you didn’t reply I’m going to make you some further questions...
Can you explain me all those obscure magic parameters of the chip that influence on the sound quality?
For me it's quite simple... less thd means fewer harmonics generated when a signal is amplified and that means better sound
Look at what you say..."it's only measurements to prove the NE5532 is the best there is".
If it measures better, it is better... electronics is an objective science, don’t see why audio electronics should be different... maybe audio electronics don’t respect the laws of pyshics
in the end, if you prefer a device with higher distortion, I don’t care, but if you are claming that the device you propose is better, you will have to prove it... you will never know who will be on the other side making some questions...Don’t say it's better, say it's different...
And yes, I can hear if my system has less distortion, if you can’t... sorry
About the clock did you remember that the cable supplying the mains power to the clock could be working as an antenna emitting noise coming from the mains and noise coming back from your precious clock? did you remember that more power supplies means more noise and more garbage coming from the mains polluting your cd player?(peter daniel are you there? love your amplifier cases. Sorry they can’t amplify audio signals, only electronics can do that.. )
In the end you don’t know what you are doing and talking about, and you have no way to prove that you are right...
Best regards and no hard feelings
Ricardo
Since you didn’t reply I’m going to make you some further questions...
Can you explain me all those obscure magic parameters of the chip that influence on the sound quality?
For me it's quite simple... less thd means fewer harmonics generated when a signal is amplified and that means better sound
Look at what you say..."it's only measurements to prove the NE5532 is the best there is".
If it measures better, it is better... electronics is an objective science, don’t see why audio electronics should be different... maybe audio electronics don’t respect the laws of pyshics
in the end, if you prefer a device with higher distortion, I don’t care, but if you are claming that the device you propose is better, you will have to prove it... you will never know who will be on the other side making some questions...Don’t say it's better, say it's different...
And yes, I can hear if my system has less distortion, if you can’t... sorry
About the clock did you remember that the cable supplying the mains power to the clock could be working as an antenna emitting noise coming from the mains and noise coming back from your precious clock? did you remember that more power supplies means more noise and more garbage coming from the mains polluting your cd player?(peter daniel are you there?
love your amplifier cases. Sorry they can’t amplify audio signals, only electronics can do that.. ) In the end you don’t know what you are doing and talking about, and you have no way to prove that you are right...
Best regards and no hard feelings
Ricardo
Sorry if I don't check your replies continuously. Sometimes I am busy with other things as 24 hours audio only tends to get boring.
I have had my share of agressive replies the last days and I am certainly not interested in yet another useless discussion with yet another Mr Know-it-all. I really don't have to prove a thing to you and my goal is not to be "right". Just sharing experience.
Please lecture somebody else in electronics. Like I just read below Mr. Ken Ishiwata can learn something from you.
Stay happy with the NE5532
,Jean-Paul
fezz said:(the ose version comes with an extra base plate and a supporting bar acros the top of the chassis to keep it rigid - the ki version is even stronger and comes copper coated)
Did you know of a thing called marketing? Mr. Ken ishiwata is a master at it... if you look at the schematic of the famous hdam buffer; it's a simple folded cascode with a complimentary FET buffer stage... there nothing special about that, simply marketing strategy
You guys should stop reading audio brochures and start reading some electronics books
Marketing rules the world
Best regards
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