Newbie needs help with Denon DCD-3000

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Gretsch6136

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Joined 2006
#1
Hello,

Thanks for taking the time to read my message.

I have owned this player since new, purchased in 1996/1997. Its been an absolute Gem of a player. Great sound, and reliable. Its all been good until lately.

The drawer has been behaving erratically. It comes out and then goes back in all by itself. It has been doing this increasingly over the last year or two. Now it is not recognising that a CD has been loaded. The drawer closes, the CD is clamped, but the mechanism does not fire up to read the CD. Some web surfing has given me an indication that it might be a loose belt or dirty contacts.

What could you kind fellows suggest?? I don't want to get ripped off by a tech who "replaces the whole laser assembly" when it could just be a belt or something.

I have found where I can download a service manual for a fee, but do you know if these manuals detail exactly how to fault find and fix a transport??

The secondary problem I have is that when using the Coax Digital Out to my DAC, after a while I get some crackling noises. These sounds do not occur if I use the Optical Digital Out. Looking inside I can see a trim pot sitting right infront of the Coax Output. Could that baby have something to do with it?

Thanks for any help you can give. Please note I am not a very savvy tech but can follow simple instruction.

Thanks,

Mark
 
#2
Hi Mark,
Technicians get tons of training. Don't begrudge an honest tech his wages. The dishonest ones should be dumped in the bay.

Now, your problem sounds like dirty switch contacts. The belt may require replacement also.

The "pot" you are referring to is a tuned coil. Do not touch it!!! This fault may be either in your CD or external DAC. Speaking of external DAC, why or what are you doing? The DAC inside the DCD-3000 / DCD-S10 is one of the best. Mine regularly trounces other DACs it is put up against.

To each his own.

If you feel the player is at fault, take yours into the Denon service agent for service. If you try to play with it, in all likelyhood you will cost yourself a great deal of money.

-Chris
 
#4
Hi Mark,
Your player's dac is broken then.

The reason I say this is as soon as you go external and combine the signals, you are already behind the 8 ball. The internal dac therefore has a leg up already. The PCM1702 is no slouch (one of my favs) and these are cophased again! (the PCM1702 is cophased internally)

I just had a look at the Asian version. The film caps are all upgraded to polystyrene. There are some op amp changes also.

I am considering this upgrade since mine is populated with uPC4570C's.

-Chris
 
#8
Hi Mark,
That may be. I haven't heard an external yet that sounds better. Mind you, your analog stage isn't quite the same as mine. You should do the Asian upgrade once you get it back. Make it the same as a DCD-S10 - Asian.

Re: service agents. I was for years in Canada. There are some bad ones, but you will have recourse through the distributor if you are treated badly. They also have the proper service information so you should end up with a proper job (unlike other shops with no info).

Anyway, I relied on word of mouth to survive. It was very important that each customer was treated well. I gave honest guys a break without them having to ask (still do). The guys that were hard to deal with got charged more for being a pain in the - you know. I called it ***hole tax. 😀 Above all, I did the very best job I could for the funds available. How was your gut feeling?

-Chris
 
#9
Hi Chris,

I have a good feeling about the tech. A professional looking premises, that was neat and clean. The guy was a good communicator, looked you in the eye and actively listened.

He reckons he can't get onto it for a week though.

I'll give you a further update when I hear back from him.

By the way, what is this Asian upgrade you are talking about? My player is Asian - made in Japan.

Also, i was under the impression that there was no difference between the DCD3000 and the S10 other than a heavier chassis and external cosmetics.

Cheers,

Mark
 
#11
Hi Chris,

I thought You may like to hear how I got on.

The tech replaced the drive motor, laser and belt. All up $193.

The drawer now works properly and is very quiet. Most importantly, the sound of the player has been transformed. It sounds awesome now. I had no idea that the sound of a CD player can deteriorate. I thought they either worked or they didn't. Obviously as the performance degraded over time, I was thinking that my ears were just getting used to the sound and needed something better.

It's funny, the difference in sound from the player's analog outputs has improved so much that the DPA Bigger Bit DAC is now unessessary. In fact, the analog outputs have more transparency and a bigger soundstage than the outboard DAC.

What I don't understand though is given that the repairs are all transport related, then why aren't the improvements apparent through the outboard DAC as well? I don't know, maybe the sound through the DAC has improved too, but with the transport working properly, it now shows the limitations of the DAC versus the players own internal DAC?

What are your thoughts?

Cheers,

Mark
 
#12
Hi Mark,
That sounds about right dollar-wise. I think you were treated fairly. I would only question why the disc motor wasn't changed, or is the motor on your bill a disc motor?

The reason it sounds better is very simple, and is a point I've been trying to make. With a weak laser, or anything else that causes a poor RF pattern, you will get a very high number of digital errors. Garbage in, garbage out. It really is that simple.

Same goes for cheap transports and expensive outboard DACS. You just experienced what a change a good transport can make.

With regard to internal D/A stages, they get all their signals separated and with very little jitter. The act of combining these signals and sending them outside degrades the quality of the data. So internal D/A stages have a leg up already. 😀

I'm very happy it turned out well for you Mark!

-Chris
 
#15
What can you tell me about the Asian modification? What gets changed and what are the sonic results that I could expect?

Are the parts easily found and at a good price?

Also, is it a job best left to a tech or can someone with beginners level knowledge and soldering skills do it?

Thanks,

Mark
 
#16
Hi Mark,
Someone proficient at soldering would be required. A good tech.

A service manual is needed. The upgrade consists of changing serveral capacitors from the present film type to polystyrene types. Most of the analog op amps get changed too, but at least one is no longer available. There are some changes in the power supply.

All these changes may or may not improve the sound. If there is an improvement, I would expect it to be a small one.

-Chris
 
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