I wouldn't say the OPA2604 is that good, but I am saying that as a cheap mod, removing the hdam and upgrading the op-amps is worthwhile. Iv'e seen the pics of your player and it is no doubt superb but I am really aiming this at the average modder. Regards Barry
Your point was easy to miss without knowing if you had a decent system or not. I'm not getting at that in a p1ssing contest way, just pointing out that many people who use budget players in their own right or as a base for mods don't have very revealing systems.
I completely agree that you need to have a good idea of which mods are the most important and offer good value for money.
Where we seem to disagree is regarding the servo reclock, which I find to be essential in making a CD63 listenable. It is, however, probably less important than regulating the servo drivers. Without these two mods you might as well start with a CD67, which sounds better in stock form due to these differences.
I completely agree that you need to have a good idea of which mods are the most important and offer good value for money.
Where we seem to disagree is regarding the servo reclock, which I find to be essential in making a CD63 listenable. It is, however, probably less important than regulating the servo drivers. Without these two mods you might as well start with a CD67, which sounds better in stock form due to these differences.
Off-topic: speakers
Barry, what are those speakers like? I've never heard anything written by owners of AN speakers, only read one or two reviews and have never heard a set. They're very simple in design and expensive to buy!
Barry, what are those speakers like? I've never heard anything written by owners of AN speakers, only read one or two reviews and have never heard a set. They're very simple in design and expensive to buy!
Hi Simon, They are very plain and bulky. 2 way and silver wired. They have a very wide baffle. I bought them secondhand in 1996 for £600. To tell the truth I prefer my old Linn Indexes when i'm listening for long periods. I don't like the heavy bass from the ANs.
I think the old-school approach of wide baffle (more efficient) is interesting. Clearly they're designed with efficiency in mind and therefore almost certainly with valve amps in mind. Thanks for the info, always interesting to hear about less than mainstream products (ie. ones designed for sound, not WAF).
Well I'm one who has benefitted from multiple upgrades to my 67' and believe me the changes are not minor. I can appreciate your point of view and I have often wondered at the wisdom of throwing so much money at this old player but the results are so much more musical and I am not alone in finding this to be so. I don't know about 12000£ players but I am willing to put mine up against say 3000£ ones. Well having said that, the opportunities are a bit thin on the ground around here (the wilds of S. France) Anyway it's kind of fun just seeing how far this can go. (Brent I'm trying to get a nice box to send mine your way soon. Add the latest mod to the sticky above your desk!) Also anyone who has stuck around here long enough is far from your average modder. This strickly hard-core, let's go to the outer edges of the possible and imaginable!
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Hi Shep
I've gone one better than a sticky it's been pinned 😉
The difference between a £6K player and a £12K player is not as big as you would imagine. It's not the same gap as between a £1K and £3K player. Most players above that £4K area do start to play music the right way. One of the nicest items I modded was a £10K DCS dac, it had alot of authority over the music which is usually lacking in most audio equipment.
Brent
I've gone one better than a sticky it's been pinned 😉
The difference between a £6K player and a £12K player is not as big as you would imagine. It's not the same gap as between a £1K and £3K player. Most players above that £4K area do start to play music the right way. One of the nicest items I modded was a £10K DCS dac, it had alot of authority over the music which is usually lacking in most audio equipment.
Brent
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Good job you won't need a hammer to install those foam corner absorbers then... but you may need ear-plugs when the wife sees them 😀
What's the next event where we can see / hear the "beast" ?
Andy
Via Satellite link from the Seychelles !!
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Andy
Via Satellite link from the Seychelles !!
.
I think I shall buy one of Brent's micro clocks next week and try it in my cd63ki. It looks to be good value. At the moment it has a audiocom 2b but I want to clock the servo to see if I can hear a difference. I can make up a supply. I did clock the servo on a cd17 some time ago I think, but wasn't impressed.
I too would be very surprised if you couldn't hear the difference with the servo clocked, It's a big improvement imho.
I'd also try that microclock in replacement of your existing clock, Brent's old C1 was better than my Superclock4 in everything I tried it in and the Microclock is a step up from that.
Did you clock the servo in a cd17 separately from the dac? or replace the original oscillator and re-clock the whole circuit. I've found one of the best upgrades for the cd17 is to disable the internal opamps and use a fully discrete active i/v and output stage. It's a bit of work, but really is worthwhile.
Cheers, Lee.
I'd also try that microclock in replacement of your existing clock, Brent's old C1 was better than my Superclock4 in everything I tried it in and the Microclock is a step up from that.
Did you clock the servo in a cd17 separately from the dac? or replace the original oscillator and re-clock the whole circuit. I've found one of the best upgrades for the cd17 is to disable the internal opamps and use a fully discrete active i/v and output stage. It's a bit of work, but really is worthwhile.
Cheers, Lee.
I beleive I clocked the servo seperately from the dac. I didn't do the op-amp mod because if I remember correctly they are SMD and I couldn't be bothered to play with it all but I agree that a discrete i/v o/p stage sounds a very nice option. I tried clocking a cd6003 but came a cropper. It seems to have a weird circuit. I gave up and put it back to original. I did upgrade most of the caps. I couldn't hear much difference but the man I modded it for was over the moon.
Not sure. The Seychelles is too far for me 😀 You lucky man
Hopefully there will be a Northern meet next year I can attend.
Brent
I don't have any 8.46Mhz oscillators at the moment as they are on back order 🙁 i'll chase them up.
The servo clocking gives more control and detail to both treble and bass. Also change C813 to a massive uF cap, we use our 22000uF cap there and it gives more depth to the sound.
Brent