Marantz CD63 & CD67 mods list

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#4,722
SimontY said:
Glenn, what aspect of BG's sound do you not like?

You must have very particular tastes to also not like the LM4562! You dare to disagree with the masses 😀

Now that I'm getting used to my new sound I will try the 4562 in my CD63 and see if they're preferable to all 627s.
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I found they sound a bit 'hi-fi', with sharply-etched detail that's just a bit umnusical. I should stress that this was in a TDA1541A-based player (Rotel RCD-855) not in a Marantz. Substituting with Silmics gave a warmer sound but it sounded more like music to me.

Yeah I don't play by the rules - I even prefer HDAM in!

BTW - I had an LM6171+OPA627 combo in for a while but it started to grate a bit in the highs. 1.8mA CRD on the 627 to bias to class A smoothed it out completely but sucked out all the 'punch' of the sound too.

If it's a wet weekend I'm gonna do what I promised a while back, and convert the HDAM into the 2nd stage of the filter (like the 6000 but single-ended). Just involves cutting the feedback track to turn it into an op-amp. It'll be easy to put back if I don't like the result. (Would then bypass the 2nd half of the dual.)

Just picked up a virgin '63 for £30. I'm not even sure why, I just couldn't resist.😀

I now have a Japanese 63, a Singaporean 63 and a Singaporean 67. What does the country of origin give away about the vintage of the player? The £30 is from Singapore.
 
#4,723
Glenn2 said:
I found they sound a bit 'hi-fi', with sharply-etched detail that's just a bit umnusical.
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That's really bizarre. Compared to large Pana FCs I find the sound more musical and less etched and less "hi-fi" (by the negative meaning). A bit of bass exuberance was missing at first but it's come back now, with so much more besides. I personally think the BG sound is one of neutrality/low distortion i.e. no character as such.

It's good that we don't all like the same things though, that would just be boring!

Some people like passive preamps/no preamp. I found that sound too soft. I guess it's like the difference between hdam vs. no hdam. That's not to say I like the grain and haze of the preamp, I just enjoy a more gutsy, bassy sound than I have without it. For some people the clarity and purity of the simpler signal path is going to be preferable. Sometimes we need a certain character that can go missing when we "upgrade", whatever that means.

🙂
 
#4,725
SimontY said:


That's really bizarre. Compared to large Pana FCs I find the sound more musical and less etched and less "hi-fi" (by the negative meaning). A bit of bass exuberance was missing at first but it's come back now, with so much more besides. I personally think the BG sound is one of neutrality/low distortion i.e. no character as such.

It's good that we don't all like the same things though, that would just be boring!

Some people like passive preamps/no preamp. I found that sound too soft. I guess it's like the difference between hdam vs. no hdam. That's not to say I like the grain and haze of the preamp, I just enjoy a more gutsy, bassy sound than I have without it. For some people the clarity and purity of the simpler signal path is going to be preferable. Sometimes we need a certain character that can go missing when we "upgrade", whatever that means.

🙂
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I agree with everything you say, and also different components sound totally different in different circuits so maybe they suit the Marantz. Maybe it's time to try them again.

It's a fact though that we all have different tastes, different systems and thus different goals for our machines so it's likely that if we are to achieve what we want we'll end up with very different machines!

I kind of did a 'Bobwire' approach on my old '63 and a Thorsten on my '67. The '63 is in a box at my mum's. Nuff said!

My '67 is a Thorsten, minus coax between dac and decoder, but with a Tent X02+XO Supply, and a separate reg board for the DAC clock gate like the one by ALW on Martin Clark's clock-hack page.

One thing I do remember about my 63 mods, I made LM317/337 regs boards to regulate the servo amps (down to about 8V I think) and the bass got MUCH tigher. Those LF servo currents seem to do much harm. There are jumpers in convenient places to mount them too (with a little work).
 
#4,731
Right. I'm working slowly on my CD67SE, and have started with the "Big (i.e. bulky) Stuff", I have got my Bitumen in and I now want to put in an IEC Connector in for the Mains Power supply.

Problem is (maybe it's because mines a Singapore Model?) there are TWO transformers in my CD67SE (and it has never been opened or fixed except by me). One looks just like this one http://home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/ra.vdsteen/pictures/cd63/CD63_PSU.jpg (from Ray) and is located at the same spot. It's not a TOROID type like a number I've seen pictured in this forum

The present power cable comes in and rather than connecting to the board immediately like in this pic http://home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/ra.vdsteen/pictures/cd67/CD57_Mains.jpg, the power wires go all the way across the PCB to a SECOND transformer riveted to the RHS (looking at the player from the front panel). The wires then go back across the board to the back LHS corner similar to this location http://home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/ra.vdsteen/pictures/cd67/CD57_Mains.jpg I'll try and get a pic up a bit later tonight.

What's with the 2nd Transformer exactly? Do any of you have it in your CD63 or CD67's? It's a bit of PITA as I will probably have to de-rivet it to get the PCB out and I might relocate it (or maybe install a smaller one?). It's also pushed over 2 or 3 ecaps, nothing major, but I hate seeing that, it's messy.

Glenn I see you have a Singaporean CD67 http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1058161#post1058161 , does it have TWO transformers?

Thanks

k.
 
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