philpoole said:
It is indeed odd how we perceive changes or maybe even a lack thereof on occasion. Although my sound is nearly as good as it was, this is not just "an ordinary reg in place of super reg" - it's 2 cascaded regs, albeit basic ones, running from a 30VA toroid and schottky diodes and 10000uF smoothing cap - this is a hefty set-up compared to one nice reg running off an original supply. And it does have a little something missing. It's still a touch flat and grey. It seems obvious that a dedicated supply WITH good reg would be ideal (and most expensive and difficult!)
Norah was more a test in years gone by... now I've discovered Linn CDs, Diana Krall and Jazz At the Pawn Shop - all a league above the lovely Norah and her clipping!
Simon
Hi Simon,
I not sure if you have tried the following, but I have found them to effect those flat and grey symptoms.
BYV 26C
BVY27-200
11DQ04
Here is my Philips version, converted into a top loader, I attached a brass disc to the original clamp to hold the disc down. I was experimenting with these a while back but am now playing with 1540 based players that have the CDM1.
That’s a Hagclock between the display and decoder. The valves are just there to keep the digital nastiness at bay 😉 .
Cheers,
Richard
I not sure if you have tried the following, but I have found them to effect those flat and grey symptoms.
BYV 26C
BVY27-200
11DQ04
Here is my Philips version, converted into a top loader, I attached a brass disc to the original clamp to hold the disc down. I was experimenting with these a while back but am now playing with 1540 based players that have the CDM1.
That’s a Hagclock between the display and decoder. The valves are just there to keep the digital nastiness at bay 😉 .
Cheers,
Richard
Attachments
Interesting stuff, very cool clamp, I've wondered about the possibility of re-housing the player's internals.
The diodes were MBR1100.
Merry Christmas all
Simon
The diodes were MBR1100.
Merry Christmas all
Simon
IC Shielding
Happy New Year everyone!
Just a small update, I've not been doing too much hi-fi stuff lately. Today I shielded all the large ICs on the main board.
It does seem to sound better - smoother, less of the occasional unwanted edge, perhaps a little more detailed.
More mods to come soon.
Simon
Happy New Year everyone!
Just a small update, I've not been doing too much hi-fi stuff lately. Today I shielded all the large ICs on the main board.
It does seem to sound better - smoother, less of the occasional unwanted edge, perhaps a little more detailed.
More mods to come soon.
Simon
Happy new year too.
I didn't do much either. What i did is the shunt reg mod on the cd880.
And discovered a non 'A' 1541 can sound very good compared to a selected one (non a in CD304) .
I didn't do much either. What i did is the shunt reg mod on the cd880.
And discovered a non 'A' 1541 can sound very good compared to a selected one (non a in CD304) .
Well, if this is 'Top Trumps How little did you do over Christmas?', Well I'm a contender for the win. I did nothing, and it was quite enjoyable.
Damn! I think I remember some SMD adaptor boards arrived in the post, and I opened them. Perhaps someone has done even 'better' than that?
Damn! I think I remember some SMD adaptor boards arrived in the post, and I opened them. Perhaps someone has done even 'better' than that?
Golly, I just remembered I soldered in some new coils in my speakers so maybe I've done the most of anyone, anywhere... or perhaps not 😀
I might try some Burson discrete op-amps in this player, that would be an easy solution. I will be able to hear some without buying them, watch this space.
Simon
I might try some Burson discrete op-amps in this player, that would be an easy solution. I will be able to hear some without buying them, watch this space.
Simon
The 650 got a couple of treats last night - CMC heavily silver plated copper RCA jacks and Mundorf Supreme coupling caps on the output.
I wasn't prepared for how much better it would get - money well spent and then some. Once again I've found the Supremes to offer a real gain in smoothness (lack of grain and hardness), sweetness, detail, neutrality, musicality, openness, spatiality and amazing texture and decay of instruments. The effect is certainly amplified a lot by upgrading to top end sockets, after using the old steel and brass things!
I put the new sockets where the "filtered output" sockets once resided.
I can play at least 1 hour louder on the volume pot before harshness typically kicks in, which is an incredible feat to say I've not touched the power supplies.
The only really bad thing (other than the cost) is I've now made it a real ball ache to dismantle the player and get at the main PCB!
More madness and "audiophool B$" to come soon...
Simon
I wasn't prepared for how much better it would get - money well spent and then some. Once again I've found the Supremes to offer a real gain in smoothness (lack of grain and hardness), sweetness, detail, neutrality, musicality, openness, spatiality and amazing texture and decay of instruments. The effect is certainly amplified a lot by upgrading to top end sockets, after using the old steel and brass things!
I put the new sockets where the "filtered output" sockets once resided.
I can play at least 1 hour louder on the volume pot before harshness typically kicks in, which is an incredible feat to say I've not touched the power supplies.
The only really bad thing (other than the cost) is I've now made it a real ball ache to dismantle the player and get at the main PCB!
More madness and "audiophool B$" to come soon...
Simon
Hi Simon,
Where do you get these from and how much are they? I need 4 x 4.7uF for my balanced pre and wondering if its money well spent. Undecided.
Luke said:
Hi Luke,
I got them from http://www.diyhi-fi.co.uk/html/connectors.html
and
http://www.diyhi-fi.co.uk/html/mundorf_mcap_supreme.html
I think these are some of the best prices around (in the UK at least) for CMC and Mundorf parts, and Lee who runs the site is a top guy.
The caps aren't cheap but when you look at how they're made it's clear they cost a lot to manufacture - they use two windings in series to cancel inductance so need 4x the original capacitance.
They're well worth it if your system is good.
Simon
Thanks Simon,
Ill bookmark it. At the moment Ive got projects on, so my money will be spent elsewhere. One day I would like to try these caps out, damn they look good🙂
Ill bookmark it. At the moment Ive got projects on, so my money will be spent elsewhere. One day I would like to try these caps out, damn they look good🙂
Luke said:
No problem 😉
The pic on that page is actually of a ZN, which is the model down - it's much smaller and insanely heavy (it's made with super-thick plates). A good cap if space is an issue. Supremes look pretty sexy in the flesh, and they're huge. I'll post a pic at some point.
It's always tough to make choices between things we really need and wonderful quality parts, but I guess one can build up a stock over time and re-use them in different projects - as I am doing with regulators from my previous CD player... the digital filter is about to acquire an S Power http://www.audioupgrades.co.uk/regs.shtml
Simon
I just replaced the 7805 on my digital filter with an S Power (same pre-regulator in use).
Nice gains - cleaner, more tactile and present sound, cleaner, sweeter top end, better bass definition & extension and more detail all-round.
So there it is - the digital filter chip NEEDS a good regulator to perform at its best.
This thing is really starting to sing now.
Simon
Nice gains - cleaner, more tactile and present sound, cleaner, sweeter top end, better bass definition & extension and more detail all-round.
So there it is - the digital filter chip NEEDS a good regulator to perform at its best.
This thing is really starting to sing now.
Simon
Yes!
If you have the time, it's also very worth fiddling with the decoupling arrangement to absolutely minimise the noise seen at the 7220's supply pin in the audio band and as far up as you can see. This may mean more than one cap, snubbing-type arrangements, all sorts of gymnastics. And it has to play nice with the regulator you use... and how well (or not) the groundplane is laid out under the chip etc. Quite difficult to make recommendationsas a result - its so context-sensitive.
IOW getting these things to perform really, really well is not always as simple as just chucking an oscon and a reg at the problem 😉
To quote a breakfast cereal ad "one step at a time Martin..." !
I'm terrified I'll break another good CD player here if I get too cocky. I'll stick with my simple regulator additions for now and if it still reads discs after that, I'll hope you're still reading.
In the meantime I'll dust off my 'scope and learn how to use it (I keep saying this).
Simon
I'm terrified I'll break another good CD player here if I get too cocky. I'll stick with my simple regulator additions for now and if it still reads discs after that, I'll hope you're still reading.
In the meantime I'll dust off my 'scope and learn how to use it (I keep saying this).
Simon
Ive built a valve preamp with balanced out and its all run of the mill parts. I awnt to listen to it for a while and then may upgrade a few parts I think.
BTW Simon, Im not sure how much work youve done with these old phillips boards but they are a little fragile and I suggest you pick your parts wisely cos the second time you take it out the tracks will break🙂
BTW Simon, Im not sure how much work youve done with these old phillips boards but they are a little fragile and I suggest you pick your parts wisely cos the second time you take it out the tracks will break🙂