Lucas_G said:
Hi,
I did a bunch of stuff, and that was after it was modded by Stan Warren. Freds in the linear and switching supply, bunch of blackgates, and a couple of Jensens in the supplies, oscons around the dac, more blackgates in other circuits. SuperclockII.
If you're serious, I can try to collect some real details, but I did not keep notes as I went along.
Randy
randytsuch said:
Hi Randy,
I was already looking for the Stan Warren Mod, but could not find the details.
Yes, we are quite serious about upgrading the SACD 1000 as well, so if you could manage to recollect some details on what you have done to you 1000, it would be very much appreciated. Many of these mods will also apply to the 963, so there should be many people who could learn from this. It is also usefull to hear what of the upgrades did the most to the sound...
Where did you fit in the Jensens?
What type of outputcaps did you use? What value?
Regards,
Lucas.
Re: Philips DVD963SA
I have no experience with the Philips but have some with a Sony SCD-1. I tried three different clocks: KC, LCaudio and Guido's in Allen Wright implementation but despite much better definition in the sound with a good clock I don't like the sound SACD at all.
--------------------------------------------------
Elso
I totally disagree, the SCD777/1 sounds very good with opamp, resistor, digitaal decoupling, and grounding mods on it's own clock. I have actually compared the SCD777 SACD with dCS DSD and 24/192 upsampling on two layer discs, and the 777 on its own sounds quite close to the dCS system and musical.
I would suggest that your system cannot take the bandwidth, especially if you like dacs with no oversampling filter.
Fred
I have no experience with the Philips but have some with a Sony SCD-1. I tried three different clocks: KC, LCaudio and Guido's in Allen Wright implementation but despite much better definition in the sound with a good clock I don't like the sound SACD at all.
--------------------------------------------------
Elso
I totally disagree, the SCD777/1 sounds very good with opamp, resistor, digitaal decoupling, and grounding mods on it's own clock. I have actually compared the SCD777 SACD with dCS DSD and 24/192 upsampling on two layer discs, and the 777 on its own sounds quite close to the dCS system and musical.
I would suggest that your system cannot take the bandwidth, especially if you like dacs with no oversampling filter.
Fred
I can report on some initial modifications to my DVD-963SA.
I started with the green stripe fix. I found it easiest to solder a small link over the existing inductor on the progressive scan board.
At the same time I replaced the main power supply capacitor with a blackgate (150uF, 350V). I also replaced the two 1000uF capacitors on the progressive scan board with blackgates. I installed a small amount of EAR isodamp on the center partition and on the inside of the top cover.
DVD playback is clearly improved. The green stripes are gone, the image is cleaner, and it seems that colors are purer, or brighter somehow. Faces in particular look more natural.
I started with the green stripe fix. I found it easiest to solder a small link over the existing inductor on the progressive scan board.
At the same time I replaced the main power supply capacitor with a blackgate (150uF, 350V). I also replaced the two 1000uF capacitors on the progressive scan board with blackgates. I installed a small amount of EAR isodamp on the center partition and on the inside of the top cover.
DVD playback is clearly improved. The green stripes are gone, the image is cleaner, and it seems that colors are purer, or brighter somehow. Faces in particular look more natural.
Interesting news also from Allen Wright:
http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/hirez/messages/152118.html
http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/hirez/messages/152118.html
Any member can share whether he has change what critical caps in the audio and power circuit? Thanks!
😉
😉
After 6 weeks of evaluating the 963sa (vs my old audiolab 8000CD) I decided that neither the sound from the front channel analog outputs nor the coax were good enough (much less ambience and detail than the other players). I sold my 963sa and got a Denon 3800 for the same price and now I am really happy (but no SACD). If anyone works out how to improve the didgital out of this player I may consider it again in the future.
Also, with respect to PQ, this player has CSS enabled in the deinterlacer which causes more noise in the picture when compared to my Philips 985 recorder (FLI2200 chip). Someone also said that the new 2300 series deinterlacer processes all data in 8-bit vs the 10-bit processing used by the old chip. Anyhow, I will be very interested to see how much more people can get out of this player by further mods (with mine I only got as far as replacing the upsampler and the big cap in the PS).
😉
Also, with respect to PQ, this player has CSS enabled in the deinterlacer which causes more noise in the picture when compared to my Philips 985 recorder (FLI2200 chip). Someone also said that the new 2300 series deinterlacer processes all data in 8-bit vs the 10-bit processing used by the old chip. Anyhow, I will be very interested to see how much more people can get out of this player by further mods (with mine I only got as far as replacing the upsampler and the big cap in the PS).
😉
963 video fix
I have continued to modify the 963, and I think that I finally have the main video problems solved.
The stock video playback can be spectacular on high-quality DVDs, but is often terrible on lower quality or noisy DVDs. I think that the fundamental problem is insufficient power supply regulation and decoupling leading to interactions between the digital processing chips and the D to A converter on the video card.
For example, the input to part # 7300, a LF25C 2.5V regulator, has been isolated with a 10uH inductor. So this point is floating at high frequencies. Unfortunately, this point also supplies the 3.3V digital circuits.
Ideally, one should put some capacitors here to ground (as shown in AK47's pictures of his modifications on AVS Forum) to isolate all of these different digital supply lines.
So I set out to improve the power supply regulation and bypassing.
Previously I had done the green stripe fix (shorting inductor # 5203), and replaced the main power supply capacitor (150uF, 350V, # 2116), and the two 1000 uF capacitors (# 2304, 2314) with blackgates.
This time, due to space constraints imposed by my large 1000uF blackgate capacitors, I started by adding 0.22 uF film capacitors across electrolytic capacitors # 2100, 2107, 2308, 2320, 2321, 2322.
At the same time I replaced SMPS filter capacitors # 2215, and 2255 with blackgates.
This solved the main problems, and since then I have also added a three-pronged filtered AC plug to provide a good ground. This further improves picture quality.
The occasional macro blocking errors, and the general roughness of the image on poor quality, noisy, or grainy DVDs are now fixed !
I am still awaiting the service manual from DOKNET before I start working on the audio board. In the meantime, however, I am puzzled to see +/- 8V supplies for the AD 8032 OP AMP when the specifications list an absolute maximum rating of +/- 6.3 V.
I have continued to modify the 963, and I think that I finally have the main video problems solved.
The stock video playback can be spectacular on high-quality DVDs, but is often terrible on lower quality or noisy DVDs. I think that the fundamental problem is insufficient power supply regulation and decoupling leading to interactions between the digital processing chips and the D to A converter on the video card.
For example, the input to part # 7300, a LF25C 2.5V regulator, has been isolated with a 10uH inductor. So this point is floating at high frequencies. Unfortunately, this point also supplies the 3.3V digital circuits.
Ideally, one should put some capacitors here to ground (as shown in AK47's pictures of his modifications on AVS Forum) to isolate all of these different digital supply lines.
So I set out to improve the power supply regulation and bypassing.
Previously I had done the green stripe fix (shorting inductor # 5203), and replaced the main power supply capacitor (150uF, 350V, # 2116), and the two 1000 uF capacitors (# 2304, 2314) with blackgates.
This time, due to space constraints imposed by my large 1000uF blackgate capacitors, I started by adding 0.22 uF film capacitors across electrolytic capacitors # 2100, 2107, 2308, 2320, 2321, 2322.
At the same time I replaced SMPS filter capacitors # 2215, and 2255 with blackgates.
This solved the main problems, and since then I have also added a three-pronged filtered AC plug to provide a good ground. This further improves picture quality.
The occasional macro blocking errors, and the general roughness of the image on poor quality, noisy, or grainy DVDs are now fixed !
I am still awaiting the service manual from DOKNET before I start working on the audio board. In the meantime, however, I am puzzled to see +/- 8V supplies for the AD 8032 OP AMP when the specifications list an absolute maximum rating of +/- 6.3 V.
Looking at the schematics, it is clear that the video DAC (ADV7300) is not properly decoupled and is connected to the previously mentioned problematic 2.5V regulator.
It looks like one should also add film bypass capacitors to the input of the LF 25C and cap #2304. I will try this in the next go-around.
It looks like one should also add film bypass capacitors to the input of the LF 25C and cap #2304. I will try this in the next go-around.
OK, I have also added 0.33 uF caps across #2304, 2315, and the LF25C input to ground.
These remove additional video noise caused by the green stripe fix.
The video is now looking very clean.
On to audio:
In stock form I find the sound to be unimpressive.
Loud passages are distorted, details are unclear, there is no body, and violins sound horrific even on SACD. In short, there is lots of room for improvement.
I think the van Medevoort mods make a good start. I count roughly 23 electrolytic capacitors on the audio board that should be bypassed in addition to 6 that I would replace with standard blackgates, and of course the four output capacitors that will be replaced with 100 uF blackgate N.
I also agree that the op amp power supply will need to be replaced. As mentioned above the +8V supply also supplies a +5V regulator for the DAC. Furthermore the -8V supply is also connected to all sorts of digital outputs (as a pulldown for zener diodes). And of course +/- 8V is larger then the maximum specified voltage for the AD8032 op amp. There are also several unused parts such as the LM833 for the stereo L/R outputs that could be removed.
This leaves the question of how the output stage should be upgraded.
I need to drive a relatively low impedance passive preamp.
These remove additional video noise caused by the green stripe fix.
The video is now looking very clean.
On to audio:
In stock form I find the sound to be unimpressive.
Loud passages are distorted, details are unclear, there is no body, and violins sound horrific even on SACD. In short, there is lots of room for improvement.
I think the van Medevoort mods make a good start. I count roughly 23 electrolytic capacitors on the audio board that should be bypassed in addition to 6 that I would replace with standard blackgates, and of course the four output capacitors that will be replaced with 100 uF blackgate N.
I also agree that the op amp power supply will need to be replaced. As mentioned above the +8V supply also supplies a +5V regulator for the DAC. Furthermore the -8V supply is also connected to all sorts of digital outputs (as a pulldown for zener diodes). And of course +/- 8V is larger then the maximum specified voltage for the AD8032 op amp. There are also several unused parts such as the LM833 for the stereo L/R outputs that could be removed.
This leaves the question of how the output stage should be upgraded.
I need to drive a relatively low impedance passive preamp.
Possible to change the output voltage?
Can I change the original +/- 8V output voltage to, say, +/- 12V ?
I've change the opamps to AD8620, which is a max. +/-13V.
Now, I am considering to rebuild an analog voltage using R-core to replace the switchin PS for the analog output.
Will there other part, ecept the +5V regulator, that will use the same analog voltage which cannot tolerent the higher output?
Thanks for your opinion and sharings.
Can I change the original +/- 8V output voltage to, say, +/- 12V ?
I've change the opamps to AD8620, which is a max. +/-13V.
Now, I am considering to rebuild an analog voltage using R-core to replace the switchin PS for the analog output.
Will there other part, ecept the +5V regulator, that will use the same analog voltage which cannot tolerent the higher output?
Thanks for your opinion and sharings.
Video mods update:
Bypassed e-cap #2323 with 0.33 uF film cap, increased bypass on #2304 to 0.66uF, and added 47 uF BG to +3.3V supply using connector #1200 pins 1 & 2. Video is now very clean and clear.
Audio:
I did the audio mods in two stages (as parts arrived):
First stage:
Replaced output capacitors #2421, 2429 with nonpolar 100uF BG N.
Bypassed e-caps #2606, 2608, 2610, 2613, 2614, 2616, 2619, 2625, 2626, 2627, and 2628 with 0.22 - 0.33 uF film caps.
This already had a very significant impact on the audio quality. The annoying quality of the unmodified player is gone. The sound is relaxed, full-bodied, and very pleasant to listen to.
Second stage:
Replaced #2235 with 220 uF BG and #2285 with 100 uF BG. (+3.3, -12V remaining power supply filter caps).
Replaced #2312 with 100 uF BG (DAC bypass), and
#2442, 2443, 2444, 2445 with 470 uF BG (op amp bypass).
Now the sound is excellent. Instruments sound right, coherent, full-bodied, but detailed, airy, and relaxed.
The player is transformed. SACD and upsampled CD can sound wonderful.
There is still room for improvement. Complex orchestral works, and strings can still be improved, but the fundamentals are there.
I would definitely recommend these mods before installing a linear power supply.
Thanks to everyone here for inspiration and ideas.
Bypassed e-cap #2323 with 0.33 uF film cap, increased bypass on #2304 to 0.66uF, and added 47 uF BG to +3.3V supply using connector #1200 pins 1 & 2. Video is now very clean and clear.
Audio:
I did the audio mods in two stages (as parts arrived):
First stage:
Replaced output capacitors #2421, 2429 with nonpolar 100uF BG N.
Bypassed e-caps #2606, 2608, 2610, 2613, 2614, 2616, 2619, 2625, 2626, 2627, and 2628 with 0.22 - 0.33 uF film caps.
This already had a very significant impact on the audio quality. The annoying quality of the unmodified player is gone. The sound is relaxed, full-bodied, and very pleasant to listen to.
Second stage:
Replaced #2235 with 220 uF BG and #2285 with 100 uF BG. (+3.3, -12V remaining power supply filter caps).
Replaced #2312 with 100 uF BG (DAC bypass), and
#2442, 2443, 2444, 2445 with 470 uF BG (op amp bypass).
Now the sound is excellent. Instruments sound right, coherent, full-bodied, but detailed, airy, and relaxed.
The player is transformed. SACD and upsampled CD can sound wonderful.
There is still room for improvement. Complex orchestral works, and strings can still be improved, but the fundamentals are there.
I would definitely recommend these mods before installing a linear power supply.
Thanks to everyone here for inspiration and ideas.
Suggestion of by-pass film cap.
Please share which bypass film cap is good but cheap/valule. Thanks!
Please share which bypass film cap is good but cheap/valule. Thanks!
Alvin,
0.22 - 0.33 uF metallized polyester bypass capacitors are small and very easy to solder across the existing electrolytic capacitors. They are commonly available and can be purchased from digikey for example (part #3015PH-ND, 3016PH-ND). Be sure to use proper ESD protection, i.e. a proper resistive grounding strap on your wrist / grounded work surface.
0.22 - 0.33 uF metallized polyester bypass capacitors are small and very easy to solder across the existing electrolytic capacitors. They are commonly available and can be purchased from digikey for example (part #3015PH-ND, 3016PH-ND). Be sure to use proper ESD protection, i.e. a proper resistive grounding strap on your wrist / grounded work surface.
Changing output voltage
Alvin,
It looks like if you lift jumpers #4604 and 4606 you will isolate the +8V_OpAmp and the -8VA lines. You could then hook up your new power to any convenient spot on the op amps or bypass capacitors.
In addition to the 8032 and 8022 op amps, there is also a switch (7400) , two 5532 op amp chips, and an 833 opamp (7401) on these lines.
You can purchase the schematics from Doknet...
Alvin,
It looks like if you lift jumpers #4604 and 4606 you will isolate the +8V_OpAmp and the -8VA lines. You could then hook up your new power to any convenient spot on the op amps or bypass capacitors.
In addition to the 8032 and 8022 op amps, there is also a switch (7400) , two 5532 op amp chips, and an 833 opamp (7401) on these lines.
You can purchase the schematics from Doknet...