Upgrading Philips DVD 963 SA

broadminded

Hans L said:

Thank you Sander for the best laugh I had in a while (was the joke good or is my life sad, I'll never know 😀)

and of course for clearing that up. Nice site btw!


This shouldn't be interpreted as a pis$ on BG users (Saffier, hope you're laughing too 🙂 ), it wouldn't be the first time that baloney actually sounds good. But in this case I feel a lot better spending my money on a proper quality filmcap in the output and low esr/imp caps for filtering in the power supply.


Hans,
Well, did you hear what the BG'n in super e-cap configuration in a electrical circuit? It isn't expensive, there are other more expensive things in audio. What about image and brand!
There are many "unexplainable" things in audio;
Bybee
Quantum
Harmonix
Cryogenics
or
digital vs analog
solid state versus tubes
upsampling vs oversampling vs non-oversampling DAC's

Why would you care for these products if you can not explain them, would make you look like a fool?
I'm not waiting for a simplistic explanation, I can do that myself.
I rather tweak for music's sake and do it on a theoratical and empirical basis.

Keep on smiling and have fun.

Saffier 😉
 
I tried the super e-cap but couldn't get the 50 uF black gates so I tried two super e-caps from 33uF x4 getting me close to the 100uF that was there before. After a while now I'm starting to doubt did it sound this beautifull beore? I'm not sure but well it cost me a few bucks and I'm not regretting it.
 
question

I want to add a new output stage to the 963sa with a seperate power supply. I like to shut the outputstage off if the player is on standby.

I thought to be smart and connected a solid state relais to the 12V of the switched supply of the 963sa. This fried my 963sa power supply:hot: I saw a neat little cloud of smoke and as you know you cannot put this smokecloud back in the component even if you knew where it came from. So something went wrong and I don't want to risk my gear the next time.

So when I have another power supply I still have to conquer this problem. Can anybody tell me how to solve this. Of course I can also use a normal relais, but I do not know how to connect this or what logic circuit I have to use.
 
PSU

Jaap,

I'm sorry to her about the fried PSU. I have no spare one left, sold to another modder.
You need to have a suitable relais, which has high enough power handling and can be switched with 12V. You need to connect the switch (+12V) to pin 5 of the PSU outputcable. DO NOT touch any other pin, this will short the PSU and BBQ your player.
This should do it.
I do not dare to try the linear PSU on my player. the smd / multilayer structure of the board is to sensitive for me.

Have fun.

Saffier
 
thnxs

Saffier,

Thanks, I connected to pin 7 of the small and not used connector (=+12V). Anyway,I just connected the solid state relais and I suppose I have to use some transistors in between. I will look into that. Your pin 5 is +12Vstby, I thought this point keeps his voltage after shutting off.

jh
 
PS modifications

Hi,

I did not find anything on the PS modifications that I found on a french and dutch site. I did these modifications and the video black is much blacker and the collors are more real. Is this topic treated somewhere on this forum?

And one question, I noticed that the power ground lead is internal not connected. Did you guys connect it to the case?

http://www.homecinema-fr.com/laric/963HCFR.html#module
http://www.htforum.nl/yabbse/index.php?topic=23285.0
http://etmriwi.xs4all.nl/ht/modificeren_van_philips_963sa.doc
 
963sa finally done

I have finally done the planned upgrades: new diodes + Jensen 4-pole cap + rubycon ZA caps in the powersupply.

New outputstage: D1 designed bij Nelson Pass + piggybacked the AD1955 + changed about 6 or 7 caps on critical places on motherboard.
Used Mundorf silver and Hovland caps in outputstage D1.

Sounds impressive:Popworm:

Anybody already seen the inside of the new Philips 900sa ?
 
Hi Saffier,
I took your advice and applied damping material to my transport and placed ferrites over the power lines coming in from the SMPS. I also replaced the two-prong IEC with a three prong plug and attached a ground to the chassis. I also swapped out that big cap on the SMPS for a Blackgate. The changes are quite profound and definitely for the better. Now I can begin to sense some of the potential that is still hiding inside the 963sa. Needless to say, I am really eager to try some more of the great things you've done with your player, but am curious if it would be possible for you to post a detailed description (in step-by-step terms, i.e., remove part #xyz, replace with part ..., or remove part xyz and solder in silver wires in place of the caps, run these wires to the terminals of two blackgate caps with values... mounted in a block of wood, then run wires from these caps to point abc on the circuit board, or directly to the RCA plugs, etc.) of how you added the "snubber caps" and diodes to your SMPS and how you re-did your output with the e-cap config'ed Blackgates? I'm sorry for my ignorance, I'm quite good with a soldering iron and handy with tools (I've built my own speakers and subwoofers, but I had someone else do the crossovers), and I would love my 963sa to sound better, but I'm a molecular biologist, not an electrical engineer, and am not too expert on understanding the precise electrical science behind the mod's.
Thanks very much for your help
Chris
 
caps

I used the pcb's of promitheus (you can look it up somewhere on diyaudio). He specifies a 4.7 uF cap. This is lower than in the origninal design because he has no volume-control. I used 2.2 uF mundorf + 2.7 uF Hovland which were in my inventory from an old loudspeaker project.
 
Ad8066

Hi there,

Just swapped sunday morning the AD8032 opamp for the AD8066 opamp.
Tricky soldering but worth the effort. More transparancy and better dynamics.
Next will be the piggy back soldering of a second AD1955 DAC chip, like in the flagship Accuphase player. I already bought it and have to get some very thin solder wire 0,4mm to have this "nightmare" soldered without damaging it.

Regards,
Saffier
 
Re: question

Jaap said:
I want to add a new output stage to the 963sa with a seperate power supply. I like to shut the outputstage off if the player is on standby.

I thought to be smart and connected a solid state relais to the 12V of the switched supply of the 963sa. This fried my 963sa power supply:hot: I saw a neat little cloud of smoke and as you know you cannot put this smokecloud back in the component even if you knew where it came from. So something went wrong and I don't want to risk my gear the next time.

So when I have another power supply I still have to conquer this problem. Can anybody tell me how to solve this. Of course I can also use a normal relais, but I do not know how to connect this or what logic circuit I have to use.

Please use a power relay instead. Also, make sure you put a diode across the 12V control pin and ground to protect the relay. It seems to me that the solid state relay was burnt then caused a short to the SMPS.

You may also want to add in a small relay at the outputs to repalce the muting transistors. The relay is controlled by the 5V stand-by signal and will pull the output to ground during the stand-by mode.

-finney
 
Re: caps

Jaap said:
I used the pcb's of promitheus (you can look it up somewhere on diyaudio). He specifies a 4.7 uF cap. This is lower than in the origninal design because he has no volume-control. I used 2.2 uF mundorf + 2.7 uF Hovland which were in my inventory from an old loudspeaker project.
I would think the cap doesn't mind what happens before him, but happens after it in the circuit. I wonder wether the small value of 4,7uF leads to a measurable highpass filter.
 
caps and DACs

Hi Jaap,
Could you specify what ypou used as replacements for the existing diodes, and which part number diodes you changed out of the PSU? Also, is the Jensen 4-pole a "plug-and-play" mod, or to changes have to be made since it is replacing a 2-pole cap? Also, could you comment on which specific caps in the motherboard and PSU you changed, and offer some advice on any tricks you discovered to stack the 3 DACs, since this does not seem like a trivial soldering job. I received my two new AD1955's today, but am afraid to try stacking these onto the existing DAC without some tips as to how to go about doing this (i.e., did you leave the existing DAC on the board for the soldering, or did you desolder it, stack the three on the bench and then put the whole stack back into the board, etc.).
Thanks,
Chris
 
Re: Interest in spare parts 963?

refox001 said:
My 963 is completely death now so I'm selling parts or the whole box if someone is interested. There is power everywhere on the board but it just doesn't boot anymore. I can't find a part that is obviously brooken :-(
Here's a novel idea: have it repaired :cannotbe: After all, it's a 400eur player...
 
Re: Interest in spare parts 963?

refox001 said:
My 963 is completely death now so I'm selling parts or the whole box if someone is interested. There is power everywhere on the board but it just doesn't boot anymore. I can't find a part that is obviously brooken :-(

I'm sorry to hear your 963 is dead...after what mod did it break down?
Did you reconnect al cables correctly? It happened to me once that the internal power cable (from PSU to AV board) was not fully locked in the socket....
Did you check all solder joints? No (metal) debris left on the board?
You probably should get it repaired....