I have this cdp for some years and each time I put a CD in, I am amazed of how easily it reads it, whether it is original or written in a CD burner. In fact I never found an audio CD that this monster wouldn't read.
Today I opened it up to check a dead LED light. I didn't change it since I can not find one of the same color and I don't want to change them all for a burnt one. I also had to fix one of its feet because the spring in it became softer than the others(the thing weighs over 11kg, ~22 pounds).
Other than that, the machine is rock solid and the build quality is exceptional. At the end of the post I will add some pictures with the guts and the feet.
I opened this for future reference of this model. I will try to add all the info I know.
I. The case. I have no idea what is the thing stuck on the panels, but when I knock on them they sound like a wallpapered concrete wall. It is applied on the top cover, in fact the top cover has another layer of insulation above the circuit boards, bottom cover, side panels.
II. Chassis. Thick steel everywhere. The panel that holds the top circuit board is full, it is not just a frame. The circuit board is put in soft plastic pegs. The whole thing is fixed to the rest of the chassis with 6 screws. In the middle there is a support beam to keep it from buckling although I don't see how that would happen.
III. Mechanics. The CD tray although it is made of plastic is reinforced with steel. The chassis of the whole mechanism is made of cast metal. The potentiometer for the volume is motorized, although very well built is a potential weakness but since it is almost never used it will not bother anyone even if it stops working.
IV. Electronics. Very clean build, testing points, quality pcb and components. Just look at the way the crystal clock is attached, upside down in a foam craddle. It has 2 x PCM56P-K one for each channel and 8 x jrc4560DA opamps. The laser still seems to have replacements in production. Here are some some specs:
Dynamic range: 96dB
Total harmonic distortion: 0.0015%
Analog fixed: 2,0 V at 110 Ohm
Analog variable 0 - 2,0 V at 110 Ohm
Digital (Coax): 0,5 Vss, 75 Ohm
V. Feet. There is a spring inside each of them and two damper pistons with rubber o-rings. As seen from the pictures the feet are tied to the bottom of the cdp through hinges. They seem to be effective in absorbing the earthquake-like vibrations from the trucks that pass under my window.
VI. Controls and outputs. It has all the controls needed for a cdp. play,pause,ff,rew,skip ff, skip rew, index, repeat, display for 20 songs and you can choose directly wich one you want to play. It also has a remote sensor, but unfortunately I do not have it so I have no idea what controls it had; probably all the ones available on the front of the machine. As outputs it has a fixed and a variable analog output and digital coax and optical output.
VII. Conclusion. This machine was not a TOTL cdp, just a very good one(at least in my opinion). When it was first marketed it sold for about 600$ (please correct me if I am wrong) and today you will not find this overkill build in that price range. Of course technology has evolved and the quality of the DAC's has increased, there is no doubt about that. You will buy better sounding machines for the same amount of money, but it seems that the build quality is nowhere near what it was 28 years ago.
I miss it. I miss the big heavy sturdy electronics although I am as old as the cdp above and never caught their golden age. I hate seeing colorful LCD's and dot matrix. I hate round plastic buttons and curves, over complicated receivers with lots of menus and features that you will never get to use. Please give me sharp edges, square buttons and metal knobs, give me brushed metal black or silver, metal switches and simple lights.
Anyway, here are the picture promised:
Today I opened it up to check a dead LED light. I didn't change it since I can not find one of the same color and I don't want to change them all for a burnt one. I also had to fix one of its feet because the spring in it became softer than the others(the thing weighs over 11kg, ~22 pounds).
Other than that, the machine is rock solid and the build quality is exceptional. At the end of the post I will add some pictures with the guts and the feet.
I opened this for future reference of this model. I will try to add all the info I know.
I. The case. I have no idea what is the thing stuck on the panels, but when I knock on them they sound like a wallpapered concrete wall. It is applied on the top cover, in fact the top cover has another layer of insulation above the circuit boards, bottom cover, side panels.
II. Chassis. Thick steel everywhere. The panel that holds the top circuit board is full, it is not just a frame. The circuit board is put in soft plastic pegs. The whole thing is fixed to the rest of the chassis with 6 screws. In the middle there is a support beam to keep it from buckling although I don't see how that would happen.
III. Mechanics. The CD tray although it is made of plastic is reinforced with steel. The chassis of the whole mechanism is made of cast metal. The potentiometer for the volume is motorized, although very well built is a potential weakness but since it is almost never used it will not bother anyone even if it stops working.
IV. Electronics. Very clean build, testing points, quality pcb and components. Just look at the way the crystal clock is attached, upside down in a foam craddle. It has 2 x PCM56P-K one for each channel and 8 x jrc4560DA opamps. The laser still seems to have replacements in production. Here are some some specs:
Dynamic range: 96dB
Total harmonic distortion: 0.0015%
Analog fixed: 2,0 V at 110 Ohm
Analog variable 0 - 2,0 V at 110 Ohm
Digital (Coax): 0,5 Vss, 75 Ohm
V. Feet. There is a spring inside each of them and two damper pistons with rubber o-rings. As seen from the pictures the feet are tied to the bottom of the cdp through hinges. They seem to be effective in absorbing the earthquake-like vibrations from the trucks that pass under my window.
VI. Controls and outputs. It has all the controls needed for a cdp. play,pause,ff,rew,skip ff, skip rew, index, repeat, display for 20 songs and you can choose directly wich one you want to play. It also has a remote sensor, but unfortunately I do not have it so I have no idea what controls it had; probably all the ones available on the front of the machine. As outputs it has a fixed and a variable analog output and digital coax and optical output.
VII. Conclusion. This machine was not a TOTL cdp, just a very good one(at least in my opinion). When it was first marketed it sold for about 600$ (please correct me if I am wrong) and today you will not find this overkill build in that price range. Of course technology has evolved and the quality of the DAC's has increased, there is no doubt about that. You will buy better sounding machines for the same amount of money, but it seems that the build quality is nowhere near what it was 28 years ago.
I miss it. I miss the big heavy sturdy electronics although I am as old as the cdp above and never caught their golden age. I hate seeing colorful LCD's and dot matrix. I hate round plastic buttons and curves, over complicated receivers with lots of menus and features that you will never get to use. Please give me sharp edges, square buttons and metal knobs, give me brushed metal black or silver, metal switches and simple lights.
Anyway, here are the picture promised:
Attachments
-
WP_20160127_015.jpg42.4 KB · Views: 438
-
WP_20160127_012.jpg59.8 KB · Views: 449
-
WP_20160127_013.jpg49.8 KB · Views: 446
-
WP_20160127_016.jpg37.3 KB · Views: 414
-
WP_20160127_017.jpg58.8 KB · Views: 403
-
WP_20160127_018.jpg45.5 KB · Views: 411
-
WP_20160127_001.jpg83.9 KB · Views: 431
-
WP_20160127_002.jpg65.5 KB · Views: 411
-
WP_20160127_005.jpg66.1 KB · Views: 413
-
WP_20160127_006.jpg38.6 KB · Views: 412