Denon DCD-2700 CD Player Mod Thread
- Thread starter Bratwurst7s
- Start date
808_state
Super Member
Finally got the 2700 back from repair! New laser and it's working great. It sounds as though it definitely needs a break-in period (it's basically NOS). So far the soundstage is very three dimensional and wide. The bass is ample but a little bit boomy (I am listening to a Diament Zeppelin II). I have it hooked to a connection on my preamp (Yamaha C-2x) that hasn't been used much so that could also be a contributor to the current sound. Overall the mid-range is relaxed and not harsh at all. By comparison my Yamaha CDX-410u is more detailed and maybe a tad harsh at times but is super transparent in the mid-range. I am very excited to have two wonderful cdp's (and a CDX-2000 sitting in Japan)!
Very nice 808_state! Looks pristine and like new. Mine is a bit scratched up in places.
My first impressions on the 2700 were the same as your's. It had better bass/midbass than my modded DCD-1290 but the 1290 had better upper end clarity. It was only after modding the 2700 that it bested the 1290 in every aspect. I'm thinking that perhaps by late spring I'll be ready to try adding a low jitter clock and find out if that brings anything to the table.
Cheers,
James
My first impressions on the 2700 were the same as your's. It had better bass/midbass than my modded DCD-1290 but the 1290 had better upper end clarity. It was only after modding the 2700 that it bested the 1290 in every aspect. I'm thinking that perhaps by late spring I'll be ready to try adding a low jitter clock and find out if that brings anything to the table.
Cheers,
James
808_state
Super Member
Thanks James! Today I'm listening to the Legacy reissue of Blue Oyster Cult's Spectres (Godzilla! I love the night!)) and it sounds wonderful. I can hear lots of texture in the bass and I love the punchiness. I also ordered some better cables for it (Ortofon AC3800 silver). After running it for a month or two I'll go back and re-read your mods and maybe see if my tech has time to try some of them. Thanks for pointing me to this wonderful player!
It's been a while since I've done anything new here bit I do have some new developments to report.
First, since my last posting I massively upgraded my system with a Yamaha CX-1 and MX-1 pre & power amp.
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/yamaha-cx-1-thread.790203/
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/yamaha-mx-1-thread.823308/
So overall system SQ is now greatly improved. And when working the CX-1 I replaced all of the carbon film resistors with Vishay metal film. And noticed at the time that in some sections Yamaha had used 1/3, 1/2 and 1w resistors, especially in the signal path. I read a Vishay white paper that stated that metal film lowers the noise floor and using a higher watt rating widens the bandwidth. As well as that, I added various bypass caps to the PSU filter caps and all elcos in the signal path. And raised the values of a few elcos doing duty as local filter caps. The results were pleasing.
Also, for the output coupling caps in a DCD-1290 I did a small experiment...
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....player-mod-thread.688774/page-3#post-11447135
So a few weeks ago I had the time to start looking at the 3rd 2700 that I bought. Originally I just bought it as a parts doner in case I had a problem with one of the 1st 2 2700's. But after looking it over I found that it was worth repairing.
Cheers,
James
First, since my last posting I massively upgraded my system with a Yamaha CX-1 and MX-1 pre & power amp.
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/yamaha-cx-1-thread.790203/
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/yamaha-mx-1-thread.823308/
So overall system SQ is now greatly improved. And when working the CX-1 I replaced all of the carbon film resistors with Vishay metal film. And noticed at the time that in some sections Yamaha had used 1/3, 1/2 and 1w resistors, especially in the signal path. I read a Vishay white paper that stated that metal film lowers the noise floor and using a higher watt rating widens the bandwidth. As well as that, I added various bypass caps to the PSU filter caps and all elcos in the signal path. And raised the values of a few elcos doing duty as local filter caps. The results were pleasing.
Also, for the output coupling caps in a DCD-1290 I did a small experiment...
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....player-mod-thread.688774/page-3#post-11447135
So a few weeks ago I had the time to start looking at the 3rd 2700 that I bought. Originally I just bought it as a parts doner in case I had a problem with one of the 1st 2 2700's. But after looking it over I found that it was worth repairing.
Cheers,
James
Another development concerns spindle motors. A post in dr*audio's long running "Troubleshooting CD Players" thread clued me to why some players sound irritating on the 1st few tracks. The spindle motor bushing is getting worn out. So I decided to look around and see if I could find one+ for the 2700.
First, I found that Denon P/N 9KA2A577A is a substitute for the 9KA85AO08 that the 2700 SM shows. I looked around and found 2 places that showed that they could order the assy, Encompass, and PacParts. I've heard good things about PacParts so I tried ordering 3 of them. They were listed at only $13.95 so the risk wasn't high. PacParts email'd me immediately and said that they could only get me 1 part, they were discontinued and that was the last one. So I bought it right away.
http://www.pacparts.com/part.cfm?part_no=9KA2A577A&mfg=Denon
It arrived in less than a week, well packed, and communication with PacParts was very good. All in all buying from them was a good experience. (no affiliation).
So I started searching ebay and found a fellow in Austria that sells a lot of OEM Denon parts that had 2 more of the assy's and I bought them also, paid less than €20 each. So unfortunately for other DCD-2700 owners out there I believe that I bought the last 3 spindle motor assembly's that there are. If you can find a new one anywhere I'd suggest buying it if you plan on keeping your 2700 for any length of time, imo they are just as important as the laser for sound quality.
I'll post some photos shortly.
Cheers,
James
edit: I forgot to mention that right after PacParts wrote me that the spindle motors were NLA I noticed that Encompass showed them as NLA also.
First, I found that Denon P/N 9KA2A577A is a substitute for the 9KA85AO08 that the 2700 SM shows. I looked around and found 2 places that showed that they could order the assy, Encompass, and PacParts. I've heard good things about PacParts so I tried ordering 3 of them. They were listed at only $13.95 so the risk wasn't high. PacParts email'd me immediately and said that they could only get me 1 part, they were discontinued and that was the last one. So I bought it right away.
http://www.pacparts.com/part.cfm?part_no=9KA2A577A&mfg=Denon
It arrived in less than a week, well packed, and communication with PacParts was very good. All in all buying from them was a good experience. (no affiliation).
So I started searching ebay and found a fellow in Austria that sells a lot of OEM Denon parts that had 2 more of the assy's and I bought them also, paid less than €20 each. So unfortunately for other DCD-2700 owners out there I believe that I bought the last 3 spindle motor assembly's that there are. If you can find a new one anywhere I'd suggest buying it if you plan on keeping your 2700 for any length of time, imo they are just as important as the laser for sound quality.
I'll post some photos shortly.
Cheers,
James
edit: I forgot to mention that right after PacParts wrote me that the spindle motors were NLA I noticed that Encompass showed them as NLA also.
Last edited:
So I found some feet for the 3rd unit on ebay, and made a list of all of the resistors and ceramic caps. Ordered a bunch of Vishay SFR-16 and SFR-25 and a few CMF & RN where I couldn't find the right SFR.
I also ordered some TDK MLCC-C0G(N0G) ceramic caps to replace the plain ceramic caps in the unit. These were a suggestion from Oilmaster in a different thread.
And some Panasonic ECW poly caps to use as bypass.
And I ordered some United Chemi-Con KMH 6800µF/50 caps. These have a much higher ripple rating than the Elna 4700µF that I've been using to go along with their higher µF value, and are the same size, so I wanted to try some.
https://www.mouser.de/Passive-Compo...hrough-Hole/SFR16S-Series/_/N-7gz41?P=1yzv4s9
https://www.mouser.de/Vishay/Passiv...Hole/SFR25-Series/_/N-7gz41?P=1z0zls5Z1yzu9b0
https://www.mouser.de/TDK/Passive-C...s/_/N-bkrdj?P=1z0z7l5Z1yxbokaZ1z0zl82Z1yzuw99
https://www.mouser.de/Passive-Compo...yzsq8i&Keyword=119837583&FS=True&Ntk=P_MarCom
https://www.mouser.de/ProductDetail/United-Chemi-Con/EKMH500VSN682MQ50S?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtZ1n0r9vR22dBjIkbB%2b54PcP65NeUFsmA=
Cheers,
James
I also ordered some TDK MLCC-C0G(N0G) ceramic caps to replace the plain ceramic caps in the unit. These were a suggestion from Oilmaster in a different thread.
And some Panasonic ECW poly caps to use as bypass.
And I ordered some United Chemi-Con KMH 6800µF/50 caps. These have a much higher ripple rating than the Elna 4700µF that I've been using to go along with their higher µF value, and are the same size, so I wanted to try some.
https://www.mouser.de/Passive-Compo...hrough-Hole/SFR16S-Series/_/N-7gz41?P=1yzv4s9
https://www.mouser.de/Vishay/Passiv...Hole/SFR25-Series/_/N-7gz41?P=1z0zls5Z1yzu9b0
https://www.mouser.de/TDK/Passive-C...s/_/N-bkrdj?P=1z0z7l5Z1yxbokaZ1z0zl82Z1yzuw99
https://www.mouser.de/Passive-Compo...yzsq8i&Keyword=119837583&FS=True&Ntk=P_MarCom
https://www.mouser.de/ProductDetail/United-Chemi-Con/EKMH500VSN682MQ50S?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtZ1n0r9vR22dBjIkbB%2b54PcP65NeUFsmA=
Cheers,
James
Last edited:
Other than being fairly beat up there were only 3 real problems with unit-3. Missing feet (bought), the power cord was replaced with a monstrous heavy cord soldered direct to the psu, and the loading tray sometimes won't stay open.
I don't use the headphone jack but my son does, so I started with working the headphone/volume control board. All of the resistors were replaced and the op-amp was replaced with a socket and a LME49720. The elcos were replaced with a UCC KYB 2200µF/16 and a Panasonic FM 470µF/25v.
Cheers,
James
I don't use the headphone jack but my son does, so I started with working the headphone/volume control board. All of the resistors were replaced and the op-amp was replaced with a socket and a LME49720. The elcos were replaced with a UCC KYB 2200µF/16 and a Panasonic FM 470µF/25v.
Cheers,
James
For the PSU I worked it exactly as before with the exception of using the UCC KMH 6800µF/50v filter caps and TDK multi-layer ceramics. And I added a Panasonic ECW 2.2µF in parallel to each filter cap under the pcb. I haven't replaced the voltage regulators yet at this time. I just noticed that I didn't take a shot of the by-pass caps, I'll take some photos and post them later.
Cheers,
James
Cheers,
James
Last edited:
The digital section was re-capped the same as the 1st 2 units, with the exception that in a few cases I used Panasonic FM instead of FC. Almost all of the carbon film resistors were replaced. LOL, after putting it back together I noticed that there were a few resistors that I missed, I'll have to go back in at a later date. Almost all of the ceramic caps were replaced with the TDK MLCC-C0G except for a few that I couldn't find correct replacements for (75pF & 0.0027µF). The TO-220 voltage regulator on the main board showed signs of getting hot so I added a heat sink.
The little Vishay SFR-16 resistors are a perfect fit but I couldn't find every value so a few are SFR-25, CMF-55 etc.
Cheers,
James
The little Vishay SFR-16 resistors are a perfect fit but I couldn't find every value so a few are SFR-25, CMF-55 etc.
Cheers,
James
Again, the analog section was done as before with the exception of all of the resistors getting replaced and a different layout on the final output coupling caps. Something that for some reason I hadn't noticed before is that in the analog section Denon made provisions for 2 different lengths for most of the resistors, which makes things more flexible. I used mostly SFR-25 there.
As the photos show, I used a single Nichicon ES bi-polar 220µF/50v and a single Wima MKS2 4.7µF film for the final output caps, in parallel, and jumpered the 2 other positions.
The 220µF got a Panasonic ECW poly film 2.2µF and 0.22µF by-pass and the 4.7µF got a 0.47µF and 0.1µF by-pass.
Cheers,
James
As the photos show, I used a single Nichicon ES bi-polar 220µF/50v and a single Wima MKS2 4.7µF film for the final output caps, in parallel, and jumpered the 2 other positions.
The 220µF got a Panasonic ECW poly film 2.2µF and 0.22µF by-pass and the 4.7µF got a 0.47µF and 0.1µF by-pass.
Cheers,
James
Lastly, the op-amps got MLCC 0.1µF across the +/- pads, and on the back side of the output coupling caps I added a 0.047µF and 0.01µF Wima by-pass to the 4.7µF and a 0.022µF to the 220µF.
Cheers,
James
Cheers,
James
So what did all of that do?
Since I still had my 1st unit in the system I plugged in unit-3 and did an A/B test. Not a blind test sorry, but that really didn't matter. The difference between the 2 units was pretty striking. I've been very happy with how my 1st DCD-2700 sounds up until now and this beat up 3rd unit bested it in every regard.
There is just more depth, better clarity, better everything. The grin factor with the 3rd unit was very high. Enough that I immediately brought unit-1 to the workbench for an upgrade.
This is a potful of work. A rough estimate is more than 30 hours of work. Part of that is because I ordered at least double of everything and measured each and every part and cherry-picked the best ones. I was able to get a basic tolerance of +/-0.5% on the resistors (with special attention to make matched L/R pairs), +/-5% or better on the elcos and +/-1-3% on the film caps. I don't know how much that actually brings to the table but I had the time and it can't hurt.
Umm, oh. I'm getting forgetful in my old age. Did I mention that I replaced the spindle motor and laser on this unit? But I was dumb and forgot to take photos. No matter, I did when I upgraded unit-1 so I'll post those shortly.
Cheers,
James
Since I still had my 1st unit in the system I plugged in unit-3 and did an A/B test. Not a blind test sorry, but that really didn't matter. The difference between the 2 units was pretty striking. I've been very happy with how my 1st DCD-2700 sounds up until now and this beat up 3rd unit bested it in every regard.
There is just more depth, better clarity, better everything. The grin factor with the 3rd unit was very high. Enough that I immediately brought unit-1 to the workbench for an upgrade.
This is a potful of work. A rough estimate is more than 30 hours of work. Part of that is because I ordered at least double of everything and measured each and every part and cherry-picked the best ones. I was able to get a basic tolerance of +/-0.5% on the resistors (with special attention to make matched L/R pairs), +/-5% or better on the elcos and +/-1-3% on the film caps. I don't know how much that actually brings to the table but I had the time and it can't hurt.
Umm, oh. I'm getting forgetful in my old age. Did I mention that I replaced the spindle motor and laser on this unit? But I was dumb and forgot to take photos. No matter, I did when I upgraded unit-1 so I'll post those shortly.
Cheers,
James
Here's a photo of the original spindle motor assy+ still mounted to the plastic carrier frame.
And here is the replacement assy. The spindle clamping disk is much simplified. No matter, it works just fine. The replacement motor P/N is identical to the original.
Cheers,
James
And here is the replacement assy. The spindle clamping disk is much simplified. No matter, it works just fine. The replacement motor P/N is identical to the original.
Cheers,
James
The laser sled drive motor and pcb has to be de-soldered from the old assy and soldered to the new one. just 2 tabs, super easy.
Cheers,
James
Cheers,
James
When I added the bypass caps to the output coupling caps I just took a little superglue and tacked them in position to the sides of the main caps. That made it very simple to bend the leads and solder them to the main caps. I did it this way to leave room under the pcb for the smaller caps.
There isn't a lot of difference between my unit-1 and unit-3 so I'm just going to mention where I took things even farther with unit-1.
In terms of replacing the resistors, ceramic caps, PSU, output caps & bypass caps everything is the same. But since I had those Nichicon KZ 470µF/50v caps in the output positions, 4 of them, I started looking a little more closely at the schematic where the C391, 392, 393 and 394 caps are positioned. They are 220µF/50v on the main board right next to the output coupling caps. And looking at the schematic they appear to be acting as local filter caps on the voltage supply lines for the entire analog section. So I removed them and moved the 470µF into their positions. You can see them in the above photos.
Cheers,
James
There isn't a lot of difference between my unit-1 and unit-3 so I'm just going to mention where I took things even farther with unit-1.
In terms of replacing the resistors, ceramic caps, PSU, output caps & bypass caps everything is the same. But since I had those Nichicon KZ 470µF/50v caps in the output positions, 4 of them, I started looking a little more closely at the schematic where the C391, 392, 393 and 394 caps are positioned. They are 220µF/50v on the main board right next to the output coupling caps. And looking at the schematic they appear to be acting as local filter caps on the voltage supply lines for the entire analog section. So I removed them and moved the 470µF into their positions. You can see them in the above photos.
Cheers,
James
So unit-1 has been finished since yesterday and in use and it sounds just so fantastic. I'm very happy with this round of work. For my use it has been worth it, but it was a heck of a lot of work. I did make a list of the resistors and will post it just as soon as I convert my spreadsheet to a pdf file.
Cheers,
James
Cheers,
James
Somehow I missed this post earlier. Thanks very much, it's been a fun and interesting journey so far.
Cheers,
James
Oh. And here are a couple of shots of the heatsink added to that voltage regulator...
Cheers,
James
Cheers,
James