Right, some of you may of been following the Marantz/Alpha 9/P9 saga.... the worlds most boring soap opera (or maybe the second, I can still remember 'Crossroads').
I decided that I could spend a long time clucking and tinkering around, like some old man in a shed.... but my utility providers need money so I decided to stop mucking about and took the whole set up to Audiogold..... and it turns out that there is nothing wrong with the Arcam Alpha 9 and the P9 amps..... (phew, dems the one that will make money).
But the Marantz CD63 K.I. Sig is a different matter.... I have two and they were both fine when I bought them.... and they both developed similar problems soon after I got them. When left to run straight through a CD they are fine.... but should you change something using the remote (or indeed the buttons on the units); say skip forward/back, pause, stop, play.... then there is a 'bop' (almost akin to someone switching on/off a microphone).
Today at Audiogold the engineer managed to ascertain that the soldering on the phono plugs was knackered and that it needed going. Enthusiastic waggling caused the channel to disappear in and out........
Now... I did suspect this and there are two causes:
1) these are old machines and you could expect the solder to be a little dry and brittle and...
2) I use heavy, well made interconnects, which, I think, have pulled at the plugs.
Upon talking to the engineer he confirmed that a lot of his repairs were of this type and caused by plugs that are too stiff or that are so heavily constructed that over time they just pull down on the phono out of a unit.......
Of course I do not know if the soldering of the plugs will fix all the Marantz's problems.... if it did I am certainly going to get the other one done, but it is something to think about. Quality interconnects certainly make a large difference to sound quality.... but too well a constructed cable could also be shortening the life of the unit by putting too much strain on the phono plugs........
I decided that I could spend a long time clucking and tinkering around, like some old man in a shed.... but my utility providers need money so I decided to stop mucking about and took the whole set up to Audiogold..... and it turns out that there is nothing wrong with the Arcam Alpha 9 and the P9 amps..... (phew, dems the one that will make money).
But the Marantz CD63 K.I. Sig is a different matter.... I have two and they were both fine when I bought them.... and they both developed similar problems soon after I got them. When left to run straight through a CD they are fine.... but should you change something using the remote (or indeed the buttons on the units); say skip forward/back, pause, stop, play.... then there is a 'bop' (almost akin to someone switching on/off a microphone).
Today at Audiogold the engineer managed to ascertain that the soldering on the phono plugs was knackered and that it needed going. Enthusiastic waggling caused the channel to disappear in and out........
Now... I did suspect this and there are two causes:
1) these are old machines and you could expect the solder to be a little dry and brittle and...
2) I use heavy, well made interconnects, which, I think, have pulled at the plugs.
Upon talking to the engineer he confirmed that a lot of his repairs were of this type and caused by plugs that are too stiff or that are so heavily constructed that over time they just pull down on the phono out of a unit.......
Of course I do not know if the soldering of the plugs will fix all the Marantz's problems.... if it did I am certainly going to get the other one done, but it is something to think about. Quality interconnects certainly make a large difference to sound quality.... but too well a constructed cable could also be shortening the life of the unit by putting too much strain on the phono plugs........