Level 1 upgrade to Marantz CD63 ki

[eggontoast]

Hello Major. I am having some upgrades done on my amps and CD player with Fidelity Audio and will post the results over the next few weeks. In the meantime I thought I'de share this short article about modding in general. I think it explains things quite well and gives an idea of how modifying internal parts can help and why.

I'm curious to know what mods you are having done to your Alpha equipment.

 

[Overdose]

I have to strongly disagree with what you guys are syaing about these mods. The implication is that manufacturers are releasing substandard equipment that amateurs can simply tweak with a variety of electronic components to create a substantially better item. Any changes in sound presentation are more likely going to be strongly subject to bias, notwithstanding the fact that differences between digital components are relatively small in the first place.

By all means spend your money as you wish, but if I were to be spending the sort of money mentioned, I'd like to see some actual before and after measurements of the performance of the equipment, such as frequency response and distortion figures/graphs.

Also important, is the fact that the sums of money involved can buy some very capable equipment that above all else, are new and have warranties.

Anyway, rant over, I just don't like seeing people being ripped off.

 

[Inter_Voice]

I have to strongly disagree with what you guys are syaing about these mods. The implication is that manufacturers are releasing substandard equipment that amateurs can simply tweak with a variety of electronic components to create a substantially better item. Any changes in sound presentation are more likely going to be strongly subject to bias, notwithstanding the fact that differences between digital components are relatively small in the first place.

By all means spend your money as you wish, but if I were to be spending the sort of money mentioned, I'd like to see some actual before and after measurements of the performance of the equipment, such as frequency response and distortion figures/graphs.

Also important, is the fact that the sums of money involved can buy some very capable equipment that above all else, are new and have warranties.

Anyway, rant over, I just don't like seeing people being ripped off.

I don't think I can go along with you. My personal experience is that the CD63 CDP has GREAT improvements after changing with better components. In modding the CD63 we are not saying changing the original circuit design, what we have done is just changing the poor components with better quality ones and to reduce the noise level and increase the stability of the power supply and use better clocks etc. The circuit design has never been touched. My ear and brain can tell me that there is a distinct difference and it is not a bias view. I have asked my friends to compare my modded CD63 with my Leema Antila II and everyone was amazed and could not believe the SQ of the CD63 and eventually I sold the Antila II in eBay. In my case the material cost of the toroidal transformers, the 2 low jitter clocks, the smoothing caps and other critical caps as well as a number of very low noise voltage regulators and discrete opamps etc costed me more than £600 but I still hold the view that the money is well spent.

I can only agree with you that 3rd party modder is a bit overcharged but if you have the money there is no harm to use them. However I strongly recommend going the DIY path as it will cost you nothing other than the costs of electronic componemts.

You may wish to know that my CD63 was modded in a way which is more than Fidelity Audio's Level 3 and I recalled that the total time spent in such work is about 3 to 4 full days and you can calculate the cost of labour by a 3rd party modder.

 

[BigH]

Thanks for the tips. I will send it of to fidelity as not confident with a soldering iron. I want the level 1 upgrade plus changing phono sockets as stock ones are crap , which ones should I go for? Also mains cable too

As per my question above...still wondering what improvement you think you're paying for if you intend to continue using the external DAC? I'm not having a pop, I'm trying to save you money...

Maybe go for the transport only option?

 

[BigH]

Trust me you will be amazed by the BIG improvement in SQ when you have done all the mods

I'm curious to know how the sound has changed?

 

[Inter_Voice]

I would love to hear some opinions from people who have had this done before I decide . I am using the CD player with an rdac at the moment . I think the upgrade would improve things some what

If you use your CD 63 as a transport you will still hear improvements in SQ, in particular, you will notice that the bass is much extended and much tigther. It is because the servo has more stable power supply as FA uses a 50VA TX to drive the servo circuit. To further improve the SQ I would also suggest to replace the stock 8.xx Mhz clock with a very low jitter clock of much higher quality.

 

[BigH]

I would love to hear some opinions from people who have had this done before I decide . I am using the CD player with an rdac at the moment . I think the upgrade would improve things some what

If you use your CD 63 as a transport you will still hear improvements in SQ, in particular, you will notice that the bass is much extended and much tigther. It is because the servo has more stable power supply as FA uses a 50VA TX to drive the servo circuit. To further improve the SQ I would also suggest to replace the stock 8.xx Mhz clock with a very low jitter clock of much higher quality.

Where do you buy the clock etc?. Fidelity Audio DIY components seem expensive.

 

[Inter_Voice]

Trust me you will be amazed by the BIG improvement in SQ when you have done all the mods

I'm curious to know how the sound has changed?

The bass is much more extended and tigther, more space and air, better clarity with bigger soundstaging and positioning of instruments is very accurate, mid range is particularily GOOD (warm and touching), high frequencies are extended but no feeling of fatigue on long hours of listening. I listen mostly Jazz (vocals), classical music and sometimes blues which this modded CD63 suits them excellently. Sorry I have no experience on Rock music.

 

[Inter_Voice]

I would love to hear some opinions from people who have had this done before I decide . I am using the CD player with an rdac at the moment . I think the upgrade would improve things some what

If you use your CD 63 as a transport you will still hear improvements in SQ, in particular, you will notice that the bass is much extended and much tigther. It is because the servo has more stable power supply as FA uses a 50VA TX to drive the servo circuit. To further improve the SQ I would also suggest to replace the stock 8.xx Mhz clock with a very low jitter clock of much higher quality.

Where do you buy the clock etc?. Fidelity Audio DIY components seem expensive.

Yes you are right the FA clock is extremely expensive (£250 !!) nevertheless it is the best performed clock available on the market from the discussion in the DIYAUDIO.COM forum. I also used a 8.xx MHz clock from FA for my CD63's servo.

However for the DAC and decoder (16.xx MHz) I used this one from Korea, unfortunately this supplier does not provide a clock with 8.xx Mhz.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/R-Clock-High-Precision-Low-Jitter-Reference-Clock-with-Ultra-Low-Noise-Regulator-/230871603430?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c10518e6#ht_961wt_1000

 

[stefanom]

Thanks for the tips. I will send it of to fidelity as not confident with a soldering iron. I want the level 1 upgrade plus changing phono sockets as stock ones are crap , which ones should I go for? Also mains cable too

Hi I replaced mine RCA sockets with Neutrik NYS367. Gold-plated and fit easily to the chassis.

You should mod your player, you won't regret it. I am in the process of modding my 15 year old CD63 KI. I have already swapped diodes and some critical capacitors in various stages. My player has taken a leap forward in performance. Next on agenda is replacing op-amps for much better ones and adding low jitter clock.

Trust me you will be amazed by the BIG improvement in SQ when you have done all the mods

I suggest you change the stock transformer with a much bigger capacity and there will be noticeable improvement in performance. Then change the smoothing caps for the transformers and other critical caps for the servo and opamps. Change the diodes, disable the HDAM and headphone circuit, disable the stock muting circuit and replace it with relay operated muting circuit, change the opamps to 4562HA or diccrete opamps like Burson, change the low jitter clocks for the servo (8.xx Mhz), DAC and decoder (16.xx Mhz), use very low noise regulators supplying independent power to the ICs, decoder and DAC etc. Put damping pads on the CDP case.

Thanks for the tips Inter_Voice. I have swapped the rectifier diodes to schottkys, replaced most of the caps in PSU...for.ex. smoothers to Panasonic TSUP 22000uF. I have removed the muting transistors and bypassed the DC blocking caps. Replaced caps around opamps and in digital section with Rubycon ZLG/ZL. I have ordered LME49720HA opamps....they get great reviews. When I have changed them, I will bypass the HDAM circuit.

Then it's low jitter clocks, low noise regulators, bigger transformer...and on and on....til I have replaced every component in the player.

 

[Inter_Voice]

Thanks for the tips. I will send it of to fidelity as not confident with a soldering iron. I want the level 1 upgrade plus changing phono sockets as stock ones are crap , which ones should I go for? Also mains cable too

Hi I replaced mine RCA sockets with Neutrik NYS367. Gold-plated and fit easily to the chassis.

You should mod your player, you won't regret it. I am in the process of modding my 15 year old CD63 KI. I have already swapped diodes and some critical capacitors in various stages. My player has taken a leap forward in performance. Next on agenda is replacing op-amps for much better ones and adding low jitter clock.

Trust me you will be amazed by the BIG improvement in SQ when you have done all the mods

I suggest you change the stock transformer with a much bigger capacity and there will be noticeable improvement in performance. Then change the smoothing caps for the transformers and other critical caps for the servo and opamps. Change the diodes, disable the HDAM and headphone circuit, disable the stock muting circuit and replace it with relay operated muting circuit, change the opamps to 4562HA or diccrete opamps like Burson, change the low jitter clocks for the servo (8.xx Mhz), DAC and decoder (16.xx Mhz), use very low noise regulators supplying independent power to the ICs, decoder and DAC etc. Put damping pads on the CDP case.

Thanks for the tips Inter_Voice. I have swapped the rectifier diodes to schottkys, replaced most of the caps in PSU...for.ex. smoothers to Panasonic TSUP 22000uF. I have removed the muting transistors and bypassed the DC blocking caps. Replaced caps around opamps and in digital section with Rubycon ZLG/ZL. I have ordered LME49720HA opamps....they get great reviews. When I have changed them, I will bypass the HDAM circuit.

Then it's low jitter clocks, low noise regulators, bigger transformer...and on and on....til I have replaced every component in the player.

Right you are on the right track. Well done. Please report back what you think on the improvements in SQ in order to shed some lights to those who still have doubts about the benefit of using better components in the CD63.