Marantz CD6000OSE superclock2 upgrade

[Drew2]

WARNING:

******Please observe the following******

1.Ensure that all equipment is removed from mains power prior to any modifications.
2.Ensure that you are competent and/or qualified to undertake ANY such work.
3.Potentially lethal voltages exist within this and similar devices.
4.I and the forums accept NO liability for the consequences of any such modifications or the work entailed.

Hi All,

Have just finished upgrading my CDP with a Superclock2 and some super regulators.

If anyone was thinking of going down this 'road' then I thought I would share my experience so that you may make a more informed decision about doing it.

I bought an Audiocom upgrade "kit one" which arrived yesterday morning and when I came home from work that evening I installed it - from unplugging the CDP to plugging it back in took about 3hrs.

Firstly, electronics is not my forte and apart from the occasional bit of soldering this is my first project. So, yes I am definitely a novice at this.

Before starting this I picked up an old TV of the street (last weekend)and pulled the motherboard out of it. I then practiced de-soldering parts until I felt that i knew what to do without damaging the component or the PCB. I would recommend that you do the same thing - go into your shed/loft find an old 'trany' and get practicing. **** At your own risk ****

As stated in the written instructions - "disconnect the mains supply before removing the lid of your player."



1. After lid removal I identified the components to be de-soldered.

Clock & Cap's.


Original regulators.


DC power "take off".


Clock location on underside of board.



2. I then marked each solder join for easy un-interrupted de-soldering.

Reg's


Clock,cap's and smd's



3. Then I looked at the new components to be fitted and worked out the best way of fitting them.


4. The new reg's are unmarked so I left them in their bags - removed one for sizing up purposes.


5. Tools required.


6. A capacitor removed with the de-solder wick showing how much comes off.


7. The components all removed.


8. Soldered regulator.


9. Fitting new reg's with a homemade heat sink.


10.Putting on Power, clock and ground cables onto the superclock PCB. *** Make sure to use single core cable for the CLK & GRD connections***You can also use high quality coaxial cable as it allows longer lengths to be used with out effecting the signal***




11.All parts soldered.


12.Re-assembled.


13.Additional image to show how the new reg's sit.


14.Deadening I had previously fitted.


Tips.
1. Don't wear man-made fabrics like 'Fleece's' too avoid static build-up.
2. When working with hot tools always take your time and be methodical in what you are doing.
3. When soldering try and support your hand, saves getting the 'shakes'. I used a 500g tea tin.
4. When de-soldering, after each solder join cut the wick and start the next one with a clean piece. This also allows time for the component to cool before applying heat to its next leg and for you to get your composure back.
5. When things are going well don't "rush on", keep to a good rhythm and the job will get done.
6. keep your work area well ventilated - some nasty gases come of solder/flux.
7. keep your work area well illuminated.
8. Have varying sizes of foam for making packers while soldering parts in, or for isolating/insulting between parts.
9. Don't apply the soldering iron beyond 5sec's, and try using a heat sink whenever possible.

The only things which didn't fall off after de-soldering was the 'minute' SMD resistors on the solder join side of the motherboard. I used the soldering irons tip for about 1.5 sec to 'pop' them off.

I am very pleased how my first project went and certainly feel upto doing my DVD player next.

The Result:

OK, I will not give a full review just now as I always believe things need to be 'run' in, also a bit busy just now so have actually only sat down and auditioned two full CDs.

But...

First CD, Mike Oldfield - Light & Shade, awesome! Pink Floyd - The Wall, Wow!

It has done everything they said it would, my CDP just sounds completely different and in all the right ways. The 'boom' has disappeared and made way for 'gut' wrenching low level bass with notes I just have never heard - drowned out by the boom!
Vocals are so powerful and pronounced - I always have problems hearing lyrics, might start singing along to some tunes now (god help the wife!! )
Another thing and maybe what I like the most is the presence of all the 'wee' background noises that seem to have come forward and move around the sound-stage helping you to be pulled into the music.

Looking so forward in going through my CD collection - need to do a week 'chill' time but so much on just now,damn!

Can completely recommend this upgrade - very worth while if you've been considering getting a new player like I was. Should kerb the bug for another few years!

Please feel free to ask anything about this procedure, just in case I've missed something out.
Should be able to give my overall conclusion within the next fortnight - just before MotoGP season cause once that starts you've no chance!!

Hope I have encouraged a few of you to give it a try - but be aware, at your own peril!

[welwynnick]

Nice work, Drew2, well done! I like the sound of the improvements.

It looks like you have three new voltage regulators in there - did Audiocom advisey you about that - how many and what spec,etc, or did you have to figure that out for yourself?

I notice you also have lots of vibration damping in the Marantz, too. Are you planning to do the clock & regs mod in your Momitsu, too?

All the best,

Nick

[Drew2]

Nick
The reg's came with the kit - having never seen a regulator in my 'puff' I located the part number on the PCB with +12v,-12v & +5v printed on the board as well (Audiocom listed them on their website). When the new ones arrived I confirmed that they were indeed three in-line pins and also that the pin markings for 'In' 'Out' & 'GRD' matched. You can get even better ones but they were just outside my budget.

The Momitsu is the next likely contender, but also thinking of waiting until the warranty runs out on my digital recorder and do both at the same time - try and get a deal on multiple purchases!!

Sat down and listened to: The Clash - Super black market Clash, the finger sliding down the threats on the intro guitar in 'Gates of the West' had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end... the bass in 'Robber dub' was like being back in the reggae club in Sheffield.

Chicane - Behind the sun, so much stuff going on with many parts making me think I had the surround processor switched on, with numerous mumblings of "stop looking round" or staring at my rear speakers thinking "are they really switched off".

Certainly the closest I have ever heard a digital amp to having the presence of an analogue one, mmmmm should I de-solder the muting transistors on the analogue stage and start using the CDP that way!!! When switching between both just now I find the analogue a bit 'moody' for me - nice if you like listening to a lot of Folk,Blues and Jazz.

Away to listen too Rodger Waters - Radio Kaos

Thanks for the comment.

[Drew2]

Working at home today so had the opportunity of listening to a few more CDs.
"No amount of money being spent on interconnects or speaker cable could yield this result"
In the past when changing these items I have noticed slight changes and generally at only one aspect of the music.

This has totally changed everything, even the wife commented on it. When she walked in last night her first words were "So high quality sound" then " I'm home". I then played one of her favourite discs, Jesse Cook - Gravity and it was soooo good. Later she said " How can I ever listen to this album on my MP3 player again!"

So my grin is just getting bigger & bigger.

Made these in my lunch hour today, just waiting for the silicon to set a bit more before plugging it back in. Don't know if I'll notice anything but the ICs are meant to transmit a lot of RFI so cant hurt to block it. I made sure that no part of the shield is touching anything but silicon.

[mike_campbell]

Was just surfing and came across your review. Very encouraging because I am thinking of doing the same upgrade to my CD63 KI-SIG. Did you get the kit off e-bay? Were the instructions clear? If it is the same one I saw, then for £120 pounds it seems to be a great upgrade. Apparantley they do other upgrade kits for the Marantz players. I'm very happy with the overall balance of the sound, but looking for higher levels of clarity and resolution. My current setup is: CD63 KI-SIG, MF X-10 line conditoner, Audiolab 8000s, Audiolab 8000SX, Mission 782 speakers, biamped and biwired with QED Silver Anniversary cable

[karkus30]

I bought a Tentlabs clock for my player. Coward that I am, I had it all fitted by someone else, this included quite a lot of other mods including op amps, diodes, virtually every capacitor. It made a huge difference to the player (A Marantz CD80), its way ahead of anything I have previously owned (my last player is a Marantz CD17).

I bought the Tentlabs as it came well recommended, I have looked at the Trichord and the Kwak clock too. The Tentlabs clock required a seperate low noise power supply. This is said to be the better way of clocking than using additional regulators from the existing supply. Apparently, all clocks benefit from seperate power supplies.

There are a few pictures of my modified player here:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/karkus30/album?.dir=/fce9

In picture 19 you can see the new psu mounted at the top (big blue encapsulated transformer) of the case on the back plate. The op amps are OPA 627s and are the very expensive version. All capacitors except signal capacitors are Black Gates. The signal caps are generally Oscons, but TBH there were so many different bits that I cant remember the full build up. Anyway, it certainly works. My only issue is that this player runs on 110vac and I would dearly love to salvage a 240v CD80 transformer to save me using a transformer..........anyone?

[Drew2]

@ Mike,
I got the kit off ebay, but I suppose you could deal with direct if you don't wont to use PayPal and the like. The instructions are a printed list of things to do - the good news was they gave the part No' on the PCB so I could find them easy enough, but thought it would be nice to confirm these parts to others with photos. Up until doing this I wouldn't of been able to point out a 'clock' or regulator. I would whole heartily recommend this upgrade worth every penny!!

@Karkus
Nice to hear you went the same route and gained all the benefits. If my budget had allowed I too would of got a separate PSU for the clock as it does come highly recommended. Will be a future project when the cash flow gets back to an even keel! (Does it ever??!!)

The cap's are the next thing and all going well I should be visiting Akihabara tomorrow and a 'Black Gate' seller.

On another 'note', I had a 100v amp in the UK which I ran through a Captora step-down transformer. I then plugged my Lecson DVD 900 into it and it became more stable ie, the drive was a lot quieter and the colours were richer. So don't be to much in a hurry to swap unless you feel your 'tranny' is feeding it noise.

[Drew2]

Just to let you know that the Superclock2's on Ebay are the only ones left as they only produce the 3s now. So snatch one up while you can.

[karkus30]

http://www.hificollective.co.uk/kits/tl_xo-23.html

for those that would like an alternative clock kit. I dont know how much the Superclock is , but around £180 will get you a X02 and power supply. Apparently better than a Superclock and with the power supply supposedly far better, that is according to all the websites and forums that I went through before choosing it.

[karkus30]

Originally Posted by Drew2

@ Mike,
I got the kit off ebay, but I suppose you could deal with direct if you don't wont to use PayPal and the like. The instructions are a printed list of things to do - the good news was they gave the part No' on the PCB so I could find them easy enough, but thought it would be nice to confirm these parts to others with photos. Up until doing this I wouldn't of been able to point out a 'clock' or regulator. I would whole heartily recommend this upgrade worth every penny!!

@Karkus
Nice to hear you went the same route and gained all the benefits. If my budget had allowed I too would of got a separate PSU for the clock as it does come highly recommended. Will be a future project when the cash flow gets back to an even keel! (Does it ever??!!)

The cap's are the next thing and all going well I should be visiting Akihabara tomorrow and a 'Black Gate' seller.

On another 'note', I had a 100v amp in the UK which I ran through a Captora step-down transformer. I then plugged my Lecson DVD 900 into it and it became more stable ie, the drive was a lot quieter and the colours were richer. So don't be to much in a hurry to swap unless you feel your 'tranny' is feeding it noise.

Be very careful with caps, its not just a case of 'Black Gates are best'. They are fine for de-coupling and some parts of the power supply but not for the digital signal path where Oscons or similar are the ones to use. Using BGs in these areas can give a poor result so be very careful. Its often worth changing the op amps in the player, I used OP627s and these seem to be the chip of choice for many tweekers including Avondale audio (pretty high recommendation in itself, he also uses a trichord clock and his own special PSU, infact he uses two of them but wouldn't tell me why).

[Drew2]

Thanks for that Karkus,
I wasn't going to do anything on the digital circuits - mostly for the power.
Checked out your clock, much the same price for both. Just feel you need more knowledge as it isn't player specific - oh, and a multi meter.

[karkus30]

Originally Posted by Drew2

Thanks for that Karkus,
I wasn't going to do anything on the digital circuits - mostly for the power.
Checked out your clock, much the same price for both. Just feel you need more knowledge as it isn't player specific - oh, and a multi meter.

Yes, not quite as easy, thats why cowardice won and I let someone else do it. It seems the price of that clock has gone up quite a lot, I seem to remember paying around £50 a year ago. It does seem to have gained a bit of a reputation as a good bit of kit, so perhaps its now more on par with the price of the Superclock.

Its probably better to put in a dedicated clock psu than to do the cap mods TBH. The caps in the Marantz last about 15 years (well in my CD80 at least). The de coupling caps (small ones across the supply pins of the various chips on the board can cause problems when they deteriorate) and 15 years is about the limit.

If you visit the thread on servicing the 63 KI sig, I have posted the name of the guy who sorted mine out. He is quite happen to dispense pearls of wisdom if he has a bit of time, or will sort out the bits that should be replaced / or do the work if you require it. Chevin Audio are another company who do a similar thing.

[Drew2]

Couldn't source the Blackgate Hi Qs so decided to go with these(title).

Could get all the ones I wanted for the Momitsu but only a hand full for the Marantz - will try and make a trip to the other Blackgate supplier in Tokyo.

I got: 10 - 16v 470uf
4 - 25v 47uf
3 - 25v 100uf
3 - 50v 100uf
2 - 50v 47uf
1 - 16v 100uf

all for a tenner! The Momitsu has HEC and PLE inside it, so hope to see/hear some sort of improvement!! The HECs are a fifth of the price the others are so cheap you buy them by the bag .

Should manage to do the DVD player tomorrow so look out for more pics on my other upgrade thread.

[BRAVURA]

Hi Drew.

Here's a couple more mod's for the cd6000 and their free!

First replace the first pair of HDAM's with AD826AN op-amps (the HDAM's on stilts). The HDAM board pulls of very easily and once removed you will see locations on the main board for the op-amps. Install the op-amps in these locations and solder a high quality 0.1uf/100nf cap across pin 4 and 8 (BGNXHi-Q 0.1uf 50v are recommended for this). You can get the op-amps form www.analog.com form their free sample program

Second locate the mute transistors and ouput coupling capacitors (these are near the output sockets) there are 4 transistors and 4 elna silmic 220uf 16v. Remove these parts and jumper out the positions for the caps with wire (just remove the transistors). You can then use the silmic's to replace the standard caps around the second HDAM's

Removing the mute transistors will result in a small pop when you turn the player on/off so turn your amp off first and turn your cd player on first.

I'll try to dig out my schematic for the cd6000 and I can then give you a few more tips with part numbers.

Happy modding,
Mags.

[BRAVURA]

Hi Mike.

The Audiocom kit is very good and easy to install, they send instuctions for fitting the clock but not the reg's if I remember corectly? If you go for it and get stuck I can explain to you where everything goes including part no's if you want, Audiocom will also be able to get you going.
I would recommend getting kit 3 rather than he others, I've just fitted Q-POWER regs to my player and they are better but are a bit harder to fit (there not a drop in replacment like the super-regs)

The mod's I posted for the CD6000 also apply to the CD63/67 apart from that they use JRC2114D op-amps instead of the first HDAM.

These mod's will transform your cd63ki

Mags.