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I'm looking for a cd carousel changer - new or used - with good sound. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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Do you have a price point? If I decided to look for a changer I believe I would start by looking for a California Audio Labs CL10.
Of all the 1990s era Philips-based changers, this is the unit I'd recommend stock.
On occasion you'll see Don Allen modified changers pop up on Audiogon.... The Philips CDC-935 is the most desirable, but any product with his mods is worth the extra money.
Todd, I believe you have mentioned that Don Allen has retired? Did he pass along his procedures to anyone else for the Philips and Marantz changers?
"Todd, I believe you have mentioned that Don Allen has retired? Did he pass along his procedures to anyone else for the Philips and Marantz changers?"
I don't think I'll get any info on the tube upgrade to the CDC-935. I guess I could inquire if he could provide a schematic, but I don't think he has the information. (A technician might be able to replicate the design or generate the schematic if he had a unit in his possession. But I don't know anybody who can do this. The hard part is to utilize the limited space for the tube circuit's power supply, which includes a large capacitor bank.)
I do know the CC-45 solid-state upgrade involves only two things: Changing out the LM833 op-amp chip to the STMicroelectronics version (some units may already have this version installed) and mounting a steel plate to the bottom of the unit. (The plate "mimics" the bottom chassis of the Marantz CC-65SE. Don says it sinks RF emissions.) The critical part of the update is the op-amps.
It would be most appreciated if you would be willing to do that for some of us, Todd.
As I've posted before, I purchased a CDC-935 based on your recommendation. You gave me Don's number, but I didn't call him. The next thing I knew, he had retired. The good news is that the CDC-935 is a pretty good CD player, stock, and has a digital out RCA for external DAC use.
I made a similar mistake with Ken Lyon's Greater Ranges Neuance turntable shelf. I was always going to get around to ordering one, but didn't. Suddenly Ken went out of business. I always hoped he'd sell the "recipe" to someone who might revive the Neuance business.
"He who hesitates is lost...I think."
"You won't come back from Fletcher-Munson curve"-Jan and Dean
"I made a similar mistake with Ken Lyon's Greater Ranges Neuance turntable shelf. I was always going to get around to ordering one, but didn't. Suddenly Ken went out of business. I always hoped he'd sell the "recipe" to someone who might revive the Neuance business."
There is always his LACK version. It is an easy DIY.
Dave
As a matter of fact, I have my Roksan Xerxes X turntable (Ken's turntable of choice, or it was, some years ago) sitting on a LACK end table, based on Ken's recommendation.
Thanks for the link. I've read the "How to" in Tweakers before, but never seen Ken's instructions. I've saved the link to my favorites.
"You won't come back from Fletcher-Munson curve"-Jan and Dean
Thank you all for your input. In my system I use a Toshiba sd 4900 dvd/cd player which is quite good and outperformed many other cd players I've owned. I see that Toshiba offered a 5 disc carousel SD6915 - is anyone familiar with that? Also, I'm surprised the NAD carousels were not mentioned.
I am not familiar with Toshiba's carousel players. Toshibas are not very popular with the audiophile crowd. I own an SD-9200 DVD-audio/DVD/CD (and HDCD processing) player that I am quite fond of. It is actually a quality made piece of gear ($2,000, 24 lbs.), not one of the cheaper made players many of the large Japanese companies put out. But I do have to say that I was dissapointed in an error made during the mechanical design phase. I bought the player brand new but when played it made a fairly loud vibrating sound. I did some googling and found that others were having the same problem and that Toshiba blamed it on substandard discs (wink wink) and came up with a new damper kit replacement for the problem. Apparently, the shock absorbers were not spec'ed correctly. Maybe that's why they are not so popular. I did have to open it up to replace the absorbers on the tray/transport mechanism but since then it has been a great player. I also have two Toshiba SD-3750 DVD/CD players that I bought for bedrooms use and haven't had any problems with them.
I have an SD-9200, and mine does not work. The spindle motor is bad. I have read that this is common in the SD-9200. I hope it does not happen to yours. I am hoping to pirate a good one from another machine.
Dave
I have not heard of the spindle motor being a "common" problem with the SD-9200. Are you sure it is the spindle motor? Have you opened the unit and checked the gear on the spindle shaft for a crack or being striped or loose. Have you checked to see if the dampers are sagging and putting too much weight on the disc?
Here is the thread. Inmate cfb seems to know what he is talking about. I have had the top off of this a few times. It is just as impressive on the outside as in and I really liked the sound on CDs and HDCDs. I have no DVD-A disks. I have done all the usual. I got it to play. it is just way too sensitive to flaws. I have a donor sled. I just have to get them both apart and swap. I should do that!
Dave
There are quite a few "substandard discs" floating around, unfortunately. Toshiba was talking about the many CD discs that are manufactured poorly. They wobble during playback because they are slightly out of round and slightly out of balance.The old AudioDesk CD edge cutting system was designed as a remedy to the problem of poorly manufactured, out-of-round, unbalanced discs.
Edits: 07/18/15
Yes I realize that but in this case the dampers were too soft and eventually over time they completely collapse and the disc will not spin nor can it easily be removed. It is possible that Toshiba thought the problem was due to wobbly (unbalanced) disc at the time though.
Interesting. Can you describe the faulty Toshiba dampers (thickness, material, etc...)?
They are rubber dampers and look like big thick gromets. The replacements were Toshiba part #79070496. They are no longer available. You can see them in the Toshiba SD-5700 mechanism above (2 blue & 2 black). I believe the originals were 2 grey and 2 green.
I can't understand why the original grommets would have failed so quickly. Strange.
Do the blue grommets have a different stiffness or durometer rating than the black ones?
Well I should say mine didn't fail but there are post of the original ones failing over time.
Yes all the different colors have a different stiffness. The original ones didn't actually fail (at least to my knowledge) they just weren't right for the application.
The thing holding back the 935 is the stock output stage. When it is bypassed with a good tube circuit, you'll realize the DAC in the 935 is one of the best ever......
If anybody knows of a technician who could build and replicate tube circuits, and could just replicate Don's CDC-935 upgrade, I'd be willing to loan a sample of Don's upgraded player to attempt the replication work. This is one of only few digital audio sources I could live with until the end of time.
That's a very generous offer. I'll do some checking around.
I've always been intrigued by your, "This is one of only few digital audio sources I could live with until the end of time." type comments regarding this upgraded player. That's because you and I were in complete agreement on the musical merits of the JVC 1050, so we seem to have similar sonic goals. Sadly, my 1050 died several years ago.
"You won't come back from Fletcher-Munson curve"-Jan and Dean
If you don't need more than a 5 disc player then consider a used Denon DCM-560 (my favorite) or used Sony SCD-C555ES (also plays SACDs and built like a tank) 5 disc carousel changers.
Does the Denon have a volume control such that I can connect directly to an amplifier and avoid using a preamp? If so, I'm sold - I've never seen that before on a cd player.
Yes, you can choose to use a fixed output or a variable output and it has both analog and digital outputs. If you use the variable output you can adjust volume using the same knob as the headphone volume adjust or you can use the remote control.
How about any working carousel with a digital output (preferably coaxial) plus a separate DAC, or a preamp/AVR with digital input?
Pioneer Elite
My Adcom GCD 600 is the best that I have come across and it has a variable output. But in my opinion the better single plays do sound better. Maybe better vibration control.
bigshow
If I recall correctly, the GCD 600 uses a tda1541 dac chip, could be part of the reason why you like it :)
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