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In Reply to: RE: Vintage Magnavox CD Player posted by AudioSoul on May 09, 2010 at 10:20:33
These are general comments, so I may be wrong on some counts. But, older Magnavox players were made by Philips in Belgium. For a number of years, the famous TDA1541 (later, the slightly better TDA1541A) was the DAC chip of choice. Many of us still feel this could be the best DAC ever made. The earliest units used the 1540 (in pairs as it was a mono chip). They sound pretty good, but not on par with the 1541. A few of the cheaper units used the 1543. While it may not be quite as resolving, that chip also has some advantages (less analog circuitry required). You can still find NOS 1541's in a couple of very high end units (AMR comes to mind) and a few DIY products. The 1543 also appears in some more interesting niche market DACs (from Chinese firms to Peter Daniels Audio Sector products).
All of these chips are very popular run non-oversampling. Searching "NOS DAC" or "NOS 1541" should give you plenty of info. It is very easy to convert the players from their stock oversampling to NOS, and in my opinion, well worth it. The mod is also reversible. You can easily spend a few hundred bucks on a NOS 1541 DAC, or you can buy an old Magnavox (or Philips or Marantz) player for $20-40 bucks), convert it and have all that fanciness for a very low price. When I mess with these players I also tend to disconnect the circuits that aren't useful to me (the disc memory functions, headphone amps, etc) and remove the muting transistors (yucky things to have in the signal path).
Though not specific to the old Magnavox units, old transports are also nice as they are mechanically much quieter than new DVD transports. The Philips units (here mostly CDM2 AND CDM4) are great. Sony probably had the best, though. The downsides are that the plastic tray gears wear out and they aren't as happy with CDRs.
I posted a link with a list of Magnavox model numbers and DAC's, so you can get some idea. You can also find Magnavoxs that use Philips player model numbers, so check that area of the list too. I have recently owned a FD2040 and CDB472. I'm now listening to a Magnavox CDB650. The 2040 is the only player I've owned with 1540's. I was surprised to find that I the 650 sounds better than the 472. I expected the 472 (mine, despite what the list says, had a latter 'A' version of the chip) to have an edge as it is more minimalist, but perhaps the better parts quality of the 650 is shining through. I'm positive the 650 is the model number you were thinking of, btw.
When I picked up my first 1541 based unit (a Philips CDP 650) and modded it to NOS, I promptly sold my Philips SACD player. The SACD player was tonally better (more harmonically fleshed out) and a little more spacious. But, the 1541 DACs are much more musically right. I suspect that when I have the time to get the analog stage in this Magnavox 650 up to par, it will beat many newer players on all counts. Watch craigslist. These old players are everywhere!
Paul
Follow Ups:
I have been considering converting my Mission DAD-7000 to NOS. It works great but the sond, as-is, is dated. The build quality is such that I think it would be a good candidate for this type of mod. I also have a working remote! I have seen some DIY intructions on the web for this. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks for the info an TIA!
Dave
For the 1541 players, there are instructions all over. You can find discussion in the Tweaker's Asylum, for one. These folks do have some nice pics though: http://xoomer.virgilio.it/hi_fi/com.htm
Your Mission is a whole different ball a' wax, though isn't it? Google tells me it is a CD104, which would be a 1540 player. And it has the CDM1! And you got yours for $15, you lucky devil. I linked to "lampizator" below, as he appears to NOS one. Be careful with that old girl. I'd be tempted to try and turn it into a transport, even though that might a little more difficult. I wonder if there is a PCB out there to turn I2S into SPDIF.
Paul
$15 with the remote!
The DAD-7000 is small, but when you pick it up, it is quite solid. It took quite a lot of diasembly to change the belt in it (I used an o-ring from the hardware store), and I got a good look at it's guts. It is quite well built. Actually, it was my success with the Mission that had imboldened me to work on other CD Players.
In stock form I thought the Misson sounded great for something of its time perieod, but it did not stack up against late 80's and early 90's players that I have, soundwise. I had wondered why they were still bringing so much on ebay. I thought it was just nostalgia.
Those are very clear, consice instuctions. I think I can handle that. I will have to bush up on my soldering skills, because I have not done chipwork before. I have worked on mostly tube gear. I think that RadioShack has a practice kit.
I also have a working Magnavox FD1000 (Philips CDP-101). I wonder if that would be a good candide for this. It is already NOS but the brickwall filter does not do good things to the sound!
Thank you for all the help and advice!
Dave
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