Home Theater/Personal audio thread...

[BRZ@SGP]

Talking abt audio on car forum, is like talking about car on audio forum. If you have seen those. How did this thread survived?

I am on Spica TC-60 and Kef LS50 speakers with Ken Kresiel subwoofer. Anyway, audiophile forum is a can of worms that I weaned off after I got my 2017 BRZ.

[Clipdat]

Heard good things about the LS50 but personally never heard them.

However, one of the best speakers I've ever heard is the KEF R300. Absolutely amazing.

Originally Posted by BRZ@SGP

Talking abt audio on car forum, is like talking about car on audio forum. If you have seen those. How did this thread survived?

I am on Spica TC-60 and Kef LS50 speakers with Ken Kresiel subwoofer. Anyway, audiophile forum is a can of worms that I weaned off after I got my 2017 BRZ.

[Vracer111]

I received in a 3D printer kit on Friday , assembled and tested it last weekend, and last night printed out this design I modeled:







This is just the first version, already working on a second version to get the weight down and thin out the hexagons over the drivers.

On Friday also received in the used pair of Sennheiser HD 700 I purchased. They definitely are the highest quality and most comfortable pair I have and I do like how they sound.

HD 700...

[Vracer111]

And this is the second revision:






Stock grille weight is 15.35g, my first revisions were 22.83g, and the second revisions are less than 12.5g...

Also just recently signed up on Thingiverse and released the second revision on it:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2492054

[Clipdat]

I picked up a used Denon DN-C680 for $100.
(not my photo)




Manufacture date is 1999. Been trying it out hooked up to my Rane MP 2014 and KRK RP6 powered monitors via Audioquest Black Mamba RCAs. So far I find it to be quite bright, and low end seems to be lacking or not well defined. Probably better suited to classical versus electronic music.

[krayzie]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Manufacture date is 1999. Been trying it out hooked up to my Rane MP 2014 and KRK RP6 powered monitors via Audioquest Black Mamba RCAs. So far I find it to be quite bright, and low end seems to be lacking or not well defined. Probably better suited to classical versus electronic music.

Interesting it seems this CD Player comes with 2 x PCM61P DAC and a Sharp H8147AF transport. That's an 18-bit mono DAC chip from Burr-Brown which in general shouldn't give you a bright tinny sound like most 1-bit DAC setups from the 90's.

From experience the rather lavish construction of older TOTL Sony ES CD Players from the late 80's give a very warm sound with very deep bass (I don't even need to run a sub with mine). This Denon seems to be a workhorse instead from the looks of its construction.

Maybe try a pair of old school Denon/Hitachi LC-OFC RCA cables and see if you can fix the bright sound.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Denon-LC-OFC-...IAAOSwyjBW7J-q

[Clipdat]

Thanks for the info. I opened mine up but forgot to take pics, I swear the DAC chips said Japan on them not Korea as shown here:



It has analog pots on the back for output level, I should check those to make sure they aren't maxed out because that could definitely be making it sound too bright I think.

Cool oldschool OFC RCA cables! I went with the Audioquests since they were long enough and I was down to my very last pair of interconnects. *gasp*

Originally Posted by krayzie

Interesting it seems this CD Player comes with 2 x PCM61P DAC and a Sharp H8147AF transport. That's an 18-bit mono DAC chip from Burr-Brown which in general shouldn't give you a bright tinny sound like most 1-bit DAC setups from the 90's.

From experience the rather lavish construction of older TOTL Sony ES CD Players from the late 80's give a very warm sound with very deep bass (I don't even need to run a sub with mine). This Denon seems to be a workhorse instead from the looks of its construction.

Maybe try a pair of old school Denon/Hitachi LC-OFC RCA cables and see if you can fix the bright sound.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Denon-LC-OFC-...IAAOSwyjBW7J-q

[krayzie]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

It has analog pots on the back for output level, I should check those to make sure they aren't maxed out because that could definitely be making it sound too bright I think.

I've read that you need a calibration disc and oscilloscope to probably adjust those pots. Usually only the professional DAC setups from Burr-Brown would require an output circuit to piggyback the chip instead of direct pin output from the chip itself. It's quite rare actually. My Sony CDP-707ESD with 2 x PCM64P is setup similarily but see how it has like 4 pots for each of the chips. Sony never revisited this sort of complicated circuitry with its consumer models afterwards.

[Clipdat]

Ah, I should have clarified, there are actually the pots on the circuit board as shown above, as well as other ones on the back of the unit. I was referring to the ones on the back of the unit:



Also, I wanted a Sony ES, but I couldn't find any available for sale locally. Eventually I will pick one up. This Denon is technically now the 4th CDP that I own. I've gotten some weird looks when I tell people that, especially in 2017.

Currently trying to get a co-worker's Harman Kardon HD990 for free that he's not using:

Originally Posted by krayzie

I've read that you need a calibration disc and oscilloscope to probably adjust those pots. Usually only the professional DAC setups from Burr-Brown would require an output circuit to piggyback the chip instead of direct pin output from the chip itself. It's quite rare actually. My Sony CDP-707ESD with 2 x PCM64P is setup similarily but see how it has like 4 pots for each of the chips. Sony never revisited this sort of complicated circuitry with its consumer models afterwards.

[cjd]

Equipment from '99 probably would benefit from some reflow/retouch work on the solder joints on the analog side. Poor connections can raise the noise floor and cause low end to go softer, which could easily be associated with 'bright' response... at least, I have found that my in-ears usually start sounding really soft on the low frequency a bit before I end up with a broken cable needing replacement. Also, power supply caps that have dried out might also hinder response on the lower end of things. This assumes you're using it as more than just a transport, but the commentary suggests that is the case.

C

[Clipdat]

Interesting, thanks for sharing your observations. Yes, I am using the integrated DAC. I did not consider the solder joints as being a potential culprit, but that makes sense. One benefit of the older 90s electronics, is that I believe they hadn't enforced the lead free solder regulations yet, which should help with overall longevity.

I've only played about 7 or so CDs in it yet, need to log some more hours on it with different genres of music as well. Output level just seems a lot "hotter" than the other CDP that I got at the same time which is a Pioneer CDJ1000 MK3.

Just running it with cheap Monoprice RCA cables, but straight away the Pioneer was sounding punchy and extremely detailed. Maybe thanks to it's 115db s/n ratio?

Originally Posted by cjd

Equipment from '99 probably would benefit from some reflow/retouch work on the solder joints on the analog side. Poor connections can raise the noise floor and cause low end to go softer, which could easily be associated with 'bright' response... at least, I have found that my in-ears usually start sounding really soft on the low frequency a bit before I end up with a broken cable needing replacement. Also, power supply caps that have dried out might also hinder response on the lower end of things. This assumes you're using it as more than just a transport, but the commentary suggests that is the case.

C

[krayzie]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

One benefit of the older 90s electronics, is that I believe they hadn't enforced the lead free solder regulations yet, which should help with overall longevity.

Yea that lead free RoHS shit is from around the mid 2000's.

[Clipdat]

Thoughts on this RCA output PCB? (Bonus if you can name the manufacturer without reverse image searching it)

I've always thought it seemed a little strange to have what appear to be small gauge un-shielded (presumably signal) wires running to the board, and then even thinner bare leads running to the positive and negative of the RCA jacks themselves.

And then you're encouraged to plug in a $80/meter (or more) big fat interconnect into it.

Thoughts? Is this board design legit and I'm just weird?

[cjd]

Looks good to me.

Those cables you mention? I'm skeptical. Very. But distance and proximity of +/- make longer cables pickier. So not totally snake oil.