Hi Brent,
yes the idea of a stand-alone part as the DOS and its cap tighten together is good, maybe a woodcup with the mini pcb screwed on it... or any sheet under and good old ties
For the chokes it seems that the dot is the start, this is all but clear on my datasheet:
Anyway maybe I can afford a SACD player, I have a mint Thriller LP!
Matthieu
yes the idea of a stand-alone part as the DOS and its cap tighten together is good, maybe a woodcup with the mini pcb screwed on it... or any sheet under and good old ties
For the chokes it seems that the dot is the start, this is all but clear on my datasheet:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Anyway maybe I can afford a SACD player, I have a mint Thriller LP!
Matthieu
Hi Guys,
Your PCB looks good Matthieu! It will already sound pretty awesome with standard resistors, believe me! The inductor's dot is indeed the winding start, but then I always wonder: what is the start? Is it the point inside, closest to the core, where they actually start winding the coil in the factory, or is the start just the beginning of the winding that we can see looking from the outside ??
I have the DOS PCB almost floating too in the SA8400. It only rests on some distance studs and is held in place by the solid wiring to the PCB and the output sockets. If you make sure the connections are strong, it shouldn't be a problem.
Sometimes I use the copper top GND side of the PCB as a fixing point: I scrape away the laquer and solder a short piece of thick solid wire on it that acts as a stud. You can solder it to an unconnected copper pad on the PCB that needs to be held in place.
Nice job on the SA7 Brent! Looks like a very decent machine already, but i'm sure you'll leave no area untouched
! It's little brother, the SA11S2, is on my wannehave-list. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure to hear it alongside my SA8400, and although it sounded a bit better, it was not ahead much, which made me smile too .
A bit disappointing actually, don't you think, that such a machine out-of-the-box playing an SACD cannot beat your 63? Makes you wonder what all other non-tweaking-DIY-people are listening to every day...
Regards,
Ray (just back from holiday
Your PCB looks good Matthieu! It will already sound pretty awesome with standard resistors, believe me! The inductor's dot is indeed the winding start, but then I always wonder: what is the start? Is it the point inside, closest to the core, where they actually start winding the coil in the factory, or is the start just the beginning of the winding that we can see looking from the outside
??I have the DOS PCB almost floating too in the SA8400. It only rests on some distance studs and is held in place by the solid wiring to the PCB and the output sockets. If you make sure the connections are strong, it shouldn't be a problem.
Sometimes I use the copper top GND side of the PCB as a fixing point: I scrape away the laquer and solder a short piece of thick solid wire on it that acts as a stud. You can solder it to an unconnected copper pad on the PCB that needs to be held in place.
Nice job on the SA7 Brent! Looks like a very decent machine already, but i'm sure you'll leave no area untouched
! It's little brother, the SA11S2, is on my wannehave-list. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure to hear it alongside my SA8400, and although it sounded a bit better, it was not ahead much, which made me smile too .A bit disappointing actually, don't you think, that such a machine out-of-the-box playing an SACD cannot beat your 63? Makes you wonder what all other non-tweaking-DIY-people are listening to every day...
Regards,
Ray (just back from holiday
6h5c said:
Ok, I'll put the start dot at the start, I guess in fact that will change nothing to sound... or not...
Well to be honnest the OEM CD-53 I recently bought sounded more than dull, lifeless, all other player a bit more foot tapping ( and the Onkyo DX701 very foot tapping for 10€ ! Toshiba DAC looking very very similiar to our NPC... ). Ray, most people are listening to still-in-the-crate-speaker sound ( speaker not well setup, wich is the worst !), and for "real people" who don't put any coin on hifi they listen to computer, TV, 50€ "5.1" systems... they do hear, unfortunately they can't listen.
Matthieu
The CD53 is almost the bottom line of what you can get from Marantz. There's a CD38 that's even worse I think. It even has 'REMOTE' printed on the front very large, as a selling feature . Never owned one, never will! 
You can see clearly how they've managed to define the sound of the different players, a lot of the electrolytics get smaller and smaller if you get towards the entry models. In the CD57 there are only small 220uF caps in the footprints of C803/804!
Ray
. Never owned one, never will! You can see clearly how they've managed to define the sound of the different players, a lot of the electrolytics get smaller and smaller if you get towards the entry models. In the CD57 there are only small 220uF caps in the footprints of C803/804!
Ray
Attachments
6h5c said:
Nice job on the SA7 Brent! Looks like a very decent machine already, but i'm sure you'll leave no area untouched
A bit disappointing actually, don't you think, that such a machine out-of-the-box playing an SACD cannot beat your 63? Makes you wonder what all other non-tweaking-DIY-people are listening to every day...
Regards,
Ray (just back from holiday
Hi Ray
Thanks
It is a nice player but at £6000 starting price it does make you wonder. Apart from the build quality I would not swap it for mine. What is also funny is that the sacd play back on it was not really any better than cd playback of the same disc. I used Linn cds that are amongst the best produced.The SA11 would make a very nice project but like you have heard it's not much better than your SA8400
Brent
The Crescendo amplfiier
HI
Ray
i am new to the diyaudio forum i have the 1984 crescendo amplifier some made i do like the one you have on your web site if possible with you have you can email me i would like to ask some q and help my email is amarm@tiscali.co.uk
thanks
sat
HI
Ray
i am new to the diyaudio forum i have the 1984 crescendo amplifier some made i do like the one you have on your web site if possible with you have you can email me i would like to ask some q and help my email is amarm@tiscali.co.uk
thanks
sat
rowemeister said:Hi Ray
Thanks
The SA11 would make a very nice project but like you have heard it's not much better than your SA8400
Brent
That amazed me with the SA8400 also when I first got it. Even with SACD, the sound was behind compared to my modded CD67-OSE. It was a bit disappointing when I first kooked it up. Now it's way better, and I can clearly hear the added defenition of SACD. Thanks to the DOS
. The DAC chip is the key component here, some do SACD very well, with CD playback a bit neglected. Probably has everything to do with optimizing the digital filters and stuff for DSD.I would love to poke around in a SA11. The S2 has a lot of cool features from the bigger brother, I doubt if the SA7 is worth the extra cash. Did you experiment with the clock input?
rowemeister said:
How's the C2 stock?
Regards,
Ray
6h5c said:
I would love to poke around in a SA11. The S2 has a lot of cool features from the bigger brother, I doubt if the SA7 is worth the extra cash. Did you experiment with the clock input?
How's the C2 stock?
Regards,
Ray
I added a clock signal into the external input and also the old fashioned way (internal) and found the detail and timing was slightly better fitted internally.
Stock levels should be ok very soon
Brent
The discs I can't really tell much difference is when listening to the Linn cds (to me are some of the very best) and some XRCDs.
Comparing the sacd to 'normal' cds then yes they are much better. It does take a lot of modding to make a player play a well recorded/mastered cd the same level as the sacd disc.
For the average cd the sacd is much the better format but I do question it when you hear well produced cds on a decent player.
Brent
Comparing the sacd to 'normal' cds then yes they are much better. It does take a lot of modding to make a player play a well recorded/mastered cd the same level as the sacd disc.
For the average cd the sacd is much the better format but I do question it when you hear well produced cds on a decent player.
Brent
rowemeister said:Stock levels should be ok very soon
Cool!
Can't wait to hear it!It probably depends a lot on the recording and/or DSD conversion. I have two pcs. of some CD's, one original 'Red Book' an one SACD, just to do some comparison. With some albums the CD layer on the SACD clearly sounds worse than the original CD, like they didn't put much efford in the conversion. With others, the SACD layer doesn't add anything. Some albums are released on SACD, even if the original recording is crap.
Ray
SimontY said:Gimme a TDA1541A now any day - even less refined but oh so satisfying
You have turned to the 1541 side! I'm working on a 1541A e-Bay DAC at the moment. Built with decent parts and extra decoupling, but still have to get me a 11.2896 oscillator can for The Flea somewhere. First tests with the S/P-dif receiver clock connected already revealed a very fluent and smooth sound. Very promising!
Regards,
Ray