Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Jul 12, 2016 8:01:07 GMT
I have an old, souped up Arcam Alpha 5 CD player. It's a wonderful sounding piece of kit that has sadly started to sometimes mistrack on certain discs. Presumably the fault lies in the transport section side of things. It uses the longtime discontinued CDM9 Philips transport. I'm looking for the easiest way to instigate a repair. I see there are new CDM9 transports for sale on ebay priced around £100, I have read that some of these are simply poor quality Chinese copies though. There are also exactly the same CD players priced around £50-£75. If I did buy a CD player, which would be the easiest solution, swapping the transport over, or swapping my souped up electronics over to the other player?
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jul 12, 2016 11:57:34 GMT
Hi Nigel, Is the tray gear ok? They usually end up going brittle so that may need replaced too. I would probably buy a secondhand Alpha 5 and fit the transport into your existing "souped up" CDP. The advantage of buying a secondhand CDP is that you will have plenty of spares should anything else pack up further down the line. Just be sure you get one that's working perfectly, you don't want to end up with two of them that skip  If it only skips on certain discs are you sure its not the disc itself? Hold the discs up to a light, it could be something simple like disc rot: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_rot |
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Jul 12, 2016 15:18:09 GMT
The tray gear has long departed. I use it manually with a knob stuck on the outside of the drawer. It's not too bad so could be a disc problem but any affected discs do play fine on my other players.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jul 12, 2016 15:32:23 GMT
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jul 12, 2016 15:46:01 GMT
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Jul 13, 2016 9:40:12 GMT
Ok Mike. Thanks for the heads up.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jul 13, 2016 13:24:10 GMT
Nigel,
I've sent you the CDM9 service manual so you cn see what parts to lubricate,
Mike.
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Jul 13, 2016 16:12:44 GMT
Very decent of you, kind sir.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jul 13, 2016 20:47:15 GMT
I have lots of the required lubricant and it's FOC to you mate so don't waste time searching for it....... my guess (and it's a guess) is that the bearing / swinging arm assembly is not as lubed as it once was and that could cause intermittent problems. As you are a friend I'd be more than happy to do the necessary for you FOC.... are you able remove and post the transport?
Cotton wool buds, remove the old Molycote PG-65 lube with isopropyl, and re-lube...... it's worth a go mate.
Mike.
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Jul 13, 2016 22:05:10 GMT
Cheers Mike. All very kind of you. I'll have to read up on it. As I say, it's not too bad but the machine is now over twenty years old so well due some TLC.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jul 13, 2016 22:11:48 GMT
IMO..... lube the swinging arm and you'll be good to go.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jul 13, 2016 22:16:34 GMT
CDM9 was built to last.
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leo
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Post by leo on Jul 27, 2016 23:43:53 GMT
The laser units get tired after years of use so can loose track on some cd's especially if they are slightly scratched , also the spindle motors can get worn spots causing skipping or the little disc on the spindle can drop slightly. The whole tray and laser assembly can be removed and replaced , think theres three or four screws holding it inplace (can't remember its been ages since I touched a CDP) so if you buy another unit you could just swap over . Replacing just the laser unit on its own will be more fiddly .
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Jul 29, 2016 9:05:26 GMT
Cheers Leo. Roughly, where are the screws situated?
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Jul 29, 2016 12:01:43 GMT
Also Leo, am I correct in assuming that it doesn't matter if it's an Alpha 5 or an Alpha 5 Plus?
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jul 29, 2016 12:55:35 GMT
Cheers Leo. Roughly, where are the screws situated? Pull out the loading drawer Nigel, you should see 4 screws, undo them and gently ease the transport upward...... carefully pull out the ribbon cable and unclip the red and black motor wires..... refitting is in reverse. I have an old MarantZ CD52 in bits so will take a few photos tomorrow to guide you. Mike. |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jul 29, 2016 20:13:33 GMT
The Marantz is a bit of a bitch but made a LOT easier if you simply desolder the red / black (pos / neg) wires on the motor tags instead of having to remove the fekkin' front panel to get access to the connector. I can swap out a Marantz CD52 (CDM4) transport in about 15 minutes..... out and then in again......
I'll take a few photos tomorrow Nigel, which should "roughly" relate to to your ARCAM CDP, but if you can pop the hood and take a couple photos of the transport it will help me to advise you the best way of tackling your particular CDP.
In fact, it would be a lot more informative for fellow ARCAM CDP owners if you sent it up to me, I would do the work for free AND post a tutorial (with detailed photos) on how to do it. Parcelforce is your cheapest (and very reliable)..... it would get my interest levels back up mate and you would be assured the best possible attention to detail WITH photographic proof!
Removing the transport from the scrap CD52 (I have 6 of them out in the workshop / 5 in working condition) was a piece of cake..... I realised that the motor wires PCB connector involved removing the front panel so my workaround was to simply desolder the wires on the motor tags, simples! Why do a full strip down when you don't have to?
The tray gear and belt are "as new" and could possibly be fitted into your Arcam so you wouldn't have to physically pull the loading tray to open it.
I've got spare time on my hands these days Nigel and urge you to send her up to me...... let's do a "first" again so when somebody searches Google for "how to replace an ARCAM transport" they will get a comprehensive answer with a "step by step" how to go about it pictorial guide.
What do you think?
Best regards,
Mike.
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Jul 29, 2016 21:02:43 GMT
I think it's very kind of you. Trouble is these things are so delicate. When I originally purchased it, it arrived trashed. Leo had to repair it before any mods were even done. There's an Arcam 5 about forty miles from me for sale. Not as cheap as I got mine but the guy said the transport is as quite as a mouse, no noise or ticking. He won't post. Neither will Avondale Audio either. So too risky Mike.
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Jul 29, 2016 21:04:51 GMT
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Jul 29, 2016 21:13:15 GMT
There's a guy on eBay selling souped up Rotel 855 cd players for around £140. It also uses the classic Philips TDA1541A converter. Supposedly the king of the multibit chips. Albeit without a crown. He converts them to non oversampling as well as including some judicious modifications to boot. I suspect a lot of people aren't interested in these old CD players these days. Everyone is playing vinyl ;-)
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jul 29, 2016 21:22:08 GMT
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jul 29, 2016 21:24:00 GMT
Everyone is playing vinyl ;-) Everyone is staring at screens and playing with phones...... certainly not vinyl |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jul 29, 2016 21:26:36 GMT
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leo
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Post by leo on Jul 29, 2016 21:31:23 GMT
I can't seem to find any clear pics of the mechanism , I might actually have one of these units in the loft so I'll have a dig around at the weekend . Still a nice sounding unit after some modding , I remember taking one I modded to a few audio meet ups and it kicked the crap out of several expensive high end units  |
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leo
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Post by leo on Jul 29, 2016 21:34:29 GMT
Minds gone blank, must be going senile  seem to remember there was a screw each side and one at the back you get to when opening the drawer . Can't remember if there was any at the front to the front panel |
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seem to remember there was a screw each side and one at the back you get to when opening the drawer . Can't remember if there was any at the front to the front panel