shawnwes Posted March 6, 2022 Posted March 6, 2022 (edited) I happened to be going through a local thrift store and saw a Rotel RCD 855 in very good cosmetic cond. sitting on the shelf with some masking tape with some writing on it "very high spec" and a $60 price tag so after determining it at least would read a cd I decided to take it home. Later that day I hooked it up and gave it a spin with the cables I generally use for my vinyl rig thinking great soundstage but a little bright. After playing a couple of discs I was going over to shut it down thinking I'd probably just flip it I put my hand on the top of the case and it was quite warm. I got a bit concerned thinking perhaps there was an issue with it so I unplugged it and moved it over to the dinning table and removed the lid. This is what was staring back at me: Turns out it was a sleeper: NOS, tube output stage and reclocked! I played around with cables and discovered this thing sounds stunningly good with a good recording. A whole 'nother level better than the Oppo 103 or HQplayer flac files via a Geshelli J2 dac that makes up the rest of the digital side of my system. It won't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear but given a good mastering it's incredible how good this sounds. Turns out the builder was actually a well respected local tech who was the regional repair go to for the likes of Allnic and others. Edited March 6, 2022 by shawnwes 2 1
muon* Posted March 6, 2022 Posted March 6, 2022 12 minutes ago, shawnwes said: I happened to be going through a local thrift store and saw a Rotel RCD 855 in very good cosmetic cond. sitting on the shelf with some masking tape with some writing on it "very high spec" and a $60 price tag so after determining it at least would read a cd I decided to take it home. Later that day I hooked it up and gave it a spin with the cables I generally use for my vinyl rig thinking great soundstage but a little bright. After playing a couple of discs I was going over to shut it down thinking I'd probably just flip it I put my hand on the top of the case and it was quite warm. I got a bit concerned thinking perhaps there was an issue with it so I unplugged it and moved it over to the dinning table and removed the lid. This is what was staring back at me: Turns out it was a sleeper: NOS, tube output stage and reclocked! I played around with cables and discovered this thing sounds stunningly good with a good recording. A whole 'nother level better than the Oppo 103 or HQplayer flac files via a Geshelli J2 dac that makes up the rest of the digital side of my system. It won't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear but given a good mastering it's incredible how good this sounds. Turns out the builder was actually a well respected local tech who was the regional repair go to for the likes of Allnic and others. Nice find for 60 bucks! 1
shawnwes Posted March 6, 2022 Posted March 6, 2022 Just now, muon* said: Nice find for 60 bucks! I'm sure this is the best material $60 find I'll ever have in this lifetime! Listening to it now and although it has a little less air than my nice vinyl rig I could live with this w/o complaint. 1
georgehifi Posted March 6, 2022 Posted March 6, 2022 (edited) 25 minutes ago, shawnwes said: Later that day I hooked it up and gave it a spin with the cables I generally use for my vinyl rig thinking great soundstage but a little bright. Could be that tube stage is high'ish output impedance also because of the (red) capacitor coupling output and maybe rolling off the bass a tad into your pre's input impedance. If you tell me the uF of the red cap and the input impedance of your pre, I'll work out your bass roll off -3db point Cheers George Edited March 6, 2022 by georgehifi
shawnwes Posted March 6, 2022 Posted March 6, 2022 2 minutes ago, georgehifi said: Could be that tube stage is high'ish output impedance because of the (red) capacitor coupling and maybe rolling off the bass a tad into your pre's input impedance. If you tell me the uF of the cap and the input impedance of your pre, I work out your bass roll off -3db point Cheers George Thanks, I might not notice it with my 4 stacked subs but I'll pop the lid tomorrow and send the info. I've been chatting with a local who has 4 of these units which haven't had the NOS mod - he was a friend of the tech who built them - and he bought up all the parts from his wife when he passed away a decade ago. There's a couple other mods, incl an IEC power cable to eliminate the lamp cord, I can do to improve it apparently so will be getting together with him at some point to discuss.
muon* Posted March 6, 2022 Posted March 6, 2022 They look like they would be 2.2uf or something so should be fine. 1
shawnwes Posted March 6, 2022 Posted March 6, 2022 Just now, muon* said: They look like they would be 2.2uf or something so should be fine. IIRC correctly I believe they are. 1
muon* Posted March 6, 2022 Posted March 6, 2022 On 16/01/2021 at 11:47 PM, al2813 said: I finally bought a Marantz CD-85 made in Belgium. Love the sound! I will be looking to make refreshes and upgrades at some moment but for now am enjoying again playing CDs! The CD-85 is a very nice player 4
Nada Posted March 6, 2022 Posted March 6, 2022 6 hours ago, shawnwes said: I happened to be going through a local thrift store and saw a Rotel RCD 855 ... Turns out it was a sleeper: NOS, tube output stage and reclocked! That must have been quite a surprise lifting the lid expecting to see something old dusty and failing. Super nice build inside. Congrats! 1
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