coffeemachinist Posted April 25, 2024 Posted April 25, 2024 (edited) Further Information: Vintage Sony CD player and matching DA converter from the mid 80’s. Selling as this is my second pair of an identical set. I would never not have one of each, they’re that good. Both in very good, almost perfect cosmetic condition and zero issues operationally. The DAC will accept PCM input up to 24bit/48khz via coaxial so will get the best from Tidal etc even in 2024. The CD player transport mechanism has been serviced and belts replaced, plus contacts cleaned and any other minor jobs. The laser diode is strong and reads even scratched discs quickly and flawlessly. The DAC has been repaired (reflowed VCO module circuit board and replaced several indicator lamps plus general contact and relay reconditioning) and selectively modified to bypass op-amps in the output stage according to this Japanese blog post - https://blog123.hatenablog.jp/entry/2019/01/11/160540 Results are hard to quantify but immediately noticeable. Best way I can describe it is there is an extra layer of sonic texture revealed- instruments sound more real and rich. It’s as close I’ve heard a digital source sound (that I’ve owned) to the best of analog I have experienced. The mods expense slightly higher THD and lower peak to peak output signal voltage than spec, but gain very noticeably in micro detail. It’s just plain nicer to listen to post mods, and it was already very good. If for whatever reason you want the mods reversed it’s super easy to do, as the ICs are now socketed. "Sony's second consumer d/a converter, much refined version of the original DAS-702ES, and companion of the CDP-553ESD integrated player. Strangely, though, Sony still didn't use its own d/a ICs nor Philips' but Burr Brown's... the same as in the CDP-553ESD. The 703ES has two Burr-Brown PCM-53JP-I-K d/a chips teamed with Sony CXD-23034 digital filters, CX-23053 C-Mos LSI for demod' + sync and 7th-order Butterworth GIC-type LPF. The above is all like a 702ES but added was optical transmission with photo couplers between digital and analogue stages for less noise, less distortion and cleaner grounding.Also refined were the current to voltage conversion circuits. The output stage kept the PNP/NPN high-fT pairs system but used here dual FET cascodes in its first stage and MOS-Fet buffers with large current capacity. Hardware-wise, this remained typical 1980s Sony : copper bus bars and heat sinking, LC-OFC wiring (99,995% purity), a total of more than 33,000µF of ELNA for Audio, ELNA Cerafine and metal film capacitors, one bigga 190V toroidal trafo for the analogue stages plus another slightly smaller toroid solely for the digital stages ; the PCBs were also upped in quality, along with ceramic powder-damped electrolyte added in the capacitors and gold-plating used on the carbon resistors' caps. The chassis, although only partly copper-plated, is made of 3mm / 4mm aluminium slabs (top & sides, respectively) plus 10mm & 15mm aluminium structuring corners; all non-magnetic. The stands were upped as well with a slab of rubber glued onto massive ceramic powder feet. As noted by many, the amazing sound quality results not so much from the technologies used but by the care and absolute perfection in build-quality and choice of components. That's very Sony, be it in the pre-Esprit, ESPRIT or R series : we're in this for the music, not the technical tour-de-force or outer-space specifications : like a TA-E88B, a TA-N902 or a TA-ER1, the 703ES reproduces l i v e m u s i c. The 703ES gave way to the DAS-R1 masterpiece, the DAS-R1a über-masterpiece and the DAS-R10 best-ever-masterpiece. Good stock. Make that magnificent stock." -TheVintageKnob -100V units (Japanese market) -have packing material for safe courier delivery at buyer's expense. Collection and audition from Northcote VIC 3070 Edited April 25, 2024 by coffeemachinist missing pics 2 2
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