[budx3385]

I'm cleaning out the closet, and I was about to post an advert to sell my very first (1994) audiophile purchase, the Rotel 965BX CDP, and I listened to it with my HD600s and PPX3-SLAM, and this classic Bitstream play is really very good! Great soundstage, nice detail, coherent music - just a bit edgy, not enough presence. I've been using a Sony D-303 / XP-7 for bedside listening, and this combo could prove better, if I can upgrade the 965.

I did a quick search, and I easily found three websites offering clock and PSU upgrades (Trichord, LCclock, NET Audio).

So, I'm looking for advice, comments, raves, beefs, and info. If you have any experience with these upgrades, please post your comments. Let's find out how many Head-Fiers have listened to an upgraded classic CDP, and how many DIYers can share their wisdom.

Bud

 

[WilCox]

You've got yourself a good vintage player there! Here's some of the mods I've done over the years:

1. Add sockets to upgrade the op amps at the output stage. OPA627 or AD825 are my favorate replacements.
2. Get rid of the muting transistors at the output. Simply cut off T109, T110, T111 and T112.
3. Bypass the power supply caps with .1 uf polypropylenes.
4. The output caps on my player were Black Gates, so I left them but bypassed with .1 uf polypropylenes.
5. I also replaced most of the power supply electrolytics with higher value, lower ESR Panasonic caps.
6. I believe that there were some resistors in series with the analog power supply and the output op amps that I replaced with 0 ohm jumpers.

I did add LClocks to my RCD975 and RCD 991, but didn't feel the expense was worth it for the RCD965.

The RCD965 may not be as good as the current crop of players, but it is a solid, musical source of listening pleasure.

Happy listening,

Wil

 

[budx3385]

Thanks, Will. Those all sound like good suggestions. I rolled opamps in my XP-7 and found the OPA627 to be an excellent choice. Trimming / renewing caps should help. I was surprised that you thought the LClock would not add much - I expected that a clock with less jitter would remove lots of grain and improve imaging. I heard from someone elsewhere that he heard such a change with a Tent Labs X03 in his 965 Discrete.

 

[WilCox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by budx3385 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was surprised that you thought the LClock would not add much - I expected that a clock with less jitter would remove lots of grain and improve imaging. I heard from someone elsewhere that he heard such a change with a Tent Labs X03 in his 965 Discrete.

I should clarify. I think that putting an LClock into an RCD965 would provide a noticable improvement, especially in the area of resolution and depth of image. In my case, I was concerned that I was spending a good chunk of money (the clock + power supply) upgrading a 10+ year-old player that may have limited useful life left. I may be wrong about that, and I could still be listening to the 965 10 years from now!