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Advice on aging Krell CD player

In the early 90's I purchased a Krell CD-DSP player along
with a Krell KSA 150 amp and a KBL preamp. Here it is 2006
and this system is still going strong and a joy to listen to.Mostly classical, lots of solo piano, and vocal performance.
Enter the Krell CD-DSP, smooth on top,great bass,decent soundstage and a completely black backgroung. Well not any
more,seems like on most recordings there is a noise, kind
of a sputtering sound at the start of the track and is very prominent on small vocal recordings the whole way thru.
Should I just replace the unit or consider having it upgraded.And if so, who might you recommend to do such work.
I suspect the DAC's have had it and probably the noise I describe is jitter.Really hate to part with her.
I appreciate your time and look forward to your reply.
markym
9 responses Add your response
markym OP
2 posts
 
Patrick at Krell delivered the death blow this
morning in an email.Krell cannot help with the CD-DSP.
He agreed that it probably is the drive or servo,
possibly both.Jeez, think I'm gonna blow this off
and go fishing.

Thankyou Yioryos, on your offer but the CD-DSP uses a
CDM 1 unlike your MD1.
Still might contact the Upgrade Co. just to see if
they can help.
Thankyou again for all the input, Mark
yioryos's avatar
yioryos
723 posts
 
Markym
Patrick at Krell is the man to talk to.If indeed is the laser as others suggested then, I am afraid he is going to tell you there are no parts available.Having said that if your CD-DSP uses (and I do believe it does)the Philips cdm-3 mechanism then I know somebody who might have a NOS spare.At least I bought one from him to have as a spare for my Krell Md-1 transport.E-mail me privately.
George
markym OP
2 posts
 
Thankyou all for your input. I sent an email to Krell
earlier today about CD-DSP. Probably next week before I hear back.
Think I will wait to hear from Krell before cleaning the
laser.And thanks about the UPgrade Co., that was going to be my next step.(thanks to a search on upgrades on Audiogon).
Funny, always kept stuff for a long time, hell ,even still
have Martin Logan Sequal's from the 90's.
Will keep you posted on the next step.
This was my first post at Audiogon,and it has been extremely helpful,Markym
elberoth2's avatar
elberoth2
1,223 posts
 
Sounds like a laser thing. Cleaning may help, but it is probably reaching the end of his days.
rockvirgo
587 posts
 
My Theta sputtered but it seems to have been my 25 feet of balanced digital cable. Went back to one meter and no more problems. Digital echo?
aoltes
30 posts
 
Hi Mark, I use a Krell Kav-300 CD Player and it's awesome. Call Krell, they aslo have awesome, sincere, people working there to give you honest advice "The Best".
mlauner841e
20 posts
 
i agree it is your laser however i would not try to clean it. virtually all manufacturers are against it. krell may be able to replace it or upgrade your unit. it is worth checking out.
rwwear
2,867 posts
 
Sounds more like the laser. It is probably a Phillips transport which are hard to get parts for. You could try cleaning the laser by removing the cover and opening the tray and using a Q tip with a cleaning solution such as tape head cleaner.
jond's avatar
jond
5,807 posts
 
Check with Krell and if it's cost effective to fix it then fix it. If not then I'd say time to move on, there are tons of great cd players out right now, in a variety of price ranges.
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