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Build Your Own CD?

I know people have tried to build their own passive preamps, tube amps, and tube preamps, and that companies offer kits for these purposes. As I look at home theater and digital (CD components and players) I get the sick feeling that they are all the same on the inside and just packaged differently. There seems to be no reason you could not buy a phillips transport, Crystal D/A and the rest of the stuff necessary to put in the box to make a kick-ass cd player (a D/A would seem even easier), so who amoung us has thought of this? SACD components seem obtainable as well. The only problem is the interconnection and compatibility of the various of digital components, but if someone could tell us what to connect, I believe that it could be done. I am not saying that we could build something as good as Wadia or Sony SACD, but hey, could we build something better than most of the stuff out there?
south_park
kublakhan
718 posts
 
Guess what: there is someone who did just this and did it BETTER than wadia. the only problem is, and it's a major one unless your only goal is the sound, is that it cant display the track number or the time elapsed. the guy who made it wont market it because he thinks the flaws will prevent anyone from buying but i can virtually guarantee you that the sound will floor you. email albert at space-tech-lab.com and ask him about it. i dont think he'll build you one but he might send you the plans.
good idea, though, you're on the right track. a long long track, but the right one.
turbodieselvw
48 posts
 
Kublakhan, do you know what transport Albert used? I've heard CDs played on his unit using a Creative CD rom unit but don't know if that's the one.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
In some regards this is what some the the "MOD" persons do. The only reason Stan Warren likes to modify the Pioneer DVD players is the Burr Brown DAC chip it comes with. He really does not "Modify" the player, he completely re-engineers it from scratch. It's just a box with a laser transport and DAC chip to him. He will actually do the same thing to any player with that same Burr Brown chip. The Onkyo DVD players have it also.
kublakhan
718 posts
 
Turbo, i think you're right but i'll check on that. i have an old email from him somewhere.
kublakhan
718 posts
 
turbo: here's part of a letter i got from albert at space-tech a couple months ago. hope it helps. you'll have to call or email to clarify if you're really interested obviously.
Email:
....Actually
I think your CD player [this is when i had a CEC TL5100] sounds better than the audio research CD-1.
The CD player I am now using is built by myself, it compose of standard
computer CD-ROM drive with a very decent and carefully designed high grade
power supply, it sounds better than any conventional CD player, I have compare
with the Mark Levinson 30 and Wedia 22 and YBA blue lazer, and mine CD transport
can beat them down easily. The only problem for my CD transport is no track
or time display, so you will not know which track is playing and how much
time left, so I haven't put it in my web site, for I think people can hardly
accept something like that, but it really sounds great !!
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