MHZS Audio CD-66, Looks nice but is it any good ?

Bob,

I purchased a brand new MHZS CD66 player from an ebay merchant in Hong Kong for $550.00. Mine is not modified. Out of the box it sounded a little bright (vocals) so I let it play continuously for approx. 150 hrs. and the brightness reduced a bit. I don't find it very tube-like. On the positive side, I do find it to be open & detailed. It is not kind to bright or poor recordings.

I did compare it to my Classe CDP-10 and felt the Classe to be more tonally correct but not by much. The Classe is 3-4 times it's price brand new.

For the price, it's a steal. It's built like a tank & has nice RCA output connectors.

Most likely I will sell it in the future on ebay or audiogon. Undecided as I speak.

Hope this helps. I will answer any more questions.

Kevin

Kevin i bought a cayin 15 tube player from an audiogon member 2 yrs ago. Has 2 6922's. he had Amperex BB's in it , one blew recently. I'm looking to replace it.
The other day i had the opamps replced and madea significant improvement. So all in all, this $550/used unit with BB's + opamp upgrade can be placed along side other units costing 2-3X's the price. As you mention the Classe not besting the MHZS, with no upgardes.
I'm sure if you rolled the 12AX7's in the MHZS(or is the 6922 tube?) + change the opamps, all can be done for under 300, you'd find it'd blow out the water the Classe. And several other highly regarded ss cdp's I see mentioned around here.
I know my Cayin 17 with new opamps + if/when I find the right 6922's will match other players in the 2-4K range
Point being there's potential and possibilities with these chinese tube players/DACs that for a minimum of $'s can be upgraded to become a real 1st class player.

I'm considering tweaking the power supply and/or caps.
My 2 cents.

I failed to mention the audiogon member who sold me the 15 mentioned he regrets selling it, just after i sent him payment. If he could only hear the player now, he'd really know his mistake. As it come awefully close to the 17's performance.
The opamps in the 15 maybe superior to the 17's replavcements as i pd $50 each in the 15 and only $25 each in the 17. But the 17 with good tubes will best the 15.
I'll make a report as things progress.

The only one I know of is this:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220028415386&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=012

The main problem with the cd66 are the 10uF electrolitic capacitors in the signal path. Very strange for such a great machine. I've changed these to Mundorf MCAPs and at the same time changed the OPA2604 for two OPA627 smd opamps. This made u huge difference. The tubes are now goldpin longplates (ECC803S by JJ).

Buying gear from China sometimes comes with some problems (at least in my case). With the MHZS the tubesockets aren't that good and with one tube the heating pins didn't connect properly, resulting in a failing left channel straight out of the box. I also changed the sockets.

With modifying the power section I meant the caps. Bypassing larger electrolitic capacitors with mundorf or other. Putting little caps parallel to the rectifier diodes (or bridges), to reduce the 'clicking' of these diodes. Maybe even using special caps such as Black Gates.

Hi Guys,
Thanks for all of the information and your time!!!
It sounds like this could be a real nice machine once it is tweeked a bit.

Cheers
Bob