Micromega Stage 6 DIY mod

Discussion in 'DIY Discussion' started by DaveHiFi, May 24, 2007.

  1. DaveHiFi

    DaveHiFi Seeking Nirvana

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    Hi, I was wandering if anyone could help with some advice. I am planning to make a new case for my Micromega stage 6 as I have just started at a new company and they have water jet cutting facilities.
    I was thinking of say 8mm aluminium plate cut to form the same size case as the existing then when the work is done having this poder coated. I am a designer in engineering using autocad so the design bit of the job should be straight forward. Is there any tips on the casework that anyone has, like for example lining the internals with copper like the Marantz KI stuff. Also I was thinking at a later stage to have it reclocked so maybe make the case a little taller to make sure I have more than enough space. All ideas welcome.
    Regards
    Dave
     
    DaveHiFi, May 24, 2007
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  2. DaveHiFi

    sq225917 Exposer of Foo

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    dave you could put a carriage clock in the micromega stage cases, theres a lot of air in them.

    the board mounts are crap,so consider a complaint mount for the circuit board.
     
    sq225917, May 25, 2007
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  3. DaveHiFi

    zanash

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    bracing the case ...would be good.

    A friend built a perspex case for an AA5....unmodded sounded very close to a full modded AAA5. I'm certain the mild steel ? case of the original was effecting the sound. So a none metalic case could be a winner.
     
    zanash, May 27, 2007
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  4. DaveHiFi

    DaveHiFi Seeking Nirvana

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    Micromega Stage 6 mod

    I was thinking of a new case made from scratch. I have joined a company as a design draughtsman and what do you know they have a rather good Water Jet cutting machine. I spoke to the guy who operates it and he has pleanty of spare 10mm thick aluminium plate, so all I have to give him is a drawing in 2d produced with Autocad (which I use all the time) and he will do the business in his spare time. Will take approx 15mins.
    I know nothing of electronics so if I take pictures of the micromegas inside would anyone be able to give advice albeit in stages (no pun intended) about stripping out and re assembly.
    I would also like to make a top job of this and can send it to a local powder coating company prior to assembly....I was thinking gloss black and lining the inside with copper sheet. The lettering cand be cut from polished brass on the waterjet to add the finishing touches later.
    Also does anyone think that by going to this level of casing I would get improvements of a large or small scale. Later I could send away for a clock job but which make would anyone recommend.
    I have big ideas for this player as I do like the sound. I recently compared it to a quad 99 player and I prefered the micromega. The quad was a little too safe for my taste. Sorry to ramble on but any advice would be great.
    Regards to all
    Dave
     
    DaveHiFi, Jul 19, 2007
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  5. DaveHiFi

    sq225917 Exposer of Foo

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    dave,make the case thick and heavy, make sure all joints on the case are damped with a thin strip of something. yuo could isolate the power section,but MM use tiny plastic transformers anyway.

    try mounting the PCBs on something solid.

    to be honest though the best gains will come from clocking the unit and adding voltage regs to the dac section.
     
    sq225917, Jul 20, 2007
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  6. DaveHiFi

    DaveHiFi Seeking Nirvana

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    Micromega Stage 6 mods

    Thanks SQ. On the tape for the joints im sure I can get a suitable buytl tape that would do. Regarding the regs for the the player where would I start or who could perform this work. The clocking I know of a few people who advertise but which one is the best value / performance any ideas.
    Thanks
    Dave
     
    DaveHiFi, Jul 21, 2007
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  7. DaveHiFi

    scott_01

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    I'd heed the advice above, sq225917 seems to know what he is doing and gave me some good tips.

    I personally can not recommend Dynamat highly enough. Depending on how well damped your casework is I would recommend you have a look at that as well.

    I've just done my old PDS505 transport and the effect was almost as good as doing the whole Cambridge A840C (Stolen, bastards). Brings out the bass.

    Have you also thought about the ERS Cloth as well?

    http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/ers_cloth_e.html

    http://www.musicdirect.com/products/detail.asp?sku=AERSCLOTH8X11

    Good luck and please post some pictures when you are finished.
     
    scott_01, Jul 21, 2007
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  8. DaveHiFi

    sq225917 Exposer of Foo

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    if you wnat the clock and regulation mods done for you i can whole hearetdly recommend Colin at Chevin Audio. a new clock chip with local regulated power supply and regs next to the dac chips should do the job nicely.

    figure £120-150 for new xo chip and a couple of regs
     
    sq225917, Jul 22, 2007
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  9. DaveHiFi

    DaveHiFi Seeking Nirvana

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    Micromega stage 6 Mods

    Thanks guys for that info. I will call Colin at Chevin Audio this week and have a word about my project. I will post pictures as I go along.
    Dave
     
    DaveHiFi, Jul 22, 2007
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  10. DaveHiFi

    DaveHiFi Seeking Nirvana

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    micromega stage 6 mods

    Spoke to colin at Chevin, and he can sort out the three areas of the cd player that gain from modding i.e. clock regs and transformer. The clock would be a Tent labs device. Must admit looking on Tentlabs site I will be best letting the experts do the job. Anyway Colin did advise me to sort out the case first which I intend to do. I will post the pictures and if there are any wizards out there maybe you could add suggestions.
    Dave
     
    DaveHiFi, Jul 25, 2007
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  11. DaveHiFi

    tuga

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    This one looks nice:

    [​IMG]
     
    tuga, Jul 25, 2007
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  12. DaveHiFi

    tuga

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    Guido at tentlabs made perspex prototype but advises not to use this material...

    "Acrylic

    The acrylic as shown in the Dutch test initially was only meant as demonstrator as it clearly (!) shows what is in the package. Many people showed their interest, and there is no problem to make them available. There are 2 objections on the use:
    • Electrical safety
    • Dust in the optical system

    Therefore the acrylic will not be supplied"
     
    tuga, Jul 25, 2007
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  13. DaveHiFi

    felix part-time Horta

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    Dave - if you can really fabricate a case out of 10m Ally, adding a copper lining won't add anything in the way of useful shielding to it (because the ally will have far lower impedance broadband). So there's a saving to be had.

    -Either way, we want pictures if you go for this!
     
    felix, Jul 25, 2007
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  14. DaveHiFi

    zanash

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    as I say ....I'd also say don't use pressed steel ....as it sounded infinately worse than the perspex..ie un modded unit sounded better than my identical modded one...in a straight back to back listening test. There are a who;e host of possible materials ..the knack is finding the right one!
     
    zanash, Jul 26, 2007
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  15. DaveHiFi

    DaveHiFi Seeking Nirvana

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    Micromega stage 6 mods

    Having thought about you idea of Perspex and depending on how the waterjet cut 10mm aluminium goes I may make a case out of that too and see what the sound is like comparing the two. I also have a stage 2 as a doner.
    Does anyone know where I can buy a new drawer mechanism. I had the lid off mine tonight and took some pics which I will now find a picture hosting site for those and link so as to save space on this server. Of course through this work I will be transcribing the whole job. May be useful for another modder or a Rampton Patient, who knows.
    Will post and link the pics by this weekend all being well.
    Regards
    Dave
     
    DaveHiFi, Jul 26, 2007
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  16. DaveHiFi

    DaveHiFi Seeking Nirvana

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    Picture Inside of Micromega Stage 6

    This is where my project begins. Case was easy to remove required T-10 torx scredriver bit. Next Stage will be to remove the cd sled / drawer. First viewing seems positive especially with the ribbon connectors to tie up each board. When you see the innards and wonder where the 1100 quid when new came from.
    Feel free to comment good or bad
    I have put a link to the photo hope by just pasting it in is the correct way to do this.
    Dave

    http://images26.fotki.com/v941/photos/1/1190472/5212621/MicromegaStage6Internals-vi.jpg
     
    DaveHiFi, Jul 27, 2007
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  17. DaveHiFi

    sq225917 Exposer of Foo

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    a bit of cap swapping in the output board might not go amiss, they are likely the best part of ten years old.
     
    sq225917, Jul 27, 2007
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  18. DaveHiFi

    DaveHiFi Seeking Nirvana

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    DaveHiFi, Jul 28, 2007
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  19. DaveHiFi

    sq225917 Exposer of Foo

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    the PCB under the cd-sled is the power supply and servo control board, that blue plastic box is a small transformer. the board directly to the left of that with the two largest capacitors on is the DAC and output board.

    the big capacitors on the topright on the dac/output board will be the ones that have had the hardest life. just read the voltage 'V 'and capacitance values 'uF' off the side of the caps and search out some replacements,

    try hifi-collective for replacements.

    to be honest thats just the invererate fiddler in me, the money will be way better spent of new xo, and power regs for the dacs. but it's always nice to get the soldring iron wet
     
    sq225917, Jul 28, 2007
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  20. DaveHiFi

    DaveHiFi Seeking Nirvana

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    Micromega Stage 6 Mods

    Thanks for the component link SQ. Yesterday I sorted out a slight problem with the drawer mechanism on the stage 6. I have a stage 2 which is in perfect order with a new cdm 12.4 laser which I fitted not long back so I swapped this into the stage 6 and now all is well in the micromega world. The drawer from the stage 6 just requires greasing by the look of it so I will call at maplins today for some lube as I only have spray silicone which is ok for the lasers rail it slides on but wont be any good for this.
    Mind you if anyone knows where I can get a new tray mechanism I may as well replace it and I will puit the stage 2 up for sale.
    Regards
    Dave
     
    DaveHiFi, Jul 29, 2007
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