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Post by MartinT on Mar 12, 2017 15:10:43 GMT
Recently, CDs have been muting or refusing to play in my Ayre C-5xe MP player. Having tried the usual lens cleaning tricks, it seemed that the drive mechanism was failing. A quick call to High End Workshop, the Ayre (and Mark Levinson) repair agency run by Mark Dolbear, revealed the bad news that Ayre's stockpile of drives had depleted and that no more were available. Disaster! Mark was good enough to ascertain that the drive was used in the Pioneer Elite DV-45A player, so I set about finding one. Several weeks later, having found one on sale by an Amazon US trader, and asking whether he would ship abroad, I received the 'donor' player and set about swapping the drives. The donor US spec Pioneer player featuring the all-important drive mechanism as used in the Ayre. A close up of the three ribbon cables and multi-pin fourth connector, which all required careful disconnection. The donor drive, now removed from the Pioneer. Here's the Ayre opened up, ready for drive removal. Mine has had two major modifications: the MP (Minimum Phase) upgrade performed by Mark, and the power supply was breathed on by Tony of Coherent Systems. The two drives side by side. Note the black top pressure plate milled by Ayre, compared with the pressed steel item on the Pioneer drive. I swapped them over. I also had to rescue the milled front door plate and remove the white coloured mounting rails. The Pioneer had the same CD/DVD/SACD decode boards as the Ayre, so I removed them and have kept them for spares. Note that the Ayre board has an ultra low jitter add-on to the crystal. Having carefully assembled the replacement drive into the Ayre and double-checked all screws and connections, I gingerly fired it up. It works! All my test CDs played fine and so did an SACD. I will do some extended listening later on tonight.
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Post by ChrisB on Mar 12, 2017 15:22:28 GMT
Good news and well done.
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 12, 2017 15:38:12 GMT
Delighted for you Martin!
The Ayre is a very tidy machine inside ...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2017 16:19:12 GMT
You're a lot braver than me, I would be terrified of doing that level of DIY but really glad it worked out for you.
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Post by John on Mar 12, 2017 16:32:59 GMT
Great news Be good to get a spare unit to future proof
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Post by Mr Whippy on Mar 12, 2017 18:32:12 GMT
Jammy sod!
If it was me - the laser wouldn't track.
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Post by MartinT on Mar 12, 2017 20:11:02 GMT
I did have that fear...
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Post by MikeMusic on Mar 12, 2017 21:40:27 GMT
Really good to hear Martin you must be delighted.
If I were desperate enough to try it myself I would be ecstatic
Big benefit of my Rega Isis is the lifetime guarantee and 2 spare drives held at Rega
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Post by Mr Whippy on Mar 12, 2017 21:40:29 GMT
There was a time when Philips, to cut down on production time, would, initially, set the laser of a model with 'scope and what have you, take a photo of the settings, which was then put on the production line. The operator then just set the pots the same as in the photo. Anyone who bought one with tracking problems simply got another, and the original was scraped.
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Post by Sovereign on Mar 21, 2017 22:28:47 GMT
Top, top, good persistent effort and well deserved brilliant outcome well done !
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Post by MartinT on Mar 21, 2017 22:53:43 GMT
The Ayre is sounding brilliant, back to its best
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Post by MikeMusic on Mar 22, 2017 10:55:57 GMT
Good to hear. Long may it continue
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Post by MartinT on Mar 22, 2017 11:31:04 GMT
Agreed. It exactly suits the way I like music: potent, dynamic with good clout and gut-wrenching deep bass (when there is some). The Ayre and Technics TT are well matched in characteristics.
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Post by MikeMusic on Mar 22, 2017 15:44:16 GMT
Just think how much better it would sound if it was black
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Post by MartinT on Mar 22, 2017 20:19:33 GMT
The Technics is black but it hasn't suffered too badly
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juke
Rank: Soloist
Posts: 12
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Post by juke on Aug 14, 2017 22:49:55 GMT
Just came across this thread today while looking for something else, not on this forum. I had a notion that Ayre kept a lifetime of spare drives for these based on a Stereophile interview with Ayre's owner at the time, searched it out today and what it actually was about was him getting finance to stock up for production needs for five years, back then.
Martin, do you have any more info on what other Pioneers used this drive or if any UK models used it? Mine is fine now but I guess it's a time bomb... Is there a serial number on the one you removed?
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Post by MartinT on Aug 15, 2017 6:57:17 GMT
Hi again Juke
I believe Charlie Hansen of Ayre intended the Pioneer drive stockpile to last 'a lifetime', but the failure rate was much higher than anticipated. This mirrors Krell's disastrous first SACD player where the Philips mech became unobtainable.
To my knowledge, the Pioneer DV-45A is the only machine with the exact same drive mech. However, it really is worth asking Ayre directly - I have found them very helpful indeed in the past when my first remote started misbehaving. They sent me a replacement without question. If you have to source a DV-45A, try both eBay and Amazon as well as general searches. You only need the drive to be good and the voltage doesn't matter as you will never power it up. I bought mine from an Amazon.com market trader who was happy to ship at my cost.
Do you have the MP upgrade? If not, you should consider contacting Mark Dolbear as the sound quality improvement is very worthwhile.
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juke
Rank: Soloist
Posts: 12
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Post by juke on Aug 16, 2017 12:57:45 GMT
Hi Martin
I tried calling Michael at Ayre in US but he is on holiday until tomorrow. So I spent a few hours searching and came across an old thread on a US forum where someone who had a DV-45A had bought a 655 for his brother through their PX as his brother was overseas. I could only find a 656 on sale in UK. So I checked the manual (US) and it seemed that the 656 is the same as 655 but doesn't do SACD so I guess not the same drive. Tried a search for 656 in UK and found a used one on Amazon UK just to see what it was described as. It claimed SACD playback so more searching and it seems that the different markets use the same basic model number for slightly different specs.
I got hold of the repair manuals and the 45 and 656 show the same part numbers for the mechanism. Finally, eBay UK and it has two for sale, they both say they play SACD. So I bought the Amazon one to have a look, only £35 incl. post so worth a try. I'll let you know, when it arrives, just in case you need another at any time. Certainly feels better knowing a spare is (hopefully) organised.
I considered the MP upgrade when it was first offered but didn't know if I would hear the difference so didn't proceed. It was £200 then, plus carriage and from here, up until recently Parcelforce was the best known firm, they were looking £65 one way! I recently sold a pretty heavy Moth record cleaner through eBay and carriage was £11. Competition has certainly made a difference to carriage costs. So might be worth considering...
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Post by MartinT on Aug 16, 2017 14:04:12 GMT
Nice bit of sleuthing there, Juke. I shall keep a note of the 656 as that is very good to know.
If you can keep the carriage costs down, I think you'll be impressed with the MP upgrade. It does a little more of everything the Ayre does so well: detail, dynamics, bass extension and tightness, soundstage. I don't know whether it's still available but a quick chat with Mark should help. He's a good chap.
So what is the Ayre driving in your system?
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juke
Rank: Soloist
Posts: 12
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Post by juke on Aug 16, 2017 18:09:42 GMT
I'll ask Mark, as you say it may not be on offer now though. Maybe the new battery holder and screws I'm waiting on will be in stock by now.
I was on the Ayre website earlier and noticed a reference to lasers being availabe, I thought it meant a component of the drive, but it was just an out of date website page listing new drives. Why I mention it, they were last listed at over $1200!
There's a guy selling allegedly new ones in Taiwan for $63 + post. eBay.com.
My main setup now is the Ayre or a Logitech Transporter/Odroid XU4 into MF a308 preamp and bi-amps. Bought them just after the Ayre, still sound great to me. The Ayre had been used for a short while into a MF A3, modified, with no problems, but the preamp failed as soon as I connected the Ayre so I phoned MF and the guy asked me what CD player I was using, he seemed surprised and impressed so I guess there weren't too many in UK at that time. They took the preamp back, contacted Ayre for the specs, adjusted something and sent it back, it has gone well ever since.
Speakers are Proac D40R, superb sound. I also have a Clearaudio Champion Level II with Unify arm and Michelle Delphini, modified, plus matching PSU. That lot are literally just ornaments now as I gave up on vinyl not long after I bought this lot. Again pretty ancient now.
I tinker with headamps and 'phones more now, for listening late at night.
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