Aaaggh - sick Cambridge Audio CA840C CD player

[sq225917]

That's a decent value for money repair cost.

[AlexM]

Good outcome - well done - That seems quite inexpensive, did you have shipping on top?. I wonder where these caps were?.

Interested to hear if it is fully back on song once you get it back.

[ppat2]

I have my CA 840C back now, and it works great again. All for $80, and the cost of shipping.

Now however I have the Audiolab M-DAC and the DAC that is in the 840C...

I found an article on the web, where a reviewer said the 840C works best as a transport in pass through mode, feeding an outboard DAC. Never had a second DAC to test with before, but now can with the M-DAC.

I tested the CD player by itself for a couple of days comparing to the M-DAC, and a little like splitting hairs, each with pluses and minuses.

So I tried the 840C in pass through mode. Connect the digital out on the 840C, and from the menu set it to "pass through" mode (no upsampling or filtering, just bits...) and then fed into the M-DAC digital input.

WOW!

The reviewer was way right! Here is the link for you 840C owners -- http://www.dagogo.com/View-Article.asp?hArticle=139

This combination (with my gear) really blew away the standalone DAC in the 840C or the M-DAC. Go figure. I guess something to be said for separating transport from DAC. You might think that adding another connection in the chain would make things worse, not better.

I have done a bunch of A-B comparisons by simply moving the analog RCA out from the M-DAC to the 840C, back and forth, and the difference is incredible. Each time using the same digital and analog cables, the only difference being switching the analog out from M-DAC to 840C, with these feeding into my preamp RCA input.

My feeling here, is that the digital out circuitry in the 840C is so much better quality than the digital out in my other sources, which are an Oppo BDP-83 Blu Ray and a Logitech Squeezebox Touch (with USB 500GB HDD), which previously were connected to the inputs on the M-DAC. Now those are connected to the 840C, and the 840C digital output sent to the M-DAC. The M-DAC RCA analog out goes to preamp.

BTW, I also tested the 840C in "upsample" mode when connected to the M-DAC, and this sounds terrible with the data being upsampled twice. The 840C has to be in pass through mode when used as a transport with an outboard DAC.

Huge benefits in doing this. I was worried about having 2 DAC's and having wasted my money on the M-DAC (a great DAC....), but now have the best of both worlds. A great disc and digital transport in the 840C, and the flexibility of the M-DAC filters and USB connection for my PC.