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  1. #1
    Join Date: Apr 2009

    Location: Ayrshire, Scotland

    Posts: 231
    I'm Ian.

    Default Belcanto CD-2 ABCDE modification ?

    I was looking through my stash of old CD's in my loft today to find an oldie and came across a unit I must have bought around 1980.
    Its an A.B.C.D.E. Compact disc enhancer (A Better Compact Disc Enhancer) made by a French company Sicomin. Its a Woven Carbon Fibre matt with a Kevlar gasket that sits on top of the CD. The theory is that it dampens vibrations on the rotating CD which they translate into benefits to bass, soundstage and a more natural musical reproduction.

    In my book if it does dampen vibrations the benefits are gained from the electronic error correction in the CD electronics not having to work as hard!

    I remember it worked well and gave a noticeable improvement in reproduction. The problem was that it would only work reliably on certain CD players.
    In operation a plastic ring was stuck onto the CD around the "hole".The enhancer sat on the CD held in position, and centred, by the plastic ring. This ring on the CD fouled some loading mechanisms so it was not a great success. CDs could often not be used across a mix of CD decks.
    I recently bought a "New to me " CD player and since I wanted a quality no fuss transport,I searched out a Belcanto CD-2 which uses the Philips pro deck with manual loading. The CD is held in position by a magnetic puck.
    My reaction to my find was try it on my Belcanto. Loaded the cd onto the centre spindle placed the enhancer on top then the puck with the matt centred.
    Played a few CDs with a before and after test run.
    As I remembered it all those years ago, smoother treble and a more natural musical reproduction.

    I was using the Analogue output from the CD-2 internal DAC fed balanced directly to my NCore amps.

    I want to take this further .
    Looking at the issues.
    I have to make the magnetic puck's plastic insert such that it fits exactly into the hole in the enhancer to ensure it is perfectly centred and remove 20 thousandths " to a 0.800" dia from part of its base to let it accomodate the thickness of the enhancer. and ensure the puck fits in the correct position on the CD rotor shaft.
    I need a puck to do this and have contacted a Belcanto dealer to get one. It should be possible to remove the required plastic in an accurate Lathe, Ive plenty of experience of in doing this with metal, plastic may open other issues but Im confident I can do it.

    I had a quick look on Ebay to see if any CD Enhancers were avilable but no luck so far. There must be some out there.
    If this works , and Im sure it will,its a good lift to the CD-2 SQ and may be of interest to others who have a CD model that has a manual or a semi manual loading operation with a magnetic puck
    I attach two photos of the ABCDE- surely someone will recollect it
    [IMG][/IMG]

    [IMG][/IMG]
    Last edited by Ianmac; 13-03-2019 at 16:36. Reason: typos
    Technics 1200 tweaked,Ianmac Bearing,DACT DIY Phono Pre, Belcanto CD-2, Engineered Switzerland DIY Renderer, Benchmark DAC2, Hypex NCore, ATC SCM40
    2nd system --Engineered Switzerland DIY streamer, Sony CDP11,Topping D50 DAC, Hypex NCore. Kef 1point2 speakers. Ianmac Filters

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