Lachie7 Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 Just wanted to post my new ‘old’ purchase, this MSB Silver CD player. While it’s over 30 years old, and only had two owners in the past this is a beast of a player. I couldn’t find anything on the net about them, and took a punt with my trusted dealer. I had no idea what to expect, but there you go. It’s replaced an Oppo 93 and the difference is astounding. I’ve not got perfect ears, but the mids have so much more depth to them, and the soundstage seems a lot wider and more three dimensional. The sound really fills the room. Hearing old Frankie and the big bands was a joy to listen too, and on Peaceful Piano, it was like the grand was in the room. On some tracks I could hear the key strikes and reverb is much more pronounced. I’ve had to drop the sub down a notch and it does seem a little bright in my room at high volume. I’ve the option to pick up some VDH interconnects which I’m told should roll off the brightness in my tiled floor and high ceiling room. While I ran the Oppo on Pure Direct via VDH The FLat HDMI (Marantz AVR 6005) I’ve found a nice balance with the Audessy EQ. The purest in me want’s to believe the system doesn’t need it but my ears and 8 year old music loving son say otherwise. Anyone else got an MSB Silver? Any thoughts on the sound of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon N' Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) Looks like they modified a Magnavox CDB-582 player, and added the MSB name plate on the left? The Magnavox is likely a Philips based player like many from that time, it uses the Philips TDA 1541A DAC Chip. I wonder what modifications they did to it... Edited May 26, 2019 by Muon N' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon N' Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 Where did they relocate the power on button to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lachie7 Posted May 26, 2019 Author Share Posted May 26, 2019 14 minutes ago, Muon N' said: Where did they relocate the power on button to? The power button is built into the transformer on the power cable. It is a direct import, I believe as the original plu is US straight pin. I think they have bypassed the internal power supply/converter? I found that MSB modded the Phillips to create a warmer sound, and were/are based out of California. . It looks very much like that Magnavox based on the Phillips as you said. The mods are a new PCB and fast chipset. The Output stage was replaced as well. It also recently had the laser realigned and belts serviced. Interestingly and I was surprised that it plays CD-R. I wouldn’t have that that tech was around then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lachie7 Posted May 26, 2019 Author Share Posted May 26, 2019 Here is the power button Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon N' Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) 17 hours ago, Lachie7 said: The power button is built into the transformer on the power cable. It is a direct import, I believe as the original plu is US straight pin. I think they have bypassed the internal power supply/converter? I found that MSB modded the Phillips to create a warmer sound, and were/are based out of California. . It looks very much like that Magnavox based on the Phillips as you said. The mods are a new PCB and fast chipset. The Output stage was replaced as well. It also recently had the laser realigned and belts serviced. Interestingly and I was surprised that it plays CD-R. I wouldn’t have that that tech was around then. Interesting. Not sure what is meant by "fast chipset", changing the output section after the TDA1541 is normally a big improvement if done well The TDA 1541 DAC is revered for It's warmer natural sound presentation, I run a Philips based Marantz that uses the TDA1541 where all I have done is replace the output caps and RCA sockets and love the sound, looking at taking the signal from after the first opamp for a bit better sound. Likely they have a discrete output stage, would love to see an internal pic Edited May 26, 2019 by Muon N' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lachie7 Posted May 26, 2019 Author Share Posted May 26, 2019 8 minutes ago, Muon N' said: Interesting. Not sure what is meant by "fast chipset", changing the output section after the TDA1541 is normally a big improvement if done well The TDA 1541 DAC is revered for It's warmer natural sound presentation, I run a Philips based Marantz that uses the TDA1541 where all I have done is replace the output caps and RCA sockets and love the sound, looking at taking the signal from after the first opamp for a bit better sound. Likely they have a discrete output stage, would love to see an internal pic I’ll see if I can find out re the fast chipset. I might look at the internals later. Never opened anything up before... I cant break too much can I? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lachie7 Posted May 26, 2019 Author Share Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) MSB changed the chipsets in the analogue stage, and the D/A converter. It also has the Ladder DAC. My google findings on the Ladder sounds like it allows for a more custom sound. Might have to email MSB... Edited May 26, 2019 by Lachie7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon N' Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) 17 hours ago, Lachie7 said: MSB changed the chipsets in the analogue stage, and the D/A converter. It also has the Ladder DAC. My google findings on the Ladder sounds like it allows for a more custom sound. Might have to email MSB... A lot of changes then, no longer what it was originally. Reading the TDA1541 uses an R-2R network for its lower ten bits only. Maybe they changed to PCM 1702 or PCM 1704 DAC chips or PCM56P-K. Very interesting. Edited May 26, 2019 by Muon N' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lachie7 Posted June 1, 2019 Author Share Posted June 1, 2019 On 26/05/2019 at 4:42 PM, Muon N' said: A lot of changes then, no longer what it was originally. Reading the TDA1541 uses an R-2R network for its lower ten bits only. Maybe they changed to PCM 1702 or PCM 1704 DAC chips or PCM56P-K. Very interesting. Hi Muon, I eventually heard back from MSB, who had great tech support. It has the Crown Select Ladder DAC chip, which is their custom designed/built tech. The fast chipset and output stages related to better output buffers. It was their first real big push into high-end CD, they also created a ‘Gold’ too. Anyway, put together it all sounds great to me. Wish I could have found more, but if you’re interested, the MSB support pages have a lot of information. http://www.msbtechnology.com/faq/why-ladder-dacs/ Enjoy the weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon N' Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 I thought first of a Crown TDA1541, but if their own tech' that's is different, but sound very interesting too! I bet that thing does sound special Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts