Micromega Stage 5 and Stage 3 compared...

[Dowser]

Tray thing is the belt - if bad enough it will not close fully and so TOC will not even be attempted. Easy to change - you need to slide the disc tray all the way out - when it hits end stops there are 2 small plastic arms you need to bend back out of way to release it fully. Then there is a small plastic cover at front - lever it off and you see belt.

However, first try manually loading tray with no disc and watch laser - if it jiggles a bit, then moves around 1cm away from spindle and tries again, it means tray is fully closed and its trying to read TOC - if it doesn't with a disc in, most likely candidate is fecked laser. I've just ordered 2 from Donberg to try - if you have patience, I can let you know if they are decent replacements (lots are simply rubbish).

Was the courier damage real? Also possible someone bought it to be able to swap the laser and get an original one - then return it as faulty....

 

[sq225917]

Let me know how you get on with the laser.

 

[grazie]

Tray thing is the belt - if bad enough it will not close fully and so TOC will not even be attempted. Easy to change - you need to slide the disc tray all the way out - when it hits end stops there are 2 small plastic arms you need to bend back out of way to release it fully. Then there is a small plastic cover at front - lever it off and you see belt..

I'll give it another look, but I'd be surprised if it was the belt as there's loads of power in the movement. it just gets stuck like there's something hindering the mechanism. I'm no expert, but I've sorted out a few Arcam Alpha 5's before now.

I don't believe the PFM buyer was unscrupulous.

I'd be interested to know how you get on with the new Donberg replacements.

EDIT : BTW, it's been a while since I've done it, but as this is your thread, you should be able to change the title yourself. Edit a post (the 1st?) and click 'Go Advanced'. This makes the thread title editable.

 

[Dowser]

Let me know how you get on with the laser.

It works fine, 2 CDs in so far, no probelm - I just ordered another two

Donberg replacement at bottom right. Replacement that was in the Stage 3 when I got it top right, left is the original laser from a Primare D20 (I think, can't remember model). I ordered a replacement laser from DE for the Primare at a couple of € cheaper than from Donberg - it works, reads and plays disc fine, but manually skipping a track can take up to a minute. I assume a bad replacement laser, but do not know for sure. "On a nice sunny day" I will strip the original laser apart from the Primare, clean it and then refit it.

Richard

 

[Dowser]

I'll give it another look, but I'd be surprised if it was the belt as there's loads of power in the movement. it just gets stuck like there's something hindering the mechanism. I'm no expert, but I've sorted out a few Arcam Alpha 5's before now.

I don't believe the PFM buyer was unscrupulous.

I'd be interested to know how you get on with the new Donberg replacements.

EDIT : BTW, it's been a while since I've done it, but as this is your thread, you should be able to change the title yourself. Edit a post (the 1st?) and click 'Go Advanced'. This makes the thread title editable.

There is nothing to hinder the tray except a slipping belt At the end of it's travel loading a disc it has to move the whole laser mech up into place as well. Easiest is as above, watch it with no disc & does the laser wiggle and then move away from center and wiggle again? If yes, it is closing the tray OK and trying to read TOC. Disc will not spin unless laser can focus - no spin, in my limited experience, means fecked laser

I would of course be happy to offer you peanuts for your player

Richard

 

[Dowser]

I replaced the laser unit in the original stage 3 with a replacement from Donberg.ie at €17, fully working again I soak test the Stage 3 for a few days and then replace at least the caps on the DAC board. It does some things better than the Woodside TDA1541A player, but remains a little grainy around the edges. Images fantastically though!

Original Stage 5 laser now back in the Stage 5 - anyone interested at £280, I now formally have too many CDPs...and have just bought Laverda's CDI? Max £40 for shipping to UK, mint condition (see below) but no remote (it is standard Philips RC5, so Naim, Arcam, Marantz, Philips RCs all work fine). DAC board has been recapped and a snubber fitted across it's AC input - many more photos and details above...the Stage 5 is a good player, and fit and finish is far, far superior to the Stage 3...but the Stage 3 does sound better IMO

Richard

 

[sq225917]

I'm wondering, no reason why my stage three dac won't drop straight into your stage five box and transport?

 

[Dowser]

Indeed - looks like the risers are all there to mount the bigger PCB. My Stage 5 PSU/Servo has the dedicated socket for the 2 AC lines for the Stage 3 transformers on the DAC - but I do not know whether a Stage 5 DAC will match to a Stage 3 servo/PSU. Stage 5 DAC gets it's AC line from one of the ribbon connectors I think - I assume that is presented but unused on the Stage 3.

The only other potential issue could be the firmware - this is the socketed chip on servo board. It is certainly improved on the later models (except for having to wait 2-3 minutes from switch on before being able to use it!), not sure if there are any dependencies.

What were you thinking? Buying my Stage 5, or doing a deal on a DAC board swap?

Richard

 

[RustyB]

I ran a Stage 3 from new.

When the new models arrived, I auditioned a 6 with a view to upgrading.

While it was better in some respects (more detail, tidier) I felt that something had been lost, ie the musicality of the 3.

I passed on the upgrade.

Downsides to the 3 are lack of bass punch and detail. But reliability was not an issue.

 

[Dowser]

Cheers to Simon (SQ)! Thanks to him thinking of me when he stripped his failed Stage 3, I now have an Audiocom Superclock v4 mounted in my Stage 3

Sounds fantastic - need to listen for a while more and then compare with the CDI. At the moment I've grabbed the raw feed to the SAA7345 chip's regulator on the Servo board to feed into the Audicom - it comes with 2 mini regs, one offboard and one onboard - first reg drops voltage to 10v (held up by its wires in above photos), then I guess onboard down to 5v (for my sins I did not check). Ultimately it should have it's own transformer I guess.

Question - the stage 3 has 2 MC74AC74N chips that the clock feeds into - currently I am only using the master clock out on the Superclock, but it also has a secondary clock out too which is currently unused. Anyone know this 74AC74 chipset, and whether they are also doing a reclock of the master feed that could be usefully bypassed with a direct feed from the Superclock's 2nd output (similar to Flea and 7220)?

Before fitting I had to refit the damned front panel on the Micromega - it literally fell off as the double sided tape had failed, atrocious build quality!

As I had to remove the Servo PCB I did a main smoothing recap too (I've ordered caps for the DAC/OP board too) - I swapped caps before checking actual voltages - the original main caps are 16v rating - with the Micromega in it's standby state (it switches off display and main power after a period of inactivity, and has no power switch) those caps are getting 17.5v! Drops to 15v with power on, but still a bit close for a 16v cap - I guess at some point I need to swap them again for 25v items, although the originals looked absolutely fine. As usual, I at least tripled capacitance

Factory mod (?) under servo PCB;

Many thanks to Simon again, this player is a keeper, Richard

 

[sq225917]

Excellent, glad it found a good home.

 

[chartz]

Hi,

Very old thread I know, but I just bought a sort of working Stage 3 that appears to be a hybrid version, probably a late production unit just before the switchover to 4,5 and 6 versions. It has a bolted fascia as well as a bolted tray trim.

Mine has the newer servo card (EEPROM v.2.3) with soldered IEC socket, the new box but the old DAC, albeit with different op-amps, namely LT1227. Here shown without the PSU caps, all bad, awaiting the new ones. The issue was a faint buzzing harmonic sound, which in fact was a massive ripple masked by the LM 117/337 pairs.

Oddly, the CDM is 12.1, factory-fitted!

The silly adhesive bituminous tape doesn't serve any purpose and it's a pain to remove
That was a fashion in the 90's and noughties to put that stuff everywhere...

 

[chartz]

All working now!

I’ve managed to make a contraption that makes 220 V from 240 V.
Result: no transformer noise, and lukewarm regulators.

The prototype:

This will obviously be boxed and earthed. The C-core transformer comes from an old tape deck.

 

[martin clark]

Lovely resurrection.

The bucking transformer is an excellent solution to such issues, too : )

 

[Dowser]

I'd be exceptionally happy buying a Stage 5 and finding that inside

 

[chartz]

Oh, no the 5 is just the volume setting, it is a Stage 3! I have the original box and manual.

I can make it a Stage 9 if you want

 

[Dowser]

Ah...of course, headphones plugged in - forgotten that feature

 

[chartz]

You still have yours? I'm listening to it right now, in my valve/ESL system. It is a truly excellent player I find.

 

[Dowser]

You still have yours? I'm listening to it right now, in my valve/ESL system. It is a truly excellent player I find.

Yes - I'll never sell it I prefer my modified CDIs, but I cannot believe how good it sounds in stock form with just an upgraded clock. As can be seen above, the engineering of their basic units is top notch, with the 3 being the pinnacle in my view - I just think they sacrificed SQ over build quality in the end. Probably necessary given the issues they had with Philips mechs, but a shame anyhow. Also most one of the most beautiful looking CDP designs out there.

I also have a vintage Duo brick shaped DAC I use for TV and streaming - really must get around to fitting my last S1 1541 into it, but it also very well engineered.

 

[chartz]

Good!
Micromega was actually the first French company to sell their own players in 1984-85. I’d like to find a CD-F1 top-loader one day.
I’ve just compared it to my VRDS T1 + ESS Sabre DAC. The Stage is really good. The ESS is too recessed for my taste, too ‘analogue’.
Some say the non bs Duo was better, much like Arcam 70.2 vs 70.3.
The 70.2 has the Crown chip too. Philips stopped selecting their chips with Bitstream.
It also appears that the Chinese love selling fake S1 and S2 1541’s.