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I just replaced the optical pickup KHM-230AAA in my Sony SCD-XA777ES




I bought this pickup ages ago (maybe 18 months) and replaced the original unit because the player was having trouble with certain SACDs; but after doing the replacement, the unit simply would not fire up; something was wrong, so I put the original back in.

The player gave up playing hybrids quite some time back, then finally quit even playing non-hybrids. So I've been listening to CDs for a long while now. Too long.

The first time I replaced the pickup, I posted here that it would not work and Alex Peychev (APL) replied to my post asking if I had removed the solder blob.

I didn't; and I did not know what he was talking about.

My pickup came in a box from a reputable dealer (Parts Connection) and I paid market price (about $160), but it did not come with the instruction sheet that explains where the solder bridge is. I struggled to find the solder blob everyone talked about at the time, but could not figure it out. So the job went on the back burner.

I decided to look at this again today. I was hoping I could find a copy of the instructions on Google - or a picture or something. I did not, but found a comment that the solder bridge on most optical pickups is near the laser or the ribbon connector. I took a closer look - and realised I could see it.

So I got the tools out - Hako soldering iron, soldering braid, helping hands, magnifying glass, needle-nosed pliers - and removed the solder blob. Double checked under strong magnification that the short had been removed.


Then I went through the process of removing the top, the main board, the top bearing bridge, the main bridge and finally the pickup. I have the service manual, and had done it before; but putting back the ribbon cable on the pickup was a challenge. Finally, all was assembled and I put it back in the system.

I put a CD in and it read the TOC. This was a step forward over my previous efforts. The CD played, and sounded just fine. When the CD was over (don't tempt fate), I tried a Sony non-hybrid (Louis Armstrong - "Satch Plays Fats") and it read it and played it. Wow. I let it play all the way through.

Finally, the acid test: I tried a hybrid (Alison Krauss - "Now That I've Found You") and it defaulted to, and read, the TOC of the SACD layer - now we are talking. And it plays quite beautifully - what a pristine sound. I've listened to it twice in a row.

After living quite happily with just CDs for the last 9 months or so, and now suddenly getting that hi-rez sound back, it's really a pleasure to hear that vivid, clear tone and wide, spacious and open SACD sound again chez nous.

Above is a photo of the pickup and you can see the solder blob that has to be removed to the left of the socket for the ribbon connector. It's at the bottom left, sitting right on the traces, shorting out what it's supposed to short out. Pretty obvious to me now - what a dork I am. Hopefully this picture will be found by Google searches trying to do what I did. I haven't seen a photo like this on the Web.

If you are interested, I have posted more photos over at Steve Hoffman's forum where the upload of images is a little easier. Follow the link


Regards,
Geoff


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Topic - I just replaced the optical pickup KHM-230AAA in my Sony SCD-XA777ES - Metralla 21:59:42 06/14/09 (12)

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