Rowe Amp Aux / Cd Sound Problem

[MrD]

This is the latest in my issues to add/replace the CD player in a Rowe R-92.

I decided to just replace the CD player, as trying to fix it wasn't worth it.

I found out that i could use a Sony CDP-C910 (10 disc) as a replacement for the Pioneer PD-M40 (or PD-M403) - 6 disc.   

I found one on ebay, got it delivered and wired up the +, GND, Signal, and Mute to the CD player.    That part works fine (doens't even need an interace board).    I can select any of the CDs and the tracks using the 5xxx from the Rowe.    (We I get all this to work correctly, I'll post what I did for anyone else's reference)

Here is the problem:   The C910 has both line out RCA, and variable.   I have the CD attenuator so I plugged that in and wired it up to the AUX on the amp.   It worked (the CCC unmuted the amp correctly) but the sound volume seemed pretty low (relative to the 45s).   So I thought maybe the CD attenuator was cutting the sound too much.  I figured I could make up a cable for for the RCA to the amp, which I did.   I thought I could just use the variable (which has a range from 0 to phono to line out to full).   I didn't want to overpower the amp.  Even all the way up, it wasn't close to the volume of the 45s.  I even tried it on the straight line out's and that didn't make any difference. 

The sound is "ok", but it lacks the volume and punch that I'd expect.   

I tried swapping out to a different CD player (straight line out) and it made no difference.
I tried switching to another amp that I had, no difference. 

Now I guess the replacements could all be bad, but that seems odd.   

There aren't any other controls on this to adjust.  My understanding is, the AUX and the Phono are both connected and the amp itself doesn't differentiate between the two signals.  They could both play if they were on, and the amp were unmuted. 

Tonight I'm going to make up a new cable and see if that makes a difference, but since I had the same problem pre-made-up cable, I don't think that's it.

So what am I doing wrong??   I don't think there is anything else to adjust.   Do I just have two bad amps, but only on the AUX side?

[Ken Layton]

That jukebox amplifier is old enough to need new electrolytic capacitors on the preamp board and both driver boards. Try that first.

[MrD]

Thanks Ken (yet again!)

I'll try that.  Is there a specfic preamp only on the Aux side?  Otherwise wouldn't I have the same problem on the Phono side?

I'm wondering since I don't think this actually had a cd player installed, they might have recapped it, but only on the phono side?  or just didn't bother with the Aux?

I guess I have a weekend project ahead for myself.

[MrD]

I checked out my Amp, and tried to trace the connections between the AUX inputs and the PHONO.   I couldn't find any caps in between them, so I figured if PHONO was working ok, then a recap probably wouldn't fix this problem.

I went back and re-read the manual.  In the troubleshooting section, it says if you are getting bad sound on CDs (and not 45s) then check the CD player (which I had already) and the wiring harness.

It occured to me that when I tried the original cable, and then made a new cable (from that cable) I was using the same connector end that went into the amp. 

I made a completely new cable from scratch and it seemed to solve the problem.  So either the end was bad, or I somehow pushed it down too far and was screwing up the inputs vs. the outputs (there are five pins.  The outer two are left/right in.  The center is the ground, and other two are the left / right out.)

So in the end it was a pretty simple problem to fix, but it still took me hours to figure out.

[Kevin Mullins]

So in the end it was a pretty simple problem to fix, but it still took me hours to figure out.

The thing is you took the time to break it down to basics in your troubleshooting.... which worked it out for ya.

 

Could have been something like two outputs crossed up in the connector.
I've had things like that bite me in the butt plenty of times.