I have a 13-year old KCD-40 CD player which is failing. It is having
troubles reading/tracking audio CDs and exhibits "skipping". The
problem is at the stage of sometimes working and increasingly
often-times not working. I like the sound of the KCD-40 which I have
gotten used to over the years and would like to consider options for
DIY repair, before total abandonment.

If anyone has a contact for the folks at the former Kinergetics
company (e.g. Tony Di Chiro), please let me know.

I speculate that the transport section is failing, and that the analog
section is fine. Perhaps the laser is reaching its end-of-life after
13 years of usage. Perhaps the laser is getting weak and tired.
Therefore, I am exploring the following:
- Is there a way to turn up the laser power?
- Is there a DIY kit for replacement of the transport section?

If anyone has experience with such a KCD-40 problem and has hints or
information on how to repair the problem, I would greatly appreciate
your information.

On a separate approach, I would like to put my entire CD collection on
a hard disk but somehow utilize the KCD-40's analog section (it is
after all, very high-end and to me, very good sounding) to drive my
high-end audio system. How feasible is this idea? Is anyone aware of
any technology, either custom-built or off-the-shelf, that would allow
me to conjure up such an arrangement?

I have already experimented with the playing of 44KHz 16-bit WAV files
from a PC using a "high-end" (in PC terms) audio card capable of
operating as high as 96Khz with 24-bit samples. Not surprisingly, that
does not come close to my KCD-40 CD player in terms of sound quality.

David Wong

[jonbee]

Originally Posted by David Wong

I have a 13-year old KCD-40 CD player which is failing. It is having
troubles reading/tracking audio CDs and exhibits "skipping". The
problem is at the stage of sometimes working and increasingly
often-times not working. I like the sound of the KCD-40 which I have
gotten used to over the years and would like to consider options for
DIY repair, before total abandonment.
I speculate that the transport section is failing, and that the analog
section is fine. Perhaps the laser is reaching its end-of-life after
13 years of usage. Perhaps the laser is getting weak and tired.
Therefore, I am exploring the following:
- Is there a way to turn up the laser power?
- Is there a DIY kit for replacement of the transport section?

If anyone has experience with such a KCD-40 problem and has hints or
information on how to repair the problem, I would greatly appreciate
your information.

David Wong

I also have a kcd 40 with problems. I've learned a few interesting things about them.
I'd like to collaborate with you and share ideas about these issues. Perhaps between us we can get the players working, or at least one from the 2!
Thanks, John