Denon DCP-100: my dream Discman...

... is taking shape!

The only other Discman with two PCM66 DACs, one for each channel! but with a better h/p amp than "The King" (Sony D-555)
Now recapped with the legendary Black Gate caps for the h/p coupling, fresh Fine Gold caps for the power: this is a nice beginning for my new collection!

Tomorrow I will take it apart (again!), polish the window and spray the case with a coat of Clear-Flat lacquer to make it look like New: wish me luck!!!

 

So true! Denon players do not come for sale often, there must be a reason for that!
I snatched mine for under $4o0 and it was a minor Miracle, lucky me!!!
To find DCP100 ‘in the wild’ must be next to impossible, but if you find one then I will rejuvenate it for you

 

A great player with such unassuming look. Looking forward for the next model of your resurrecting collection.
Congrats also for the quality repair !

 

Agreed, Denons do not look like much!!!
I will post my resto efforts on DCP-100 here, once it is actually finished: do not want to jinx it...
Today a few layers of Clear-Matt lacquer got applied to the case, to seal the ugly 'rubberized' finish which got bad over the decades, and the fun of polishing the window:

Next step: a layer of Clear FLAT acrylic to make the case 'feel' nice to the touch: The Art of Noise is one of my fav tunes, so please do not blame me for going crazy about nothing...

 

I dig it! The usual of gizmos vs not review, but what else to expect from those being actually paid for their opinions? Great find, by the way!!!

 

Congratulations and excellent job as usual.

 

nutss
only dcp150 or philips. wouldnt' surprise the philips is better.
yep, digital = philips..
marantz cd12/emt981/studer 730 =philips..
i dont know the denon, but would love to hear.. but i do think it's the philips dac and co.. it's better..
i would love to hear the dcp150.. but i do think philips az series are better.. because since 1980 digital philips is the best. the denon uses philips components.
yep, i know enough...
it's the ultimate lhh 2000>cd12>emt981=studer d730

denon discman is for people who are collecting things... the real cd/digital audiofreaks=philips.. it's another level.

 

@19lexicon78 You are absolutely right that almost any "desktop" CD player sounds better than any Discman. Do not even bother with DCP-150, or Philips CD10MkII, or Sony DZ-555: none of the Discmans sounds as good al Linn CD12

Discmans have their own charm, and this thread is about my fav Discman, not EMT981 or other heavy-hitters...

 

also has CXD2551 just like the D555, indeed it appears to be very close to the D555 without the DSP.

The DCP-150, they went with AD1868 DAC and NPC SM5840AS oversampling, so 18bit and some more dynamic range compared to the DCP-100 which is 16bit.

 

DCP-100 brochure

Brochure3 by obsoletemachines posted Sep 15, 2019 at 9:35 AM

 

I used to own all other Denon Discmans, but this one is the first DCP-100 for me Finally put it all together and tested it yesterday: sounds absolutely lovely! Will try to upload my resto photos later today.
If you get any updates or corrections for my never-ending project of PortableCDPlayersComponentsComposition, let me know. If you need SM for DCP-100, I had uploaded my copy at kaosuncd.com
My DCP-100 has an older KSS-162A laser, not KSS-220 as promised by the Table . If you decide to open her up, please check which one is in yours.

 

hi,
my DCP-100 also has KSS-162A, which appears to be interchangeable with the KSS-220 so perhaps why on the production run the KSS-162A was used by Denon. I tracked down that service manual on Kaosun before you posted here and thank you for posting it there.
The DCP-100 goes under the radar whereas the DCP-150 recently fetched $500 on ebay USA and 923 euros on ebay.de

 

@obsoletemachines Million Thanks for the info, the table got updated!! Would be interesting to know when Denon switched from KSS-162A to KSS-220 laser. Since my narrow specialty is Sony D-90 and I had managed to revive a few dozen of those, I know that Sony made a switch sometime between October and December of 1989.
Time to post a happy ending to this restoration: To restore the original matt finish I used Windex to clean the surface (using alcohol is a Very Bad idea!), then Clear Matt Enamel for the sake of an "industrial strength" and finally Clear Flat from "Mr Hobby":

the end result:


Back to the basics: unlike DCP-30 and DCP-50 which I rejuvenated last year, this one is a real pain to disassemble!

Getting the back plate is easy, but then it is getting tricky: do Not try to take off the top plate but remove all the screws from the sides, and with Volume Wheel set at 4 (four!!) pull out the guts out of it:

It takes some contortionist's magic to unlock the flex-boards and to flip the mainboard, but it is barely doable. (Once again, compared to DCP-50 this was a Very Unpleasant surprise on how Denon DCP-100 is made!)
With phono-board removed:

Headphone 100uF coupling caps got upgraded to 200uF Black Gate caps
Master Gu of kaosuncd.com recommends upgrading to 300+uF caps, but I have a soft spot for the Black Gate magic, (my ramblings on the subject can be found here:
BLACK GATE CAPACITORS AND “SNAKE OIL” IN HOME AUDIO)... Then fresh Nichicon Fine Gold caps for the power


and reassembly for those who did not follow my advice of NOT touching the lid:

with lid closed put two steel balls in, close the contraption, then push the spring in!


Baby looks and sounds absolutely Marvelous!!!

 

hi,
couple of points

- i had two dead spiders inside
- the ball bearings, a pair, can shoot out at you if you don't know they are there. I used the same method to insert back, namely place them in the slot, put the bracket over and then angle and squeeze the spring behind
- i had no issues getting the main PCB away from the frame once i realised the 'volume cap' has to go in (and out) at a slight angle. The volume cap sits loosely on a bournes potentiometer

Suspect the Bournes potentiometer is cermet but i didn't check the model no. There is no noise when turning the potentiometer.

I cleaned my unit with Armorall noting that the finish is called 'velvex' by Denon but it is polyurethane paint mix - i could be corrected on this.

I do like the original paint finish as it is distinctive and it reminds of 'nextel' - ultra matte. In fact if i removed the paint i might consider applying Nextel

Re. KSS-162A, doesn't that appear in some Z-555 too? It seems as though Denon at this point was buying a lot of chips from Sony save for one central ASIC which is their own; indeed it has the same digital and analog chips and circuitory as the Z-555 save for the headphone amp. With the DCP-150 they went with NPC for oversampling and a single Analog Devices DAC - i prefer the two separate Burr Brown PCM66s and i believe the stereo and 'punch' of these is superior to the Analog Devices DAC, which on paper has better noise floor - but via headphones this is never going to be a consideration

Can we have a hi-res scan of that manual?

 

Philips is good for CD and radio but not tape, their tape mechanisms are composed of plastic or rubber gears that easily break then the receiving hub doesn't turn but the distributing hub still turns so the tape gets chewed up, I've got a Philips AZ2555 and AZ 2538 with two band digital (not DAB) radio, CD, Gaming and USB, I also have a DAB radio by Philips.

 

Hi
I have a Denon DCP-100 . Do you think it is something to sell or is it worth getting it rebuilt? I can't find the cord and don't have the batteries so I cannot even tell if it works. I am the original owner. You seem to be the only expert on these players!
Thanks, Cindy

 

DCP100 is worth $300-400+ in ‘unknown-dead’ condition and $500+ as ‘working OK’.
I suggest getting a $10 AC-DC converter (of correct polarity!!!) off eBay to see what you have, and sell

if you need a ‘bedside’ CD player, then DCP100 is your best choice and Kaosun of kaosuncd.com will fix it for you for under $200(myguess). If not, then go to option one