Power adaptor for Technics XP5

Hello,

I have an untested Technics XP5. One of the hinges is broken, but I read it is a common thing and should not cause issues. However issue is - I do not have power adapter to test it. I have universal power adapter with variable voltage, but this player needs something special - DC +6 / +6 V and jack is very special, not a round one as with other players. I only found one adapter for sale in China with Technics jack, but voltage is 7.2 V, however in the description they claim it should work. Adapter is 50 EUR without shipping.

Is there any way to make a DC adapter to only test wheter my player is working? I connected to bare wires to the power adapter and tried touching power inlet pins, but there are 3 and I have 2 wires. Looking at the schematic on the original adapter one pin should be 0V, that is probably what I'm missing.

Anyone faced this issue and found a solution? Maybe somebody know where I can get this power adapter?



Thanks in advance,
K.

 

Link to the adapter mentioned in my post: https://www.ebay.de/itm/265710396596

 

Hello and welcome
I don't know if that adapter is valid and if it is valid it costs too much ... anyway here are two photos of the original and a scheme to be able to do it yourself ... the 5 volt + 5 volt transformer and the piece to find ... ten minutes of work if you know how to use a soldering iron

 

Thank you very much for the chematics, appreciate it! How about jack? I doubt it is a standard one, probably will have to manufacture something alike.

I can solder, but cannot really read scematics. It is good that we have Hifi Doctor here in town, he definitelly will be able to help. Thank you again!

 

Jack is not standard, so even when you put together +6V/0V/-6V DC power supply you will still get stuck. Hardwiring three wires is an option, but this will ruin Discman's resale value a Lot!
The easiest way is to get $50 aftermarket Chinese adapter: www.ebay.com/itm/185442676804?. Jack connector is ugly but works fine, I personally bought about half-a-dozen of these to rewire for 120V

 

Thank you for the tip! So this adapter is legitimate and working with XP5, good to know. Before buying it I wanted firstly to check whether my player was working at all, I don't really want to spend 50 EUR on an this "project" if it has a dead laser or electronics.

 

I did check these Chinese adapters with 120V-to-220V step-up transformer and they should work fine with European voltage. Compared to Sony adapters these are pricey but still much cheaper than the original Technics/Panasonic adapters. A few moons ago I bid $120 for the original and got outbid pretty badly.
On the bright side: if your SL-XP5 works, you get yourself one of the best (in my humble opinion - The Best!) Discman ever made. I won't be surprised if your Sony D-4 and beautiful D-EJ1000 start collecting dust once you listen to this Technics. To my ears SL-XP5 and its clone JVC XL-R10 sound as good as my all-time favorite Sony D-50 MkII but is much more reliable and has more solid build. Broken hinge is fixable, not as easy as I thought originally, but doable. I can post 'how-to' for the hinge once/if you get to that point

Good Luck

 

I read about how good these XP5s are and would like to experience it first-hand I'm also looking for a good deal on D-250, D-350 and maybe D-303, just for the sake of testing and finding the best one for me. I do not think it would be an issue to sell these higher-end players later if they are working fine. I wonder though how would any of them compare to my TEAC VRDS-10 tank If any would be close I'd be very happy with it.

 

I have all these Discmans in my collection and my advice - start with D-250. D-303 and D-350 may look better on the shelf, but you already have D-EJ1000 as a 'shelf queen'. Both 303 and 350 have RF-410CH spindle motors with almost 100% failure rate, so you will have to set aside $160+ to send these to kaosuncd.com for spindle motor swap:



No Discman will sound as decent as TEAC VRDS-10 but if you take a closer look at this photo of my old stereo, you may notice Sony D-90 and Senn HD-600 which made me very happy when I was not allowed to disturb The Family with loud music. Wadia 781i with VRDS mechanism as in your TEAC is in the corner, it sounded almost as good as my 'workhorse' Naim CDS3:

 

I like this forum more and more, thank you for the tip about weak spindle motor as well as link to the KoesunCD. I saw the site and a suggestion to use these professional services for Denon CDP 50/100 repair and upgrade, did not know they do Sonys as well.

Did D90 driver 300 ohm HD600? I had these headphones some time ago and they really needed an amp to sound their best. I generally use EMU TEAK headphones to listen to discman as they are easiest driven compared to my other - Audeze LCD2 and Dan Clark Audio Ether 2. Those I mainly listen to with an external amp (Burson Conductor V2), but it is connected to my main system and not really easily movable.

When selecting a CD player I was considering Naim CD5si, but discarded it for not having a digital output. VRDS10 does have it, but analog output is pretty decent already and there is not much of an improvement to use an external DAC. I'm happy with this player.

 

@Kulgrinda - you are right, HD600 is a bit too much for D-90, only SL-XP5, Sony D-10 and D-50 MkII can handle them more-or-less properly. I switched to 80Ohm Beyerdynamics now, but then I normally used one of my Ray Samuels h/p amps, also loved playing with Sennheiser LUCAS, although I am not a fan of such gizmos and avoid tone controls or, God Forbid, equalizers

I had Denon DCP-50 upgraded by Kaosun to DCP-150 status, it was one of my favorites... but SL-XP5 was still 'more favorite' of mine

 

Hi jorge...i have a friend with the xp5 and it has a broken hinge....what is a good long term fix for this??? the more info the better...cheers my friend

 

Cracked hinge is a part of the Discman's case so, unfortunately, SL-XP5 has to be completely disassembled for this fix.


gutted-out:


at this point tension of the SS leaf which pops-up the lid may be relaxed a bit: there is no need for so much pressure which (as we know now) breaks the left hinge. Also, the lid itself should be straightened - they all have a bend at the hinge-line from when Discman was pushed onto its battery pack.
Crack should be glued by rubberized CA glue, IC-2000 (yes, I did try different polystyrene solvents and Brampton extra-strength Epoxy: IC-2000 works the best):


All you need for this fix is IC-2000, a clamp and a drill bit to restore the opening for the pin.


PERMANENT fix is a bit more involving. The idea is to relieve plastic of any stress at all and to transfer all the pressure onto metal parts. Metal piece has to be made first.


use IC-2000, but all the pressure is now being transferred to the bottom where this copper part is screwed to the case



I have another SL-XP5 awaiting restoration, next time will try to take more photos

 

thank you jorge....that was quick, that should help ..thanks so much dude god bless lad

 

Sorry for being so late to the party... but I need a cable perhaps even more rare than the power adapter for the Technics SL-XP5. I need a 3-prong to 3-prong cable so I can hook up the CD player (SL-XP5) to a Technics SU-CD50 amplifier. Now I could make this cable myself- if I knew where I can find these 3 prong plugs. I attached a photo of what it should look like from the back. The only thing I can think of doing is buying 2 of those Chinese made power adapters and splice them together. Any thoughts on this?

 

I purchased power adapter from this seller in Germany. I think he makes/refurbishes them, so I suggest reaching out directly and maybe he could make you the needed cable. Buying 2 adapters to make one cable is really expensive.

 

Somewhat cheaper option is buying two battery packs with similar connectors:


Even better option: two Recoton CD-22 kits, like this one here for $6.99 plus $7 shipping within US:
Recoton CD22A Car DC Power Adapter

There are few car adapters made by Radio Shack and labeled as Recoton CD22, only two of them have three-prong adapter you are looking for:

 

Thank you so much! Someone already beat me to the eBay listing, but this knowledge is definitely power!

 

Definitely post some photos of your baby: I almost bought one of these beauties off Yahoo-Japan, but my turntable needed an upgrade and this disease of mine of collecting Discmans had to be killed… for a while…!!!

 

So the guy in Germany who made the battery option said he will build me the cable. I already paid him, so now it's just a waiting game. Crossing my fingers!