Differences in Sony KHM-230AAA laser pickup variants

I have a Lindemann 820S SACD player in desparate need for a laser pickup replacement. Lindemann informed me that the replacement part is the Sony KHM-230AAA. The local Sony dealer, however, requires a Sony player model number such as SCD-XA9000ES or SCD-555ES to locate the part, but these point to a KHM-230AAA/J1RP variant. The KHM-230AAA variants I have discovered so far are -/J1, -/J1RP, -/J1NP and nobody at Sony seem to be able to clarify their differences for me. Lindemann on the other hand are not aware of these variants and suggest that I stick with the original, which of course I cannot order from Sony because their models point to the aforementioned variants. To add insult to injury, recent financial regulations imposed by the Greek government prevent me from ordering outside Greece (my country of residence) and thus I have found myself in a cul-de-sac.

Could anyone let me know what the differences are (if any) between the original KHM-230AAA and its variants?

 

I'm sorry I will be of next to no help. Often these variants can mean nothing. They are like car parts. The identical car part has different part numbers for no other reason than it is for a specific model, year run, etc.

Perhaps you can email the link below and ask Lindemann whether this laser here is the correct one based on what can only be a few numbers and the photo? The seller says it is for your model and in all likelihood it's the same part. I really doubt when Lindemann designed this player they when down to the detail level you have as regards part variations - afterall, as you say they are not aware of variations.

I've bought transports from AliXpress and they've been the real (genuine) deal and have worked perfectly. So you might want to consider procuring one in the hope it is the right one. You will obviously need someone to buy it on your behalf though.

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...680-SACD-SCD-XA555ES/1171540_32376775563.html

 

Thanks JonP. I have come to this conclusion myself. When I first looked at Sony models with the same laser as my Lindemann, I found a few including SCD-XA9000ES, which used the KHM-230AAA. Then I looked for replacement lasers for the SCD-XA9000ES and I came up with KHM-230AAA/J1. Then I called the local Sony Service and mentioned the SCD-XA9000ES. They came back with KHM-230AAA/J1RP.

If the same device can be fitted with all these variants, how different can they really be? Norbert Lindemann himself said that I could even use the KHM-230ABA found in the Sony PlayStation (I'm not sure which version) if I had to.

I've decided to take the risk and order a KHM-230AAA/J1RP from Sony. The price is a bit steeper than no-name Chinese alternatives but, hey, this is the audiophile way, right?

Wish me luck. I'll report the outcome.

 

I think it will turn out all OK. I was really nervous when I ordered the replacement transport / Laser for my Rega - wondering if it really was the right part, let alone whether I could repair the unit or not. But I needn't have worried. It was really easy and it just required care and patience. There is a very rewarding feeling when you plug it back into the mains, put a disc in and it all works perfectly. If the laser you get works it might be an idea to buy a couple more spares while you still can.

 

Sometimes the differences in part numbers have to do with the original part to be used in a new assembly/player and the other part number could be for a replacement or user installed/aftermarket.

It would not be a far stretch to guess that the "RP" at the end of the number you mentioned stands for "replacement".

 

Thanks guys! Eric, what you say makes sense.

Anyway, it'll be a few days till I get my paws on the part.

 

You will need your soldering iron to remove the blob that protects the laser from damage before this will work.

 

Geof, I was already aware of this issue from your extremely useful posting elsewhere in this forum. Let me take the chance to express my thanks to you; you have probably saved me from a lot of head-scratching!

Fortunately, Lindemann with its external analog PSU seems to have made my job a bit easier compared to the Sony. If everything goes well, I should have the KHM-230AAA in my hands by the end of next week. And then, the real fun will start



Cheers to all,

Dimitris

 

Very convenient access. You will have no trouble.

 

Success!

I ordered the KHM-230AAA/J1RP variant because it was the only one the local dealer could associate with the list of Sony players I gave them. The item number was 882013203. Sony arbitrarily substituted this item with 882013209, which corresponds to the KHM-230AAA/J1 variant claiming they are drop-in replacements of each other. Why did they not say so when I asked them? It will forever remain a rhetorical question.

Anyway, I grounded myself (as strongly suggested by the only instructions included in the box), removed the tiny solder blob from the laser (thanks again, Geof!), and replaced the mechanism. All it took was 2 screws to remove the bridge and 4 more for the laser itself (not counting the player's cover screws). Below are a few pictures I took during the procedure in case anyone is interested.

Cardiac arrest No. 1: The player would not recognize any disk, CD or SACD alike! Fortunately, my first guess was the correct one. The ribbon cable was not attached properly; I removed it and re-inserted it carefully and the first SACD that went in was immediately recognized and played.

Cardiac arrest No. 2: After successfully playing the first SACD, the player refused to recognize all disks I inserted subsequently! This one proved even easier to overcome. All I had to do was to switch the player off and on again.

Now the player has recovered its lost silky sound and can play all disks without a hitch.

So, thanks to all of you guys for your help and support!
Dimitris
_________________

The part of the box that holds and protects the laser is a work of art, reminiscent of origami.


The red screwdriver points to one of the two screws that hold the bridge in place. The second screw is on the other side of the bridge (duh!).


The laser mechanism is held in place by four more screws at its corners. The mechanism actually rests on four springs and if further dumped by four elastic grommets (the green rings seen below the white plastic caps at the four corners of the mechanism).


The mechanism is now removed from its cradle. The green grommets can be seen still in place. To remove the mechanism, apart from the four screws, there were two cables to detach. One was the white and cyan ribbon cable (the one that gave me Cardiac Arrest No. 1) and the other was the multicolored one with the white plug at its end.


Finally, here is the new mechanism with the cables attached and the green grommets transferred from the old mechanism, awaiting proper placement.


Nothing to it really (the two Cardiac Arrests not withstanding)!

 

Great job. Thanks for the excellent pictures.

 

Nice write up and pics and congrats on your replacement 'surgery'!

 

Good one caradimos. I was keeping an eye on this thread to see how it panned out. I was relieved to see that Sony sell the laser as the entire motorised and servo mechanism rather than just the laser itself - otherwise you just would have run into worn transport issues (if you didn't have them already which you likely did in addition to the laser itself).

Now you should probably buy a couple of spares while you can since the rest of the piece could easily last another 30 years. That's the good thing about optical disc players that stands them apart from stuff like DAT - the mechanisms are simpler, self contained and one doesn't have to be a genius brain surgeon to replace them.

What worries me though (and I can see that your player has a similar design) are the rubberised grommets that the transport sits on. I have those as well with my Rega - two green ones and two pink ones (I assume they have slightly different densities). I just wonder how long those things will last. I know Rega are terrible with spare parts - they wouldn't even sell an owner a lid badge without the owner having to return the whole player to the factory. This of course is as ludicrous as it is insulting and inconvenient to owners. Sounds like Lindemann are much more receptive to customer contact but stuffed if I know what I am going to do if the grommets on my Rega player wear to the point where the transport won't be suspended properly. So I'd suggest that you try and get a set or two of those as they are a wearing part as well.

 

Good point JonP, but won't rubber grommets dry out even if they sit on a shelf awaiting future use? Fortunately, this being a Sony mechanism, I can probably obtain said grommets from them as well as from Lindemann. The same goes for the entire laser mechanism. Still, I'll most likely follow your advice; better be on the safe side...

As you mentioned, it is really a good thing the Sony laser part includes all motors (spindle, stepper, and focusing). A friend of mine owns a Classe CDP-100 player, which suffered from similar problems. He had a really hard time finding a replacement laser (even the manufacturer could not find one) and when he did, he discovered that the problem was actually in one of the motors (sold separately). Now he is waiting for that one to be delivered, hoping that the issue will end there.

Guys, thanks for your kind words!
Dimitris

 

I don't think it is that likely because they don't use a natural rubber. It would be a synthetic one designed to be extremely durable. And if you stored them in a sealed plastic bag with a few moisture absorbing packs, all the better. Even if they did perish over time, I'd prefer to have some than none at all. I think the main problem with these is a reduced ability over time to perform their shock reducing / suspension function through use (as opposed to storage).

 

I have had a glitch a few days after the operation, when the player skipped or stopped playing halfway through the disk. I opened the player once more and discovered that the ribbon cable which controls the laser had come loose. This was frustrating, especially considering the difficulty I had connecting it as there was no latch on the connector to ease the cable insertion. To cut the long story short, I found out that if the ribbon cable is inserted properly into the connector it locks itself as the contacts within the connector align with the dents on the ribbon cable. If it is not inserted properly, it will go in with great difficulty and at some point it will jam and stay in place making inadequate contact.

The trick is to insert one end of the contact edge of the ribbon cable (not the entire contact edge at once) into the connector trying slightly different vertical angles (i.e. cable not parallel to the floor) until it slides effortlessly as deep as possible. Then, holding the inserted part of the edge in, push the remaining carefully in until it locks in place.

As obvious as this may seem, in practice it is not. The first time I held the cable parallel to the floor and tried to insert the entire contact edge at once. It went up to a point with great difficulty and it fit so snugly I thought it had reached the bottom of the connector. It had not and in a few days it came loose. The second time I made repeated attempts varying the vertical angle of the cable ever so slightly, each time inserting one end of the contact edge and checking to see how deep it went. I repeated until, at the correct angle, it went much farther in and with the least effort than any previous attempt. When I pushed the remaining contact edge in, it locked into place with a distinct tactile sensation.

After the second - and proper - operation, my player is making music without hiccups. And the icing on the cake is that, by locking into place properly, the cable has made a better connection which has resulted in an audible improvement in sound quality.

The above applies not only to Lindemann players but to all other players that employ the Sony OM4 mechanism (Sony, Accuphase, Denon, Linn, Marantz, etc.). I hope this little detail can help save others who attempt this from some frustration.

Below you can see the small dents at the contact edge of the ribbon cable that allow locking within the connector.

 

Yep. The Rega machines are different and use a tight, friction fit only. Nothing to lock them, no catches, etc. I'm always wary of pulling out and re-inserting any ribbon cable the least number of times possible just to avoid un-necessary wear, regardless of how it connects.

 

That ribbon cable was a pain in the butt. Glad you sorted it out.

 

Hello!
Dimitris, will you please tell me where did you order KHM-230AAA detail? I need the same one for my Denon DCD-SA10.
Thank you)

 

Excellent write up and pictures!
I also have the Lindemann 820 and the unit has been unable to read a few hybrid discs of their SACD layers; mostly products from a few smaller labels. Otherwise the more popular labels and single layer sacd or cd discs are just fine.
I wonder if your unit was slowly developing the TOC read problems, or was it like all of a sudden everything failed?
Also, i do see aliexpress offering replacement of the laser head unit itself as opposed to the whole transport with motor as in your pictures. I just wonder if that would be easier or the other way around?
Thanks in advance!

 

Hi Caradimos,

I have a similiar problem with my Sony DVP-S9000ES cd/sacd beast: it fails to read the sacd layer of a hybrid disc (sacd only discs are fine). This is a sign that the laser is wearing out and not strong enough eny more. A few months ago I ordered already a replacement laser from Germany but it didn't cure the problem:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Sony-Laserei...530892?hash=item4af36c258c:g:3f8AAOSwDN1UR6IU

the laser wasn't cheap though. I would like to keep the Sony alive if it is possible as it is the holy grail of the sacd players: the same DAC chipset like in the SCD-1. 13 kilos tank-like nice copper build.
But I am afraid to order anything again from the web (especially from China) beacuse I was told by a local hifi service shop that original Sony KHM units does not exists any more on this planet. The ones you can find on the web either cheap remakes or from factory scrap lots or from disassembled units. The point is no trusted source any more.
Please share you opinions

 

Hi Ben-ru,
My apologies for not responding any sooner. I ordered the KHM-230AAA/J1 from the local Sony dealer in Athens, Greece. They did not have it on stock but had to order it themselves from the European Sony distributor. They required full payment in advance and they asked me repeatedly to assume full responsibility if the replacement did not work out. The latter was fair because they could not service a non-Sony device themselves (my Lindemann in this case), nor could they guarantee that what I was ordering would indeed fit the Lindemann. After agreeing and paying, they placed the order and the part arrived less than a week later.

My advice would be to contact Sony directly. I paid about €230 for the part, which is more than reasonable considering what Amazon charges for example. It is certainly more expensive than a Chinese part but I did not want to take any chances.

 

Hi ssfei,
My Lindemann developed the TOC-read problems gradually. I first noticed it on EMI Classics Signature Collection disks but the problem soon extended to others. I had also noticed that when the device had just been turned on (i.e. it had not had time to warm up) it could read some of the otherwise unreadable SACDs. On the other hand, it did not have problems reading regular Red Book CDs. In a few months though, another laser-related problem emerged: the sound gradually became harsh and it lost that pleasing velvet-like quality characteristic of the Lindemann. The sound also lost its three-dimensional soundstage. All of these problems were gone once I installed the new KHM-230AAA/J1 part.

In my opinion, the laser deterioration is a problem with two legs: One leg is the laser-head itself and the other leg is the stepper motor that drives it. You see, when a SACD TOC was read, the entire disk would play without a hitch. If it were a mere reading problem due to the reduced intensity of the aging laser, it would manifest elsewhere too (as it did much later with the deterioration of the sound quality). Instead, it displayed an inability to read a particular area of the disk (the TOC) and this indicates a difficulty to move to that area, which, in turn, suggests that the motor is the real culprit. My advice is to replace the entire assembly, not just the laser-head. Besides, replacing only the laser-head is much more difficult and it might require adjustment, something that is not necessary with the entire laser-and-motor assembly. Also, even if you succeed, you will eventually run into the motor problem, which, from your description, is really what you should be addressing.

As for the Chinese aser-and-motor-assembly replacement parts, someone who tried it reported that the spindle-head of the original is magnetic but that of the Chinese part is not and therefore the disk clamp does not work. He had to take the mechanism apart so that he could replace the non-magnetic spindle with the original. It can be done but it's something you should consider beforehand.

I hope this helps.

 

Hi jenkovix,
If the new mechanism does not work at all it might be due to not having removed the safety solder blob (see http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...-replacement-with-photos.185565/#post-4509732). If it works like it did before then your problem is not the laser. Your usual suspect is the Power Supply and, more specifically, the electrolytic capacitors in it. The solution might be merely a matter of replacing a simple and cheap capacitor but for that you would have to consult a qualified electronics technician. In aging electronics, replacing caps gives them a new lease of life and, if you opt for a quality capacitor brand, might even improve their sound quality considerably.

I'm sorry for not being able to help more.

 

Hi Caradimos,

I ordered not a full mech but a laser unit. The laser was fitted by a qualified hifi service person he knows what to do (ESD solder blob removed of course). He even measured the unit with an oscilloscope and reduced the jitter for me. He didn't mention ageing caps in the player. I don't think that this is something to do with other components in the spinner... This Sony is fitted with audio grade quality caps no room to play here.