Satbeginner
- Jan 1, 2022
- 3
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2022
- Messages
- 3
Hi all, as a retired EE and Audiophile, I needed another project, and getting a S7700 after all these years seemed fun, so I did.
On several second hand websites I easily could find one, actually two, so I bought these cheap.
I bought two, because of the stories about the laser dying and no spare parts available, etc.
While waiting for the delivery, I started downloading the service manuals and also started reading them, which is unusual for a technician, I know
While waiting for the machines to arrive, I found that some cheaper models of Sony actually used THE SAME LASER!!
While still waiting for my S7700's to arrive I also bought a really cheap, near mint, S315, and a OK-ish looking S715, one with remote, because, again, they use the same KHS-180A Dual Laser unit.
Long story short, I now have two perfect S7700's a near mint S315 and another spare CD/DVD transport, Power Supply, etc. as spares.
I revived one remote, and to be true, it was a bit of a pain to do that.
There are two types of remotes: one with a single sided PCB, these are great, and one with a double sided PCB, not so great.
The one that needed repair was the double sided one: One side has copper traces, OK, but the other side, where the rubber buttons make contact, used not only carbon pads for the buttons, but also carbon traces!!, and in my case several of these traces went open, so several buttons did not work.
The good news: the two type use the very same chip, so I could measure what button had a connection the what pin of the chip, and compare that with the one not working.
I found several connections missing, so I could replace these with thin wire wrap wires, so now I have three working remotes too.
Now the audio part: I LOVE THE S7700 !! as a CD player, that is.
It really sounds super great, and I have been playing CD's for several days now, and they have not failed me so far.
So my story is: enjoy your S7700, and while doing so, keep a lookout for the cheap S315 or S715 the become your spare parts.
Even replacing the laser is super easy, because the entire transport in these units is the same!
So it is just open the cabinet, remove the 4 screws of the main PCB, undo the front-panel wire, Tilt the main PCB backwards, remove the 2 screws of the metal support bracket, remove the 4 screws holding the plastic transport, lift the transport out, remove the small flat cable and the 2 pin wire to the side of the main PCB, remove the two wide cables going to the transport, and take the transport out.
Mounting the replacement transport is the same, but in reverse order.
Now the is one extra thing to do: perform the Auto Alignment function.
To do this you must connect the S7700 (same for the S315 or S715) to a monitor capable of showing NTSC signals as well as PAL signals!!
This is because the Service Menu is only available in NTSC!!
To enter the service manual do this:
switch off the S7700;
press Title, now press Clear, now press Power On.
This will switch On the unit, and it will show the Service Menu. (called Test Mode)
To do this you need three normals discs:
A good, factory made CD,
a factory made Single Layer DVD (DVD-5)
and a factory made Dual Layer DVD (DVD-9).
Here you choose 1, Drive Auto Adjustment.
My advice is to perform the steps one at the time,
so choose DVD SL (Single Layer) first.
Follow the instructions on the screen.
When finished with the Single layer DVD, now perform the CD Adjustment.
After that, do the Dual Layer DVD Adjustment.
I found I needed to try several DVD-9 DVD's to find one that was acceptable to the system.
When all done Power Off the unit.
For the DL Adjustment I used a still wrapped copy of "What Happens in Vegas..", after that the unit played all CD's and DVD's I tried so far.
Some remotes are a bit flaky after all these years, but fixable.
Enjoy your S7700 for many more years,
Leo
On several second hand websites I easily could find one, actually two, so I bought these cheap.
I bought two, because of the stories about the laser dying and no spare parts available, etc.
While waiting for the delivery, I started downloading the service manuals and also started reading them, which is unusual for a technician, I know
While waiting for the machines to arrive, I found that some cheaper models of Sony actually used THE SAME LASER!!
While still waiting for my S7700's to arrive I also bought a really cheap, near mint, S315, and a OK-ish looking S715, one with remote, because, again, they use the same KHS-180A Dual Laser unit.
Long story short, I now have two perfect S7700's a near mint S315 and another spare CD/DVD transport, Power Supply, etc. as spares.
I revived one remote, and to be true, it was a bit of a pain to do that.
There are two types of remotes: one with a single sided PCB, these are great, and one with a double sided PCB, not so great.
The one that needed repair was the double sided one: One side has copper traces, OK, but the other side, where the rubber buttons make contact, used not only carbon pads for the buttons, but also carbon traces!!, and in my case several of these traces went open, so several buttons did not work.
The good news: the two type use the very same chip, so I could measure what button had a connection the what pin of the chip, and compare that with the one not working.
I found several connections missing, so I could replace these with thin wire wrap wires, so now I have three working remotes too.
Now the audio part: I LOVE THE S7700 !! as a CD player, that is.
It really sounds super great, and I have been playing CD's for several days now, and they have not failed me so far.
So my story is: enjoy your S7700, and while doing so, keep a lookout for the cheap S315 or S715 the become your spare parts.
Even replacing the laser is super easy, because the entire transport in these units is the same!
So it is just open the cabinet, remove the 4 screws of the main PCB, undo the front-panel wire, Tilt the main PCB backwards, remove the 2 screws of the metal support bracket, remove the 4 screws holding the plastic transport, lift the transport out, remove the small flat cable and the 2 pin wire to the side of the main PCB, remove the two wide cables going to the transport, and take the transport out.
Mounting the replacement transport is the same, but in reverse order.
Now the is one extra thing to do: perform the Auto Alignment function.
To do this you must connect the S7700 (same for the S315 or S715) to a monitor capable of showing NTSC signals as well as PAL signals!!
This is because the Service Menu is only available in NTSC!!
To enter the service manual do this:
switch off the S7700;
press Title, now press Clear, now press Power On.
This will switch On the unit, and it will show the Service Menu. (called Test Mode)
To do this you need three normals discs:
A good, factory made CD,
a factory made Single Layer DVD (DVD-5)
and a factory made Dual Layer DVD (DVD-9).
Here you choose 1, Drive Auto Adjustment.
My advice is to perform the steps one at the time,
so choose DVD SL (Single Layer) first.
Follow the instructions on the screen.
When finished with the Single layer DVD, now perform the CD Adjustment.
After that, do the Dual Layer DVD Adjustment.
I found I needed to try several DVD-9 DVD's to find one that was acceptable to the system.
When all done Power Off the unit.
For the DL Adjustment I used a still wrapped copy of "What Happens in Vegas..", after that the unit played all CD's and DVD's I tried so far.
Some remotes are a bit flaky after all these years, but fixable.
Enjoy your S7700 for many more years,
Leo
