Shanling PCD-3000A

PCD-3000A The new Shanling PCD-3000A is a very nice compact CD player with headphone amplifier. It also has a nice headphone amp. We love the compact size as well as the fact that it offers remote volume control to run directly into an amp. Sonics are good for its $500 retail price. Our new Level-1 modification makes it a great sounding unit for the money.
All functions of the player are controlled by the multiple control lever on the right side of the unit. It also comes with a nice remote control. The player uses a Philips CD711 servo system transport It uses the Burr-Brown PCM1738 DAC chip for good sound quality. Volume control is by an ALPS Type 27 potentiometer. These are accurate to within 0.5dB.

The following details our Level-1 modification [retrofit $600 + frt; pre-installed $950 + frt]:

  • One pair of premium machined Vampire direct gold plated over copper body Teflon insulated RCA female jacks replace the cheap stamped jack modules on the output.
  • 4 x Black-Gate FK-series power supply and C-series output coupling electrolytic capacitors are added.
  • 10 x 1% Polystyrene film and foil capacitors are added in the analog filter stage
  • 2 x Riken OHM ½ and one watt signal path 1% carbon comp resistors with gold-plated leads replace cheap resistors of the stock model.
  • 4 x Cree SiC Schottky rectifying diodes are added.
  • 4 x Vishay-Telefunken SF4007 ultra-fast soft recovery diodes are added in the power supply
  • We install four small EAR brand Sorbothane isolation feet with new mounting hardware to reduce airborne feedback.
  • 1 sheet of SoundCoat chassis damping material is cut and applied where applicable to control chassis resonances
  • 4 pcs DH Labs 99.999% pure solid-core long-grained silver output signal wires, with foamed Teflon tape wrap dielectric are used to hook up the new RCA output jacks
  • WBT high silver content (4%) solder used throughou
  • 5 hours total labor.

Options
1) Replacement of one dual and four single op amps with Burr-Brown op amp modules (the world's best) dual and single versions. Add $250.00 with L-1 mod.

Sonic benefits of Level-1 mod:

  • The unit is quieter, blacks are blacker, thus resolving more low level detail and allowing better ambiance retrieval.
  • It is smoother and less solid state sounding, while also being more detailed and dynamic.
  • The Midrange is more natural with less electronic glare. The midrange performance is what you typically spend much more to get in solid state machines.
  • Imaging is more defined while front to back depth is improved.
  • Bass is improved with fuller weight and authority.
Shanling