img 0933

Astonishing Accuphase DP-90 CD Player Repair

Join me as I repair one of my all-time favourite pieces of hi-fi equipment, the astonishing Accuphase DP-90 CD player.

Welcome back everyone, for variety we’re talking about classic CD players again today, and this one is dear to my heart as I own one of these beauties – the incredible Accuphase DP-90 Precision Compact Disc Player, to use her correct title.

Before we continue, though, I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to all customers, readers and friends of Liquid Audio who appreciate and support my efforts here. I’m fortunate to have so many great customers, industry colleagues and friends of the business. Good people like all of you are why I continue to do this 🙂

Background

This Accuphase DP-90 (and matching DC-91 DAC) purchase and subsequent repair came about in mid-2024, from a customer who initially purchased a consultation where we discussed the pros and cons of him obtaining an Accuphase DP-90 and the Accuphase DP-91 DAC.

Accuphase DP-90

This is a personal story for me because I own an Accuphase DP-90 and DC-91. They were the top-of-the-range digital products from Accuphase at the time, and that means the top products available, along with just one or two others. They were always my aspirational digital purchase, since learning about them many years ago. I’ve written a little about them, my customer read that and, after our discussion about this series of equipment, decided he had to have a pair.

He already owned a nice Accuphase preamp, a C-260 from memory, and very much enjoyed it, so this was confirming something that he suspected would be good, and I was able to give him a lot more inside information about this rarer than hen’s teeth combo.

To cut a long story short, my customer bought them from a European seller, importing the pair from Germany. When they arrived, the DP-90 wouldn’t read discs. This could have been catastrophic, but thankfully, I was able to repair this for him, and that brings us here.

Where I am able and can spare the time, I try to make an accompanying video. You can watch that here:

Top-Tier

Early 1990s Accuphase equipment is some of my favourite. Accuphase were ramping up build quality in a way no other manufacturer was. My former reference, Accuphase C-280V, was part of this shift, many kilograms heavier than the already excellent C-280L that preceded it, but with even higher build and parts quality. My current C-290 is part of this new series of extreme gear, likewise, the C-290V, like this one I serviced recently:

Accuphase C-290V

These are all absolute end-game statement pieces, even now, but in 1995, one can only imagine the attention the DP-90/DC-91 pair received, costing more than a decent car at the time. The Accuphase DP-90 cost a cool $7,495 USD in 1995, equivalent to around $15,000 USD now or $22,500 AUD, based on the wallet inflamation calculator I use 🙂

The matching Accuphase DC-91 DAC is even more outrageous, costing $13,495 USD in 1995, equivalent to around $28,000 USD now or $41,650 AUD. This is equipment so otherworldly compared to what $2,000 – $4,000 buys you these days that it’s comical. Once you’ve seen, heard and delved inside pieces like this, it’s even more amusing, considering what you can buy them for now, though.

This is the pin-drop moment with this tier of equipment, no matter when it was made. The problem with equipment like this is its scarcity. Hardly anyone has ever heard, let alone owned pieces like these, so very few can speak with any authority about them. There are certainly only a handful of Accuphase DP-90 / DC-91 owners in Australia. Let me know if you are also one!

These two, of course, have great specs and unmatched engineering, but the proof is in the listening. I’ve never heard CDs or streamed files sound better, and I hear a lot of equipment.

Accuphase DP-90 vs DP-90B

I should clarify that my DP-90 is the later, improved and even rarer Accuphase DP-90B. These things are unicorns, so buy one if you find one. How can you tell? Well, I learned that only through research after noticing one day that the characteristic early-90s slab-faced design on the DP-90, DC-91, C-290, etc, was subtly different on my DP-90.

Accuphase DP-90B
This is my DP-90B. Note the rounded-off bottom fascia edge. The ‘B’ nomenclature is not mentioned anywhere, by the way, but this revised fascia style appeared in the late ’90s.

My player, if you look closely, has a rounded-off bottom edge to the front fascia. This was brought in at the end of the ’90s by Accuphase, and the DP-90B was one of the last of this extant series of equipment to feature the softer new fascia design.

Accuphase DP-90
Accuphase DC-91
My DP-90/DC-91 combo

Having worked on my DP-90B and a couple of other DP-90s, I can confirm that the DP-90B has improved processing and lacks the kludges visible on the earlier boards. Kludges, on Accuphase’s most expensive gear? Yep, kludges are common, especially on early iterations of low production volume equipment.

Features

The Accuphase DP-90 is technically a transport, meaning that it outputs a digital signal, rather than an analogue one. To use the DP-90 or any other transport, you’ll need an extraordinarily good DAC, ideally an Accuphase DAC with HPC connection, a server-grade glass fibre BNC-style connector and 150MBPS spec far ahead of what Toslink can offer.

I’ve used two very good DACs with my DP-90, my previous Gustard A-26, which I rate highly and was a superb-sounding DAC, and my current, matching Accuphase DC-91, which sounds noticeably better, despite being 30 years older. I’ll leave you to ponder that incredible fact, but if you ever see, hold or hear a DC-91, which unfortunately most won’t, you’ll understand. Then you’ll question all the constant ‘improvements’ we hear so much about.

You have to experience this epiphany for yourself, but I’ve written about how and why CD transports sound different from one another. Oh, and if you think they must be making better lasers and transports now, you’re wrong. This was the peak of laser and mech quality and engineering, though good transports and lasers still exist.

You can read more about the Accuphase DP-90 and DC-91 in this excellent Stereophile review from back in the day. Stereophile raved about this pair, and from what I hear, I completely agree. Here are some more features:

  • HPC (High-Performance Connection) for the lowest possible jitter (it is audibly better)
  • Built-in RF amplifier in laser pickup to minimise the effects of interference
  • Balanced drive circuit that does not depend on the ground for servo motor drives
  • 8mm thick solid aluminium chassis structure and panels
  • CD mechanism with sapphire spindle bearings and magnetic slides that guarantee durability and reliability
  • Auto-locking mechanism to prevent tray resonance
  • Gold-plated Teflon PCBs with an emphasis on sound quality
  • Dual power transformers
  • Multifunctional remote commander

The Accuphase DC-91 DAC is even more extraordinary with its 16 PCM-63K hand-selected DAC chips PER CHANNEL – 32 in total! I will go into more detail on the DP-90/DC-91 pair in a later review of both, I think, otherwise I’ll never get this article written!

Accuphase DP-90 Specifications

Courtesy of Liquid Mike

Type:Redbook CD transport
Laser:Sony KSS-272A (Sony’s best)
Transformers:2, 1 for laser, spindle and servos, 1 for DSP, display and CPU functions
Digital output types:HPC Optical 150MBPS (best, server-grade glass fibre, what I use)
HPC Balanced (AES/EBU) (better)
Optical (Toslink) (good)
Coaxial (75 Ohm coax) (good)
Dimensions:479mm W x 149mm H x 379mm D
18-3/4 W x 5-7/8 H x 14-15/16 D
Weight:20.5kg / 25.5kg in box
49.7lbs / 60.6lbs
Years produced:1993 – 1998

Service & Repair

As mentioned, my customer purchased his Accuphase DP-90 and DC-91 from Germany. Both arrived seemingly unscathed, until he tried to play some CDs. The loader wouldn’t open, a common issue with CD players, no biggie here. A bigger deal, though, when he did finally get it open, was that the player wouldn’t read CDs that it loaded.

This, my friends, is a scary moment for all who’ve experienced such things. It can mean any one of many issues is present, including the worst of all in the case of the DP-90 – a dead laser. In this case, though, the loader needed service, and the spindle that holds the discs, a superbly machined stainless steel affair resting on a sapphire ball bearing, had come loose. This meant the disc and spindle were fouling the laser, and that focus could not be achieved.

Thankfully, I resolved this issue for my customer and cleaned and serviced the player for him. Let’s take a look.

Accuphase DP-90
Lid off and oh my goodness. The reason for the back-breaking weight is revealed.
Accuphase DP-90
The build quality. Looking at this even now, even owning one of these things, I am still blown away by the build quality.

On the left, we have two large potted transformers, one for the laser and one for the control circuitry and processing. In the middle, we see 8 serious filter capacitors, with a combined C greater than many modern amplifiers, such is how far some things have fallen. Below them, we have the legendary Sony KSS-272A laser in its own compartment. To the right, we have two large and super high-quality gold-plated PCBs. The general chassis structure and build quality is superb, right down to the fasteners and wiring. Accuphase always does things this way.

This is simply without peer, and yes, I’m including all the names you are thinking of, and many you are not.
Accuphase DP-90
Just look at these gold-plated boards. These are right at the top of the tree in terms of board quality. I own equipment with the very best boards in it: old Hewlett Packard and Tektronix test and measurement equipment, the sort of equipment that sent people to the moon. That stuff is built like this. Note the lab-grade board-to-board connectors, metal bracing and high-quality parts.
Accuphase DP-90
The processor board. Don’t ask me what that large Accuphase IC is, I don’t know and no, you will not be able to buy one anywhere!
Accuphase DP-90
Here we see a few of those kludges I mentioned. This is an earlier DP-90. The cost of these units means not many were sold, most folks copuld simply never afford them and have therefore never seen or heard about them.
Accuphase DP-90
A couple more diode kludges are visible here. Before anyone asks – NO, these boards should not be recapped with Lelon or Suntan capacitors!!!
Accuphase DP-90
So, I’m doing a little lubrication and functional testing here. This allows me to gain a better understanding of what is or is not going on.
Accuphase DP-90
The peerless Sony KSS-272A laser mech. Sapphire spindle motor bearing, magnetic linear laser bearings, it really doesnt get better than this. The only problem is they are no longer available.
Accuphase DP-90
As I examined the player operating and looked more closely at the arrangement of the spindle, CD platter and laser optical assembly, I realised what the main problem was….
Accuphase DP-90
They were coming into contact! Now, the only way for this to happen is for the platter that the disc sits on to have dropped on the spindle motor shaft. Time for the mech to come out.
Accuphase DP-90
Worth taking another moment to admire the exemplary build quality evident here. This era of Accuphase was golden.
Accuphase DP-90
With the loader removed, I can better access the spindle motor and disc ‘platter’. The platter was loose on the spindle and this needed immediate correction.
Accuphase DP-90
Thankfully, I was able to locate the original position of the platter and lock it firmly back into place. With that done, the laser was now able to complete its traverse back into the ‘rest’ position, the spindle could spin CDs again, and the laser could correctly achieve focus. All that has to work for the player to read discs. From here, I carefully checked everything, cleaned and lubricated bearings and prepared to reinstall the mech into the player.

A note on this repair technique: In terms of setting the correct platter height, there is a precise specification for this. There is also a way to relocate the platter into its original position, in many cases, through careful use of ‘feel’ and the right tools.

In terms of laser cleaning, specifically of the optics: Don’t ever touch the laser optics, ie the lens, unless you absolutely know how to do that WITHOUT harming them. I’m not going into detail here, but most of what you read about cleaning lasers is wrong and often results in failure due to impaired optical performance or damaged lens suspension. That, of course, cannot happen here, under any circumstances!

Accuphase DP-90
The repaired and serviced loader, ready to reinstall into the player.
Accuphase DP-90
One last look before we put her back together! Man, I love these things!

Results

I’m extraordinarily pleased to say that I was able to repair this epic Accuphase DP-90 for my customer and he’s been enjoying it since then. I believe he plans to bring it back to me for some additional work, but this was a really good save on what could have been technically a write-off, in the wrong hands, and believe me, this happens.

Accuphase DP-90

I’m fortunate to have been given the opportunity to repair this one and stocked to own the ever-rarer DP-90B. I know her owner absolutely loves this player and I’m sure it will give him many more years of enjoyment.

Accuphase DP-90

To replace a treansort like the Accuphase DP-90, you’d need to look at something like the Accuphase DP-1000, the modern functional and marketplace equivalent. These cost a cool $32,500 AUD.

accuphase dp 1000
Oh yeah, but can you afford it? For the rest of us, a beautiful pre-owned piece like the Accuphase DP-90 is a great fallback position.
Accuphase DP-90
What a simply beautiful piece of equipment. Many thanks to Michael for bringing her to me.

Review

The Accuphase DP-90 is superb, the best transport / CD player I’ve ever heard. I’m sure there will be people reading this and thinking: “Ah, but Mike, the dCS Rossini is better…” and you know what? Maybe it is, but those things are 40K AUD, and my DP-90 cost me 3 grand. I bet it will last longer, it’s still running perfectly 30 years on, AND it’s heavier!!!

Anyway, I highly recommend these and encourage folks interested in Redbook CD playback to consider one.

Accuphase DP-90

Thanks!

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you enjoyed this article on a piece of equipment very few have written about. If you found the article informative, I encourage you to like, share and subscribe.

If you’d like me to service or repair your Accuphase DP-90, or any other beautiful Accuphase CD player, you are always welcome to contact us.


Discover more from LiQUiD AUDiO

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

5 thoughts on “Astonishing Accuphase DP-90 CD Player Repair”

  1. Loved your post on the Accupahse CD player
    If only I had the money to buy one of those new or used ….
    Fantasy coming to reality if only for a moment

  2. Bugger. I excitedly began reading, in the hope that you had a secret source for a laser for one of these bad boys. I have one languishing in the workshop, in the hope that a laser will magically appear.

    1. Thanks, Trevor, and I know! Thankfully, we didn’t need one here. There is a guy installing new laser diodes into existing lasers with some success. I think he is in the Netherlands, from memory.

      1. Yeah, I’ve thought about replacing the laser diode, but it certainly requires a learning curve. The machine is probably worth it. I hadn’t thought that someone would be doing commercially, but it makes sense, given the fact that some of the old machines were expensive and finding a good CD player today getting very difficult. For me, I’ll stay with my Marantz CD80 for now. Fabulous sounding player.

Comment, share, like, subscribe, be respectful, etc!

Scroll to Top

Discover more from LiQUiD AUDiO

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading