Music Hall Trio CD Receiver: repair & review

Build quality and use of components

My first impression is very good, much higher quality than I would have expected from such an entry type all-in-one. Lets take a closer look:

No budget cuts on the netfilter.
A reasonably sized toroidal transformer.
Double power supply design, presumably both channels have their own rectifier and filter caps.
Traditionally build stereo amplifier.
multi turn potentiometers for adjustments (presumably idle current & DC offset)

I wasn’t able to get my hands on a service manual or schematics, so I wasn’t able to readjust these multi turn potentiometers.

A lot of relays at the input stage.
Philips VAM1202 (CDM12.2) transport. Not the best there is, but those are all plastic these days.

All in all a very impressive design and use of expensive components. On the other hand, this device was sold for EUR 1300, back in 2007. Then again, you get three devices in one!

12 comments on “Music Hall Trio CD Receiver: repair & review

  1. Bună dimineața. În prezentarea dumneavoastră ați înlocuit potențiometru ALPS pentru surse.Am aceiași problemă însă eu am reușit să îi rup axul. Nu știu ce model trebuie să comand. Mulțumesc anticipat.

    • Hi Lucian,
      It has been a while since I’ve replaced the potentiometer (actually it’s not a potentiometer, but a rotary encoder or digital potentiometer).
      You will have to look into the datasheets to figure out what type you need.
      These are the items to match:
      – Push button
      – Package/position of contacts
      – D-type shaft and shaft length
      – length of thread

      Hope this helps!
      Regards,
      Mark

  2. Hello Mark, I have the Music Hall trio and also two problems with it. When a connect 2 pairs of speakers they all play music. There is a klik sound when I push the speaker selector on the remote, the lights go on and/of out but the sound from all the speakers stays. The other issue is the auxiliary input. It makes a sound with distortion. Is there something I can do? Do you know somebody near my home where I can bring the trio for repair? Is it something you can repair? Thanks for your repair review and nice pictures. Kind regards, Ben (Deventer, the Netherlands)

    • Hi Ben,
      Switching between A and B should cut of the sound. It could be a stuck relay. Aux input distortion doesn’t ring a bell at this moment. Will have to look into that.
      I’ll reach out to you by mail regarding repair since I’m also from The Netherlands. 🙂

      Regards, Mark

      • Hi Mark, thanks for your respons. I Wil try another interlink for the auxiliary connection maybe that wil fix the problem. Ik wacht je mailtje af. Groet, Ben

  3. Wonderful review and repair. Great to see you were able to bring it back to life. I have one of these machines, but have recently been experiencing an issue with the volume increasing by itself. Runaway volume gets a little scary. I am just wondering if you might have a little insight into what might cause this issue. Thank You

    • Hi Martin,
      Thanx you very much!
      Volume runaway is in many cases caused by a defect in the rotary encoded. That is the digital volume control knob.
      Sometimes these can be taken apart and cleaned with alcohol/ipa and lubricated again with grease and Kontact 61.
      In other cases that part should be replaced with a new one.

      Hope this helps you in fixing your system.

      Kind regards,
      Mark

  4. Thanks for the great review, and massive knowledge you shared. That said, i bought one of these with a drive that need to be replaced, due to the ribbon cable being detached from the board. It doesn’t look like it a be attached. Do you know what drive would work in it.

    • Hi Tony,
      The cd drive is based on the Philips CDM12.2 (VAM1202) laser assembly. If the ribbon cable or the connector on the main board is broken, that can probably replaced without replacing the laser assembly. I don’t know how the laser assembly or in case there is a PCB under the transport that handles cd operation, is connected to the main board. I would assume that it’s all connected using pretty common available connectors and/or cables.

      Hope this helps!

      Kind regards,
      Mark

  5. Mark,
    Just looking to see if you will be selling the trio? Prepaid and shipping is not a problem as I purchase Audio and Bicycles worldwide.
    Where are you located
    Thanks,
    Mark Mancinelli in GA USA

    • Hi Mark,
      I’m sorry but the trio is not for sale. I’ve been using it on my workbench ever since. Great sound and small in size. 🙂

      Kind regards,
      Mark from The Netherlands

  6. Good morning.
    Very good report and explanation.
    There is one to sell here in Portugal…
    Best regards and go on with spectacular work and repairings.

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