As of February 1, 2013, Denon has discontinued their Super Service Center program. Pyramid Audio will no longer have a preferential listing on the Denon website, but we still think you should send your equipment here because we have more experience than other shops.

Denon DN-951FA DN-961FA CD Player

We stock the bearings, the motors and the lasers so we can turn them around in a couple of days. We know how to (and always do) properly set the tracking and servo gain, which most people don't do. We have done hundreds if not thousands of these repairs over the last 20 years. Ok I looked it up, 1185 so far. Isn't it time to pull the barely working spare off the shelf and get it repaired?

High performance can be lowered by poor service. Watch out for the counterfeit laser that looks like the KSS-240a but has a 8 pin optical detector instead of 24 pins shown in photo 2 and 3. Compare photos 3 and 4. The fake also has a different connector, not bad, just different and a red flag this is not the real thing Expect to pay $75 for the real thing 499 0191 009 also available at www.pacparts.com . The gears in the counterfeit aren't cut very well and can be noisy.

Don't skip the laser alignment, which consists of setting the tracking and focus servo gains. We use an Audio Precision test set that makes it easy. Properly done the result is a lissajous pattern like photo 7. Afterwards the tracking error should look like photo 6, a noise line with the track crossing centered on the line. Anything else and the $24 spindle motor bearing 425 0186 013 should be replaced. The RF signal should also be at least 900 mV peak to peak with clear eye pattern. Compare the photos. Note the scale change, the noisy one is also weak.

Isn't it time to get it done right? This typical $199 repair includes replacing the laser and bearing, alignment and cleaning.

Denon receivers

Denon, like most manufacturers, has shifted to a style of integrated circuit that cannot be replaced at the local level. As a result, we have to exchange entire circuit boards. We are trying to keep these boards in stock, and at present we carry over 22 boards for Denon receivers. We should be able to repair your equipment faster than anyone else.