Helios Stargate
How serious is this ?
Is it a wannabie Mephisto?
Are they up to something?
Not all that shines black is a piano.
My platonic relationship with the Helios Stargate
What a coincident - two visitors from France in my home at one moment -
irresistable opportunity to test these two famous players.
Mephisto and Helios.
In the most pretensious name contest - they go for the Cup head
to head. I dont even need to be funny and sarcastic - the name says it
all.
In the black shiny design as well - both shine so much - we have
a saying in Poland - they shine like dog's balls in the spring.
Mephisto is acryllic and attracts dust. Helios is made of painted MDF -
point for Helios.
They both have a top-loader mechanism but the Mephisto has a clamp
flywheel. The Helios has a shitty god knows what pretending to be a
clamp. Point for Mephisto.
The Mephisto lid - if dropped - which is not difficult - will smash
dead the whole cdm9 mechanism. Point for Helios.
The both players have Philips mechanism.
Mephisto has a real magnetic swingarm CDM9 and the Helios has a chea
VAM12,5 - the lowest grade transport available. Helios PRETENDS to have
CDM2Pro but it is a myth. Point for Mephisto.
Mephisto can be repaired with off the shelve components, and apparently
Helios can not.
One DIYer reported that he somehow damaged the Helios, and he contacted
factory for parts (masked and impossible to identify) and he was told
to go and stuff himself. I cant verify if its true but thats what
I was told.
Well, I apologize for bad pictures caused by the necessity to use flash.
A funny PCB seen from the bottom. No hidden chips there
The DAC chip is a mystery - it is very well protected by a glued on
heatsink. I tried to remove it but without luck. All I can say it is a
28 leg chip but NOT any TDA from philips, not burr brown either. It is
an old chip. Possibly an old CS.
The ONLY part which is different in this player than in a normal
Phipips, Marantz or Kenwood - is the use of these old style silver can
opamps at output. If the player sounds any good at all - its due to
these opamps. I have no idea what they are except the Philips logo on
them.
Above is the whole DAC PCB.
It has HORRIBLE RCA sockets and SPDIF socket (cheapest I ever
saw) and bad SPDIF output transformer. It has very badly designed,
overheating voltage regulators which burn THEIR OWN caps ! Overall
quality of parts ois good, simplicyty is good, just the sockets and
overheating - leave a bad taste.
Look above at the radiator surrounded by capacitors - this setup is
good for lighting up a cigarette.
And the 4 green resistor (WHAT FOR ???) are so hot that the solder is
melting.
This machine is UNMISTAKEABLY French.
Wow. What a plate. C'mon guys.
This black plate is a plate to which the Philips mechanism is attached
to. Actually it is the ONLY addition of French engineers thats worth
mentioning. Here is why: ..
Here is THE BALL. The top plate of mechanism is resting on ONE BALL and
two rubber cushions. The ball is a magic antivibration measure. At
least they tried to differ. I like it.
Above the cheap VAL12,5 mechanism in its all plastic glory.
Here is the main spindle motor - a 2 USD mabuchi from China. Nothing
highendish.
Some voltage regulators - lets say - they used more than average, I
like it.
This is the programmable chip with Helios software code.
The transformer is a standard normal one, quite OKAY.
The flash exposed some dirt and scratches which were invisible in
normal light.
BACK TO BUSINESS: I promised to repair this dead unit for a friend. It
is a doorstop. I checked everything and what is damaged is the micro
controller and I cant source it or repair it.
So Platonic Relationship means that the matrimonium non consummatum -
no chance to listen to this interesting player. Even if after looking
inside, my expectations were low.
Maybe another day....