Tag Mclaren.

[ALXAndy]

Yo.

So very recently I bought a TMC CD transport for £45. I knew there was a high possibility it may never work. However, I had a backup plan.

And this is it.

OK so basically here is what I bought.

They made them in both silver and black. This one however? yeah, not supposed to be silver. It is supposed to look like this.

Now when I say this thing had been butchered? I mean, had its throat cut, slaughtered, drawn and quartered and hung out to dry. When it arrived with me the CD laser had imploded and was in pieces inside. What I did not realise was this was a deliberate ploy by the seller to slow me down. I bought a new laser for £10 and when I fitted it? yeah, it didn't work.

Now before I did any of that I started experimenting with ways to remove the horrific spray bomb. I quickly realised isoprop was just like, wiping it off. And thus after a few hours (and a lot of cleaning, and rebuilding, and touching up) I had this.

Perfect. The CD tray was also battered, so some work on that too.

Now what you may be wondering is why I would spend so much time restoring all of that if I wasn't sure it was going to work. And you would be correct. I mean, I am not stupid. Like I said, I had a backup plan. And I have been looking for a Tag shell of any sort for a long time.

I have had a couple of media PCs in my system before. The problem is they never matched, and even in ITX form stuck out. I wanted something that could go into the system and vanish. Hence, that is what I am now going to do.

A while ago I broke down said media PC and sold it to my mate. He wanted the case, PSU and etc. What he doesn't need or has ever used is this.

I would guess you are wondering what that is right?. Basically it is a quad core Celeron on chip, and it uses laptop DDR4. Both of which he is bringing back for me. So that will be going in to be the brains. It is proven, and more than quick enough for what I want it for. I know this 'cause I used it before I also know my Xonar STX works beautifully with it.

The only thing is I do not want to be hacking up metal. I really just can't be ersed in all honesty. Then again, there is no real reason for me to any way. See, my first ever custom NAS was this.

Note, the IO does not go anywhere near the outside of the shell. I have connected up what I needed in there "remotely". I still have all of those remote sockets. This? needs one digital out (taking that from the Tag board), a network socket and a HDMI. That is it. The only hole I should have to cut from the metal is for the HDMI socket. I reckon I can handle that...

The first thing I needed was a PSU. I was worried about getting one to fit. I have 55mm of height in there. Turns out Flex ATX is 40mm. Again this will be connected remotely, using the original IEC socket on the back.

Found this for twenty quid. 350w gold, brand spanking new. Dealio.

I am going to attempt to put a DVDR in there. SATA, like. I just need to make sure it can be made multi region, as I have about a hundred DVDs I bought whilst living in the USA. So being able to play them also? yeah, would be ace. The sound card will also be laid flat, put on a ribbon and connected up remotely. The digital out, like. The sockets on the CDT are all wired on the board, but can be removed and all screw into the back of the unit also.

So other plans.

I want the CD eject button. I want to be able to eject the drive using those. I can wire that into the drive's button. I need to fashion quite a few things on the CNC. Something to hold down the sound card, and board, and etc. I want to custom the entire PSU so the cables are the perfect length, and braid it in black and orange. I may paint the insides of the shell IDK. It is already completely sound proofed, I assume to stop the annoying whir of the drive. So that is cool. I also want to be able to use the tray cover for the front, but I don't know if that is going to be possible yet. I do have a CNC though, so something that looks identical can be fashioned out of acrylic.

I gutted out the shell earlier and will be harvesting parts. This one will be a slow burner, but I will update as it happens.

 

[piggin]

Very interested in seeing how this turns out.
As for the Tag DVD/CD player, The first were top loaders in silver and I had No.20 from the factory. The next had front loaders with silver fronts and the last were the black brush front. So not sure if yours was a original silver front or one that had been modified to blend in with a full Tag setup

 

[ALXAndy]

It was black. It had been painted really, really poorly. The insides had been butchered beyond belief tbh. Looks like someone tried to repair it with no knowledge of what was actually wrong. Like, random capacitors have been changed for absolutely no reason.

It is most certainly one of the micro controllers on the CD board in the centre. But that didn't stop someone hacking it all to bits. The front panel connectors were gone, replaced with IDE cable and hot snot. It really is hard to see in this pic just how awful it was tbh.

When I removed the board earlier? bodge wires all over the underside of it. Looks like someone basically crow barred it out then botched it all getting it back into something that resembled one piece. Even the LED holder and cover has been hacked apart and then had duct tape around it.

 

[ALXAndy]

OK so I am done stripping out what I want. To give you an idea this is how it should look inside. Note the soldered in shielded cover over the CD control board. Mine had been hacked out with side cutters.

As I said, I reckon the guy ripped it all apart and then realised he was way over his head. At which point? he did things like this.

And this.

Which is why I didn't even think about sending it to a professional tbh. If you look at the controller board here....

You can see none of the caps match. I would imagine he randomly cut those out (as they are through soldered and that board needs to be desoldered on lots of pins to get it out and do it properly) before he decided to try and do that and failed. At which point he probably caused untold damage to it that he then tried to reverse. Too late.

The ribbon carrying the red socket to the drive is damaged. However, the actual problem? is power. The drive opens and closes very slowly, and it attempts to spin very slowly before it goes onto a error on the display. IMO? it is one of those chips there branded Philips. Probably the ones close to the power connectors. Those are the only part of it he has not touched. I can't even begin to imagine how many hours were put into butchering it tbh.

 

[piggin]

Definitely didnt come from the factory like that but getting something like this repaired was almost impossible as there was no information coming out of the factory back in the day. However, the warranty was really good on their equipment as the drive door jammed twice and it went back for repair. Unfortunately the DVD is no longer with me but the AVR & 5 channel amp still put in a regular performances in the cinema room

 

[ALXAndy]

I can't use the DVD. I would love to, and I have seen some, but you can see the issue here.

I'm a vinyl junkie. Like, big time. I don't know why, as it sounds like crap tbh (I do have a MC cart though !) but there is just something about it I can't explain. A simpler time maybe? IDK. I phoned the maker of the rack, but they don't sell single sections. So it was buy another one (30kg) and then have to throw the rest out, or just leave it.

I have one component sized space in there for this.

Going back to this. Last night I started harvesting parts. I removed the front inner panel and cut off the LCD. It has a OKI controller chip and there is no way I would ever get it working. TBH? I don't want to, as I have a much better plan. Note the two green arrows. I am going to cut along those lines and get rid of the bit in the middle. That will hinder me with my plan.

Also note - the blue filter and the opaque diffuser. I am going to use both of those. The idea is to use this as an example here.

It uses a digital readout. So, if I put something on there (Tag Mclaren HTPC perhaps? IDK) that is cut out of vinyl and then put some tinted acrylic over it, like the front of the LCD screen...

It will look factory. As an example to that.

Last night I measured up the insides. I then created templates of what is going in, and yes, we can fit a optical drive.

So that is cool. The sound card will have to go on top of the PSU. There is 15mm above it, the sound card should be about 10mm? thick. IDK, will need to measure when I am back with it. I am going to do a full braid on the PSU. Mostly black, with the odd flash of this.

However, I am also going to custom length the entire thing. Space in there will be at a premium, and I DO NOT want wires getting on my breasts every time I open it.

 

[piggin]

Can see why you are working so hard on that old Tag unit now. Lovely setup.
Also went back to vinyl a few years ago now (not as nice a your turntable) but set a price limit for myself but within days I changed the original cartridge, platter etc etc. Unfortunately I cant help myself

 

[ALXAndy]

I did OK as it goes.

My Thorens had a chip in it. It was brand new, but yeah. I got it for £230. They were about a grand, which considering what it is? lmao they joke. It's MDF everything else is basic and plastic. The chip I knew about. Found it in the box and glued it back. What I did not envisage was the motor being broken. It is suspended on two spiders. Like the ones on speakers. In transit it had ripped out of both. Because of that? I got a free leather mat with the Thorens logo. So yeah, I made out good tbh. Running a Denon MC cart. Paid £120 used like new. Best thing you can buy tbh. But aye, it sounds awful but IDK man it is so compelling. Like, you can really criticize a record for being crap like

So I had a look back at the AV. This thing.

I wanted something that looks like that. Now note, the CD player does not use that same screen. That is the dear one, that can generate letters etc. Like a full matrix. The CD? just has like, light up logos that say "Play" and etc. Well I did not want it looking like the CD player......

Nah.

Nope that's not right either.

JACKPOT haha I will cut that later, and stick it onto the blue filter

 

[piggin]

So I had a look back at the AV. This thing.

That is what I have but the older model. The one I have is silver on the front with a very dark blue body. It has a serial number in the low 100's as I was a little slow getting my order in on. However, the 5 channel amp was number 5


I wanted something that looks like that. Now note, the CD player does not use that same screen. That is the dear one, that can generate letters etc. Like a full matrix. The CD? just has like, light up logos that say "Play" and etc. Well I did not want it looking like the CD player......

JACKPOT haha I will cut that later, and stick it onto the blue filter

That will definitely look at home, especially with the THX logo

 

[piggin]

As for the turntable. Sounds like you had a good deal.
As for listening to vinyl, I find it does have a warmth but its a pain flipping them over or changing them out all the time. You can see why CD'S became popular

 

[ALXAndy]

Yeah true. Thing is, with digital all I need to do is press a remote. So I drift off and end up watching youtube or something. I think the reason why I like the records so much is that I can turn the screen off and focus on the music a lot more. Which in turn is waaay more relaxing. I don't mind the interaction with it tbh, as I said, it soon makes you put the remote or your phone down !

Currently weeding the vinyl. And it is easily the most difficult thing I have ever had to weed. It's tiny, and the dots are a pain. Oh well, no pain no gain I spose

 

[piggin]

Will be very interesting to see how that screen comes out

As for vinyl, I find I am spending lots of money on picture discs that I haven't gotten round to listen to yet

 

[ALXAndy]

Will be very interesting to see how that screen comes out

As for vinyl, I find I am spending lots of money on picture discs that I haven't gotten round to listen to yet

Got that one recently.

OK so it is ready. Gosh, what a total SOD that was. I first left the protective film on, but it just bunged up the blade and yeah RIP attempt 1. On attempt 2 a few of the dots came out, but did not jam anything thank god. I couldn't do it all in one go though. Far too fiddly and small, and my eyes are so bad now.

I nearly threw it at the wall several times. Obs it is now covered in finger prints, but I am not going to clean it until it is fixed down.

 

[piggin]

I nearly threw it at the wall several times. Obs it is now covered in finger prints, but I am not going to clean it until it is fixed down.

Looks really great but would be funny is there was a misprint

 

[piggin]

Got that one recently.

Very impressive art work. The best I have had recently was the new Gorillaz album with the picture disc. Also wanted the new Blur album with the limit splash design but the scalpers jumped in within seconds and now they are going for £100 and I am not paying that

 

[ALXAndy]

It was worth it. So, so worth it LOL

I decided not to cut the face panel. It has enough room for a piece of 3mm. So, I will fit the smoked acrylic, drill through four corners and put that behind it, giving it the depth it would have had originally.

 

[piggin]

Very impressive and will fit nicely in with the rest of the Tag family
Its just a pity they are still not around to make something like this

 

[ALXAndy]

Well they are, but as Audiolab again. I know what you mean though, just doesn't look quite the same !

Decided to add wifi to it as well.

And.

The router is literally behind the system so that should work fine.

 

[piggin]

Didn't make much sense when TAG purchased Audiolab and jacked the prices up on an already distinguished business. I was also surprised when they had issues and returned back to Audiolab

 

[ALXAndy]

OK so wifi is out. I had the wrong board. Asrock do a B version with no wifi socket. Have cancelled that !.

I just did one of the few mods the actual chassis needs. There is an area where the original PSU is built in. I needed it gone. I thought about cutting all the way along and getting the welded in bolts out, then I realised it was spot welded.

It's kinda in reverse. I was too busy thinking about doing it than taking pics. But this is what I removed.

That side wall ruined the layout, and yeah welded in posts and a bolt. It looked something like this.