# How to fix a Cambridge Audio Azur 640C



## rcarlton (Apr 29, 2006)

*How to fix a Cambridge Audio Azur 640C (or any other CD player)*

Two weeks ago I got the dreaded "no disc" message when inserting either a burned disc or a Redbook CD. No warranty, only have $300 in the thing. What to do?

Tear it apart and see if it can be fixed! Better yet...find a website that will walk me through the ordeal! Here is the website.

Looks like I still gotta tear it apart.

Here it is with the hood off. Picture 1.

Two screws to remove to get to the lens. Could have easily moved the lens by turning the plastic gear. What is the fun in that? Picture 2.

The lens assembly. Used a Q-tip to make sure it moved freely, brushed all the dust off of it (really didn't see any).
Picture 3.

Close up of the lens. Note that it is manufactured by Sony. Used some magic cleaner (Isopropyl alcohol would have worked I bet) I picked up at Lonestar Audio Fest yesterday, sprayed a Q-tip and wiped the lens down. Reassembled....it works:bigsmile: . 
Picture 4.

Tried a lens cleaning CD; complete waste of time. Looks like you have got to get right on the lens to clean it. Did not see any dirt or grime on the lens. Used a magnifying glass. Must be real sensitive. 

The magic cleaner. Thanks to MaxxHorn speakers:jump: .
Picture 5.


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## htaddikt (May 14, 2007)

*Re: How to fix a Cambridge Audio Azur 640C (or any other CD player)*

That's great info! I have 740C and will remember that. These players are very proprietary and I would hesitate to attempt any repairs beyond a lens cleaning, etc.


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## rcarlton (Apr 29, 2006)

Oops...got the dreaded no disc message again. Could the lens be dirty? Took the cover off, cleaned and cleaned the lens with no results. Looked closely at the wiring and made sure each connection was tight. Pushed connection, tested. Finally started working when I pushed the connection in the red circle. The ribbon cable is the only one from the transport mechanism, only tested two other connections on the transport before I tried the other end of this cable. Sprayed it with DeoxIT, put it back together and it is playing in the background as I type.


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Likely the pickup is going bad. Look on the side of the pickup assy and get the number. This looks like one of the cheap Sony pickups that you can get a replacement for easily. Just remember to remove the solder bridge before installing the new one.


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## rcarlton (Apr 29, 2006)

Like this one:


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Well, given my experience with that vendor and the reputation that they have among servicers, I don't think I would use that source for such a part. There are numerous vendors that have them, however. Just match the KSS number on the white tag and look to the parts suppliers listed here:

http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...ence-information/4396-parts-distributors.html

Also, you might refer to the information in Sam Goldwasser's FAQ referenced in this list:

http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...ps-service-manuals-assorted-useful-links.html


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## rcarlton (Apr 29, 2006)

lcaillo,
Thanks for the heads up. I hope never to have to replace the pickup. Fingers crossed.


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## rcarlton (Apr 29, 2006)

Looks like the pickup has finally given up the ghost. New one on order.


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## rcarlton (Apr 29, 2006)

Got the new part, simple to replace...but...it don't work:foottap:. Correct part number, checked all connections, no luck:sweat:. Put the old laser pickup in...works fine. :scratchhead: Still suspect the laser assembly is going bad, hope I can get a replacement.raying:


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Did you remove the solder bridge like I said above?


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## rcarlton (Apr 29, 2006)

Nope...found the note in the box:doh:. Removed solder bridge. All is working:bigsmile:. Took 18 minutes from start to finish once I removed the solder bridge:jump:.

Just saw your note about the solder short...it was 8 months ago after all.:surrender:


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## Guest (Apr 1, 2008)

Hi,

I also have Azur 640C (version 1) for the past 4 years.

Lately, it is having problems in reading the disks.

perhaps time for lens replacement.

But i don't have the exact screw driver to open the CD player. So I am unable to read the exact Sony Lens number (KSS). The KSS213 series has many products starting from B,C, D to Q. 

Could any owner of version 1 please tell me the exact number of sony lens (KSS) so that I could find out the exact replacement. 

thanks in advance

cbs


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## rcarlton (Apr 29, 2006)

cbs,
My 640C is version 1. The screw driver to open the unit was purchased at Radio Shack, it has a small star shaped head. Should be able to pick one up at most electronics stores or on the web.

Mine required a KSS-213c. I ordered from B&D Enterprises.


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## rcarlton (Apr 29, 2006)

Remove hood from unit. Open tray drawer. Unplug...drawer stays open and out of the way. 

To remove the pickup unscrew the brass screws at 1 & 2. The assembly has 2 pins that were held in place by the brass screws. On the other end of the assembly is a small post which fits under the black gear (partly shown in next picture at the bottom).

Notice the white plastic rail the laser rides on. There is a small piece of plastic below the lens assembly that fits on the underside of the plastic rail. You can see it on the third picture, directly above the number 8.

Slide plastic stop at 3 back to allow rod to slide part way. Remove plastic gear at 4 (best to remove it from the backside, see 8). 









Close up of plastic clip at 3 which stops the metal bar. Move it aside to allow bar to slide partway.










Remove flat wire from old pickup and turn assembly over. Should be enough slack in the wires.

Remove screw, washer and spring from 5 & 6. Slide bar out at 7. Push plastic gear out at 8 to remove the old pickup.










9. Remove solder short on PC board on the new laser pickup. Forgot to do that initially, caused some concern for awhile when nothing worked. Use a soldering iron and solder sucker. They use a solder short as electrostatic protection.










10. Here are the part numbers (KSS-213C) and the flat wire connection. Fairly easy to snap in place. Reverse all of the previous steps to put it back together, test it, if it passes put the hood back on.

Total time...18 minutes. This should be similar to the process for a broken DVD player.


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## Guest (Apr 2, 2008)

Thanks so so much Ron for your tutorials with photos. 

Now it is very clear to me on how to go about it. 

No need for spending money and time seeking a technician as you have potentially made me one. 

Once again, a big thank you.

CBS


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## donhearl (Apr 26, 2009)

Dear Forum,

I know that I'm reviving an old thread, but I read the thread with great interest. I have a Azur 640C and I was experiencing a "grinding" noise last night after pushing the standby button (no CD in tray). I did not insert a CD until this evening and I received the "no disc" message. I opened the top and checked the gearing and everything appeared ok. I also ordered a new pickup, just in case.

Would you have any other ideas as to the grinding noise. Now when I place a CD into the tray and push play, the carriage closes and the CD spins twice then stops and displays the error message. I sometimes get a message that says "no play".

I really like the way this unit is put together and I'm comfortable with working on it. I appreciate any ideas as to what I can do to fix the unit. 

Best regards,

Don


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## tester (Aug 13, 2009)

hi, i have this azur 640c to and is no mor working :-(.
If i put in a cd i hear nothing its only close the door but not rotate the cd.
it is the laser demaged?


thank u for help

greetz
oliver:thud:


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## rcarlton (Apr 29, 2006)

donhearl said:


> Dear Forum,
> 
> I know that I'm reviving an old thread, but I read the thread with great interest. I have a Azur 640C and I was experiencing a "grinding" noise last night after pushing the standby button (no CD in tray). I did not insert a CD until this evening and I received the "no disc" message. I opened the top and checked the gearing and everything appeared ok. I also ordered a new pickup, just in case.
> 
> ...


Sounds very much like the problem I had. The new laser pickup fixed it.

Ron


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## rcarlton (Apr 29, 2006)

tester said:


> hi, i have this azur 640c to and is no mor working :-(.
> If i put in a cd i hear nothing its only close the door but not rotate the cd.
> it is the laser demaged?
> 
> ...


Not sure. Mine spun a couple of times and gave me a No Disc message.

Ron


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## sjain2411 (Oct 31, 2009)

Hi Ron,

I have been looking for a place to help me change laser pick-up for my Sony MHC-555 which uses 213DH. Finally I landed here and got 213C from the local repair shop (that was the only available in 213 series). System worked perfectly fine after putting new laser but after a while things were back to where I started.

Problem with my system is it read disks intermittently. To elaborate further, as per my observation when you load disk to the tray it first rotates disk slowly and you can hear laser softly hitting the disk. The moment laser is able to read the disk, probably first track, the disk spins real fast and you hear a burst of laser hits to the disk. And finally disk stops spinning unless you press "Play" button.

Now in my case disk starts spinning with initial slow speed and laser hitting disk softly. But beyond that behavior is intermittent even after changing laser. At times it reads the disk and disk starts spinning real fast with loud laser burst heard, but fails on other instances on same disk and just keep spinning the disk at slow speed with soft laser hits unless you power cycle the system. I even burned new disk at 8x to ensure it is not the disk which is causing this behavior but to no avail.

Can you please suggest me a solution to this problem as I have already changes laser pick-up. Other components that one can suspect are disk motor and one switch that senses inner end of disk (it is a small switch with a long level where laser assembly hits as in old DMP printers to sense home position).

Thanks
Sanjay Jain


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## tester (Aug 13, 2009)

Hi , i get now the new laser but ,,,, if the dor close and the laser gose to start position , dosnt stop it and make noises :-/what can be wrong? software? some pins?`
please help me :-(


thanx


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## tester (Aug 13, 2009)

ok , i got it  it was only a pin brocken ... see picture :


http://oliver.si/IMG_0840.JPG


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## victorec (Sep 20, 2010)

Hello,
is anyone able to tell me what screwdriver and of what radius have u used to unlock the top cover of Cambridge Azur 640C?
Would you help me, please?


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## Ile (Nov 23, 2010)

Fixed my friends Azur by swapping new laser pickup, KSS-213C cost only 5.76 € here in Finland.
Much less than I was estimating...

Thanks for your tutorial!

Top cover screws are T6 (Torx), didn't had that small bit so I used normal 1.7 mm flat driver.


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## Goofpod (Sep 15, 2013)

Thanks so much for the easy fix, friend. This has been bugging me for months and I finally got around to fixing it today. Your tutorial was perfect. Now every disk is reading and... good tunes again! Appreciate the help. - Goof:yes:

NOW, if I could only figure out how to get that LCD display panel to brighten up. The version 1 unit doesn't have the bright button on the remote, or anywhere else. I KNOW it can be brighter because I've seen it happen once in a while but I can't figure out what triggered it- and it doesn't stick. Let me know if you have any ideas... :hissyfit:


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Welcome to HTS, Goofpod! Glad you found this thread helpful, good luck with the LCD display.


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## hunter2 (Dec 24, 2013)

Hello All,

Fantastic, resourceful and very friendly forum! Good Job! :T
I was searching Internet and came across to the fix for my problem (hopefully:daydream . Azur 640c slides back and forth, as soon as I place the CD in the tray.

Does anybody have post #14 pictures?

Thank you.
Aram


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## inztigator (Mar 27, 2014)

Hi there,

New here.

Just purchased an Azur 640C V2, second hand, 75 euros (about 100 bucks if I'm correct).

When I insert a CD, it either just opens up again, or gives an error ("door").

No warranty off course...

Anybody ? :huh::scratch:

Update : when I lift the part that sits on the lens with 2 screws (sorry, noobie), the CD starts playing so I guess I've found the problem. When I close it up again, it sits too tight on the lens so it doesn't play anymore...

Anybody with the same problem? Found a way to solve this?

Thx


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## Goofpod (Sep 15, 2013)

Dang! I last posted on this two years ago when I thought everything was fixed by way of this great thread. It turns out the fix only worked for a short time and then the dreaded Open --> Close --> Open nonsense started happening again, first sporadically and now pretty much all the time.

BUT! I found a wacky clue that does help resolve the issue during the event. If I lift the entire front of the deck about an inch (4cm) or so and let it drop (yes, drop hard!) the "Close" display will change, load the track info and the disc is ready for the Play button. From that point on it will play the disc normally until the next disc is inserted (or the door is opened for whatever reason). Then, the lift and drop is required again to get the loaded disc to be recognized. Seems like a mechanical issue with something not working until there's a downward force applied via the drop.

Ideas anyone????? :crying:

- Goof


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## Goofpod (Sep 15, 2013)

Old thread, still hoping to find an answer. Your issue problem sounds similar to my issue: "If I lift the entire front of the deck about an inch (4cm) or so and let it drop (yes, drop hard!) the "Close" display will change, load the track info and the disc is ready for the Play button. From that point on it will play the disc normally until the next disc is inserted (or the door is opened for whatever reason). Then, the lift and drop is required again to get the loaded disc to be recognized. Seems like a mechanical issue with something not working until there's a downward force applied via the drop."


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## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

What's the allure with the Azur? Haha - couldn't resist. :R
This thread has over 40K hits to date. Are people just interested in how others are fixing their units, or are there really that many people out there looking for advice on how to fix their own units but are too afraid to ask? Speculation anyone?


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## Goofpod (Sep 15, 2013)

Dunno how to answer your question, except the Azure deck is a great sounding unit. Very clean and neutral. I really want to get this thing working perfectly- as opposed to finding another product. Mine sounds great, it's just frustrating to replace the laser and still have it misreading disks. And, the temperamental LCD display that decides to be bright once in a while, but mostly not...! :crying:


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## Sevi01 (Jan 22, 2016)

Hello,

I am experiencing the same "Open --> Close --> Open" problem as described in previous posts. I would like to change the belt of the drawer mechanism but I am not sure about a) the exact size for a replacement belt and b) how to get to the belt as it is kind of hidden underneath the drawer.

Can anyone help? Thank you!


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## Rico248 (Jul 28, 2016)

@ Sevi01 Hi, I've just replaced my old cd tray belt in CA 840C (similar mechanism to 640C). I used new 25x1,5x1,5 mm (orginal one was a bit thicker but it doesent really matter I think) belt and cd works again like a charm. You will find the belt under cd tray when you open it on the left hand site. 

Ps.
Sorry for my bad english


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## The_Mentiaf (Oct 10, 2016)

Hi all,
I just got a Cambridge 640c and the front buttons are somewhat unresponsive. It can take several pushes before the stop button registers and stops for example. The same commands are instant via te remote. Any ideas what I could do to improve this? Clean inside behind the buttons perhaps? Is this a known issue?
Thanks!


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## Omega-ICT (Nov 26, 2017)

I dont know of anyone still read this post but... problem solved!
I turned the powerplug 180 degrees (fase and zero opposite) and the player works fine!!!!
Maybe this will also solve it for the frustrated audiolovers....


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## molotovkid (Apr 28, 2020)

I have a Cambridge Audio Azur 650c and have had it many years. Been very pleased with it all that time and it does the job.

Tonight I had half an hour of the cd draw opening fine, me loading a CD, the unit trying to read it, failing and then ejecting the CD. Eventually, I got it working by ejecting the cd draw, gently moving/shaking it from side to side and by some miracle it started reading CDs fine again. All very strange, but I'll take it rather than some repair job. 

?Good luck chaps...try the unusual, sometimes works !


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## Can-Am (May 16, 2020)

So the Azur 640C senses door tray closed when the tray hits the micro switch on the right. After puzzling why I could get the discs to spin up and get read by dropping the front of the player about an inch, realized my problem was mechanical. I found away to push the switch away from it resting place to let the tray actually hit it firmly instead of a gentle touch (at the end of its travel). Not sure how long the fix that I have puzzled over for years (and repeated reading of websites) will last but at least I did not have to try a risky disassembly. To nudge the top tip of the switch have to take cover off and operate open/close button with player powered up. Remember to cover laser when tray is out !!! The time we all have during pandemic stay-at-home has led to this fix. Yes, the usually blamed tray driving belt is doing its job of open and close. Thanks to ebolatone for the pictures and disassembly instructions (forced me to try a puzzle and poke method). Thanks also to the guy who discovered the "lift and drop the front of the player about an inch". Still love the sound the Cambridge Audio Azur 640C produces


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## Stuart001 (Jul 20, 2020)

Thanks. Your photo shows the disassembled motor with the two microswitches. Were you able to get to the microswitches without removing the drawer unit?


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## Tonjen (Feb 8, 2021)

I also have unresponsive buttons at the front. They need 3-4 times before they react. Any solutions for that issues?


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## Rambo4 (Jan 25, 2008)

Can-Am said:


> View attachment 174154
> 
> 
> So the Azur 640C senses door tray closed when the tray hits the micro switch on the right. After puzzling why I could get the discs to spin up and get read by dropping the front of the player about an inch, realized my problem was mechanical. I found away to push the switch away from it resting place to let the tray actually hit it firmly instead of a gentle touch (at the end of its travel). Not sure how long the fix that I have puzzled over for years (and repeated reading of websites) will last but at least I did not have to try a risky disassembly. To nudge the top tip of the switch have to take cover off and operate open/close button with player powered up. Remember to cover laser when tray is out !!! The time we all have during pandemic stay-at-home has led to this fix. Yes, the usually blamed tray driving belt is doing its job of open and close. Thanks to ebolatone for the pictures and disassembly instructions (forced me to try a puzzle and poke method). Thanks also to the guy who discovered the "lift and drop the front of the player about an inch". Still love the sound the Cambridge Audio Azur 640C produces


Great tips, unfortunately my issue wasn't the motor, but the clear plastic (tray switch/sensor) piece on far right, sheared off my assembly and now I am looking for this entire part. It may be proprietary to the player, which likely means I'm out of luck. Its still functioning for now I just have to adapt to a @3 second pause when the tray opens and then auto closes. Laser on its way for $8 so I won't be out a lot if this is kaput. I may contact a local dealer and see if such a thing exists to purchase without needing labor included.


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## Rambo4 (Jan 25, 2008)

Rambo4 said:


> Great tips, unfortunately my issue wasn't the motor, but the clear plastic (tray switch/sensor) piece on far right, sheared off my assembly and now I am looking for this entire part. It may be proprietary to the player, which likely means I'm out of luck. Its still functioning for now I just have to adapt to a @3 second pause when the tray opens and then auto closes. Laser on its way for $8 so I won't be out a lot if this is kaput. I may contact a local dealer and see if such a thing exists to purchase without needing labor included.


*Update: Laser arrived. Replacement quite easy (remember to remove the solder short on the new laser board first). Working like a dream. Still trying to source the tray switch, but it works fine for use, cd tray stays open for about 5 seconds enough time to switch out the cd and then closes on its own.*


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