Anyone tried the original Playstation 1 for CD?

Baranyi:

You owe your daughter a Playstation! That's wonderful that you discovered how good this little game console can be for CD playback. For improved sound, try a good shielded power cord with an IEC C7 female connector on the component end like the PS Audio XStream Power Punch cable, the Cardas Twinlink or the Furutech G-320Ag-18F8 C7 cable. The Furutech cable will need to be tested and marked for polarity. Jeff Day of Six Moons uses the Furutech power cable. We both agree that a good shielded power cable can have a tremendous positive effect on sound quality with the Playstation (improved dynamic range, better PRaT, more detail). I have had great success with the PS Audio cable, and I am sure that the Cardas cable is very good too.

I would also suggest using vibration isolation or resonance control feet like Isonodes or cones/spikes. I actually use three low cost 3M Bumpon hemispherical polyurethane feet, and the botton end became punchier and much better defined. These are similar to Isonodes with very good dampening properties. Many guys like to recase their Playstations, but the stock ABS plastic case with steel subchassis is extremely rigid. The feet will elevate the chassis more to allow for better cooling of the power supply area. Please share your audition notes as your Playstation is allowed to stay powered on continuously a few more days.

I will post my listening thoughts and so far I am really enjoying the player more than I thought possible. I will also buy one of the power cords mentioned. I am wondering if there is anyone who mods these things. I remember reading that a slight mod to the output stage really makes these things sing. Unfortunately, I have no technical capacity to do the electrical things you mentioned. I would love to find someone who could do this for me. I have the Playstation on Herbies tender feet. I would think that this should be sufficient. Yes, I do owe my daughter. My friend thinks it is so funny that I am using a $30.00 front end with the Stealth Indra which originally retailed at over 5K. Bob

The Playstation is very good! I bought my third one off ebay that has a new laser and the unit seems much more dynamic. I am still looking for someone to do the simple mods to the output that I have read make a large difference. Does anyone know of someone who could perform these mods? Bob

Bob:

I would hold off on pursuing modifications to the PS1 for now. Checking some of the threads on http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31123&highlight=, there is no one standard power supply design that works flawlessly. Additionally, there seems to be no consensus on which output modification works best. The most important issue with modifiying the Playstation 1 is: how much do you want to invest in modifying a CD player with a laser system that is not bullet-proof? I think the Playstation 1 Model SCPH-1001 is a wonderful sounding CD player, especially for the money, but the laser assembly isn't the most robust. That's why I have a couple spare units. If you don't mind replacing the laser system once it goes out, then go for the mods. To me, the best thing one can do to extract the most from a Playstation 1 is to buy a good, shielded power cord with an IEC C7 connector (e.g., PS Audio Power Punch C7, Cardas TwinLink C7, etc.), use some good isolation/vibration tweaks, and use high quality interconnect cables.

Rich

Rich,
Thanks for your comments. I have been listening to the Playstation quite a bit and have been enjoying it very much. At your suggestion, I purchased the PS audio power cord and it made a nice improvement. I also used Stealth Indras between the Playstation and my Supratek Chenin.
The Playstation is very resolving and I love how much information that I hear. The one item that I hope to improve upon is that the Playstation still sounds somewhat restricted from a musical color standpoint. I have another budget player (Toshiba 3990) which illustrates this point well. The Toshiba sounds more transparent but it does not have nearly the resolving abilities of the Playstation. The Toshiba also has much more vibrant tonal color with the music. If I could somehow marry the virtues of both players it would be amazing. This is why I would like to pursue someone to do mods on these players. Obviously, there wouldn't be 65 pages of posts in DIY audio if other didn't feel the same as me. Bob