Sony Playstation 1 for a CD player ???

You'll be surprised at how good the RCA interconnects made from the Wood's Patio cord from Walmart will sound. I made my first pair as described in Jeff Day's Six Moons article. The Switchcraft 3502A RCA connectors are very good and the Switchcraft 3502AAU Gold-plated, long body connectors are even better. Instead of using cheap Brass, Switchcraft uses a Copper-Sn alloy that's almost as good as Copper itself. They're very reasonably priced as Switchcraft mass produces them here in the U.S. They're designed for pro audio use and maintain a very strong grip. The Canare F-10 male RCA connectors are very good too.

The second pair I made, I stripped the white Vinyl jacket off the three AWG 16 conductors and made a tri-braided cable using the Switchcraft 3502A RCA connectors (similar to the Kimber PBJ). I used one conductor for the signal (+), and two for the ground (-). I was very careful to evenly braid the individual wires. I later compared these to more expensive cables I borrowed from friends including Kimber PBJ's, AudioQuest Diamondback's and Kimber KCAG's. The Kimber KCAG's won out as expected, but the tri-braided White Lightning Moonshine sounded as good as the Kimber PBJ's and trounced the more expensive AudioQuest Diamondback's. Compared to the original White Lightning Moonshine design, the tri-btraided cable was more extended and transparent.

I recommend that you put the interconnects through a long burn-in period before you make any judgments. Sending 2V or less line-level signals through these cables will not break these cables in quickly. However, once your interconnects are burned in, you'll be surprised just how balanced and detailed they sound from top to bottom.

As for the Walmart speaker cables, the best bargain dual banana plugs that work really well with the Walmart cable are the Neutrik NYS508. There's no soldering involved, as you only have to crimp on the connectors with set screws using a small screwdriver. Another good banana connector are the Homegrown Audio LOK Suregrip BFA connectors. These are similar to the Multicontact LS-4 connectors that Jeff Day recommends, but they don't require soldering.

I encourage you to check out Mick Feuerstein's Web pages on modiying the Playstation. Modding the Playstation really takes Red Book CD playback to another level. You'll really be able to take advantage of the Walmart cables then.

You can get PS1 for $5-$10, direct DAC -> RCA output parts $5-$10 plus a little soldering. For the price the sound can't be beat. The cost of mods should not exceed the cost of the player. Modifying $10 player with $500 parts and $200 "audiophile" power cords is just silly. If you are ready to spend $300-$500 buy yourself a MHZS CD player and do $10 modifications there.

Just received my PS1 (model 1001) purchased from Ebay. This thing does sound good. I'm using the supplied cheap RCA interconnects. Being too careful, I was reluctant to hook it up to my Cary Audio SLI-80 F1 tube integrated amp. So, I hooked it up to my Denon 1908 receiver. Wow! Right away there was a huge difference. I demonstrated to the wife - in a blind test - the PS1 vs PS3 and there was no contest. PS3 on by a technical knockout, lol. She was impressed. I'm going to let it undergo proper break-in for the next several hours before I experience it in my tube amp.

Planned upgrades: I'm not into mods, but I'll upgrade the power cord to PS Audio C7 or Furutech G-320Ag-18F8 power cable. Replace the cheap RCA interconnects with audiophile ones. I've read somewhere that upgrading the fuse also helps. I'm considering the Isoclean fuses. This should further improve this amazing CD player. To be honest, its made my Vinyl sound weak!

Heat wave, 103-104 last week. Used my PS1 outside while I played with my little one in her pool during peak temps without issue.
Don't think I will be buying a $200 power cord or $50 fuse for it. Wouldn't it make more sense to bypass the fuse and risk my initial $15 investment?

Just want to share my personal experience:

I’m running a SCPH-1001 with the dogbreath mod to the output stage with electrolytic DC blocking caps, upgraded RCA cables and a tube preamp buffer. For the power supply, I’ve replaced the stock unit with a good quality linear power supply. If I had to summarize the sound with one word, it would be “ridiculous.” This setup is better than my CD transport and DAC which if you include the upgraded power cables, coax cable, etc. rings up to around $1,100. That’s right, the 1st generation PS1 is besting an $1,100 transport/DAC setup at somewhere around a quarter the price including mods and the power supply. 

Now it doesn’t do everything better. The bass isn’t as crisp and the highs don’t have as much “sparkle.” Whereas the transport/DAC is capable of delivering a forceful punch in the bass department, the PS1 is more akin to a quick shove, but still impressive. What the PS1 does right is completely worth the slight trade offs. The mids are ever so impressive. Stringed instruments have a realism that I’ve not heard before. Horns sounds right. I think where the PS1 really shines is that instruments just sound realistic. It doesn’t have that hyper-realistic sound in the highs that so many digital setups try to reproduce but usually fail at miserably which causes listener fatigue and while it’s impressive for a short while, it leaves you thinking, “this isn’t what instruments actually sound like.” The PS1, especially with the mods and upgraded power supply, has the most analog sound I’ve ever heard out of a digital system.