Playstation as CD-player

Has anybody tried output transformers? I have a pair spare so may give that a whirl.

Secondly, if one has a DC blocking cap in the preamp, can you just omit the cap in the PS1 and just have the 22k resistor?

Thanks.

- John

Output transformers have been discussed further up this thread. If you have suitable transformers it is a "go for". (Have not tried it myself.)
 
Thanks - just starting to go through the thread from scratch again after dallying around with some other projects for a while.

If I leave out the DC blocking caps from the output of the mods (my pre-amp already has them installed - Quad 34 in this case) do I still need the resistor between positive/ground or not? Can't find any hard/fast confirmation of this in the thread (so far....!)

Many thanks,

- John
 
Found some Solen 3.3uF caps from a gutted pre-amp, and had some 22k metal film resistors in the parts box so installed these in the space between the metal cover, and the outer chassis, on the right hand side. Also installed some gold phonos at the back, also on the right hand side.

Worked first time thank goodness (been a while since I'd used it as a CD player) and sounds awsome! Will post some pics later.

:cloud9:
 
Here it is. Bought one of those translucent chassis. Decided to remove the lid as one thing less to vibrate and disturb the laser tracking. Drilled a few holes over the PSU for some added ventilation. Will have a stab at Mick's PSU at some point.

You can just see the solen caps on the right hand side, by the cd TOC switch.

Power is supplied by an old DPA 'the power' mains filter - seems to work extremely well on digital sources, though I never like using filters on amplifiers as they seem to squash the dynamics.

VERY happy with how it's sounding - thanks MickF and to all others here for such a fab project!

- John
 

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I replaced the stock diodes on the power supply at D101, D102, D103, D104 with Schottky 11DQ10 (1.1A) diodes. The fuse immediate blew when I powered up the PS1. Is it possible that I damaged the unit? Or did the fuse save me from further damage? I just made a purchase of four new FRED 600V 30A diodes from Digi-Key.
 
johnm-

Nice job on the mods. I like the translucent case too. Is your Playstation 1 a Model SCPH-550X?

2323-

Why are you replacing the stock diodes in the power supply? The stock diodes are fine. You can get improvements replacing the X2 film cap at the AC inlet with a good Wima MP3-X2 (0.1uF/275V in my PS1) and putting in some decent electrolytic caps like Panasonic FM and FC in the second stage filtering cap positions.
 
Cheers Richard! It's the SCHP-1002. Got two of them now. One to keep totally as stock, and the other (translucent one) to mod the heck out of. Think I got lucky they both seem to track anything I throw at them, including CD-Rs.

Not sure if this link has been posted, but there's some awsome PS1 madness going on on this site. Love the paint jobs:

http://tet-computerspezials.de/18.html

Cheers,

- John
 
Tolu,

That's really interesting, because I've modded several Playstations, Model SCPH-1001 and Model SCPH-5501, and everyone who has heard the units has commented that the modified units provide greater clarity and detail, and extended frequency response and a larger soundstage. Those are my personal observations as well.
 
PLAYSTATION as CD player

For output stage I use a 47Ohm resistor in serie a 22µF BG NX bp and an
output transformer 1:2
Capacitor on the Vref may be 22µF( or more) instead of 10µF.
Without output trafo ( less bas-sound ) 47 Ohm in series with a 22µF
and a 100KOhm resistor to ground. ( 47 Ohm resistor to isolate RF because
the output loads wire act as antennas )
 
Sorry, I think I did a little mistake.

I have two PS1 and one was modded with the output stage mod from Mick F. but without HPF. But I removed only 4 caps and not 6 so the Multi AV is still working. So, these two outputs of the PS1 are sounding almost the same. Today I compared the unmodded PS1 Multi-AV-out with the modded one and there are differences. The modded one has more details and refinement and the unmodded sounds darker but not bad at all. A big difference is between the Multi-AV-out and the cinch out of the unmodded one. The multi-AV out wins by far.

So, I am thinking about further steps. I recon that I can omit the HPF because my pre and my power amp has one.

The power supply is a nichicon. What mod is audible for this power supply?
 
I did the output stage job already.

What would you say. How much percent increases sound quality with modifying the power supply (and what kind of mod!)?

I'd like to know the same thing. What caps do you have to change and to what? There's pictures where in the case is big blocks upper the power supply. What's inside of them, big caps?

Here's an example of what I mean.

http://tet-computerspezials.de/resources/PSL022.jpg

I'd like to know more about that power supply mod. Thanks.
 
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Hi,
I am not sure if this is the right forum, but I have a couple of modded SCPH-1002 PlayStations for sale. The mods do not include power supply ( I made this mod on an early model and heard no difference), but they do include the direct drive from the DAC to the phono connectors via the filter and the tuning of laser, as documented on the dogbreath site.
If anyone is interested there is a full description at
Upgraded Sony Audiophile SCPH-1002 CD Player on eBay (end time 18-Oct-09 17:41:35 BST)

George