Re: Re: Re: Re: History of playstation - early adoptors
No, Sir.
http://www.musicconnection.de/pdf/dynastation_GB.pdf
Technical Details of the DynaStation
- Drive: PSone
...
Thomas
jives11 said:
No, Sir.
http://www.musicconnection.de/pdf/dynastation_GB.pdf
Technical Details of the DynaStation
- Drive: PSone
...
Thomas
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: History of playstation - early adoptors
OK fair enough. They do state that it is based on a PSone.
thokra2003 said:
OK fair enough. They do state that it is based on a PSone.
Lotsa reply here!
Thomas, first, I suggest that we stop the 'tastes great / less filling' style of discussion about whether your opinion or my opinion is correct. In your opinion (paraphrased by me), the Playstation unmodified is a very good CD player and modifications are not needed. In my opinion, the Playstation is a competent and promising CD player that is a great platform for mods that bring out it's strengths. You've trotted out all sorts of evidence to support your opinion... And I've trotted out evidence to support mine. But they remain our own opinions, which can't be proven right or wrong. That line of discussion is not advancing this thread, the state of Playstation, or DIYAudio. On that, I'm done.
I would appreciate the same courtesy! 🙂
I define a 'tweak' as a non-permanent addition (or subtraction) to (from) a piece of audio gear that is intended to 'improve' the sound of said gear. Vibration-absorbing feet or innertubes, various interconnect, speaker, and powerline cables, CD damping mats, weights on the chassis, powerline filters are all examples of what I'd define as a 'tweak'.
I define a modification as a permanent or semi-permanent (reversable) addition (or subtraction) to (from) a piece of audio gear. A modification may or may not be intended to 'improve' the sound of said gear and may be for another reason entirely (convenience, utility, etc.). I define replacement of parts as a sub-category of modifications.
I have used these terms interchangeably in this thread, but in my definition, they are two distinct entities.
It is clear that the PSOne used in a Dynastation is modified... It does not appear to be inside the original case (based on observation of the pictures of the finished product) and the output is not run through the stock connectors and cable to get to the tube stage. I also strongly suspect the PSOne SMPS wallwart is not used. Thomas, do you have some insight on what power supply is used to power the Dynastation's PSOne?
Another thing I don't know, but suspect, is that the mounting of the PSOne in the Dynastation's case is done in a way to provide some sonically beneficial vibration reduction/isolation.
I don't know if Musicconnection's intention for these modifications is to improve the basic PSOne unit's sound. But my experience, both in doing things like this to other pieces of gear, and in the work I've done with the PS-1, is that these mods will make a profound improvement in the unit's sound, especially if the SMPS is replaced with a competent linear supply.
And of course, their secondary intention for these modifications are to allow it to be packaged with and use their tube output stage, which by their admission, is intended to make the unit sound good.
Technically I'd agree with Thomas that it's correct to say the Dynastation's PSOne is not tweaked... But it is darned sure modified... and those modifications, even without the serious tube output stage (I love that idea!), are gonna make a significant difference in the unit's sound, likely for the better!
And I'd agree with Thomas that the Dynastation is really an entirely new piece of gear... But then, my 'Franken-Station' is that too. Sounds like one too!
To some extent, this is a matter of semantics.
Greg in Minneapolis
Thomas, first, I suggest that we stop the 'tastes great / less filling' style of discussion about whether your opinion or my opinion is correct. In your opinion (paraphrased by me), the Playstation unmodified is a very good CD player and modifications are not needed. In my opinion, the Playstation is a competent and promising CD player that is a great platform for mods that bring out it's strengths. You've trotted out all sorts of evidence to support your opinion... And I've trotted out evidence to support mine. But they remain our own opinions, which can't be proven right or wrong. That line of discussion is not advancing this thread, the state of Playstation, or DIYAudio. On that, I'm done.
Greg Stewart said:
thokra2003 said:
I would appreciate the same courtesy! 🙂
thokra2003 said:
jives11 said:
thokra2003 said:
jives11 said:
thokra2003 said:
jives11 said:
thokra2003 said:
I define a 'tweak' as a non-permanent addition (or subtraction) to (from) a piece of audio gear that is intended to 'improve' the sound of said gear. Vibration-absorbing feet or innertubes, various interconnect, speaker, and powerline cables, CD damping mats, weights on the chassis, powerline filters are all examples of what I'd define as a 'tweak'.
I define a modification as a permanent or semi-permanent (reversable) addition (or subtraction) to (from) a piece of audio gear. A modification may or may not be intended to 'improve' the sound of said gear and may be for another reason entirely (convenience, utility, etc.). I define replacement of parts as a sub-category of modifications.
I have used these terms interchangeably in this thread, but in my definition, they are two distinct entities.
It is clear that the PSOne used in a Dynastation is modified... It does not appear to be inside the original case (based on observation of the pictures of the finished product) and the output is not run through the stock connectors and cable to get to the tube stage. I also strongly suspect the PSOne SMPS wallwart is not used. Thomas, do you have some insight on what power supply is used to power the Dynastation's PSOne?
Another thing I don't know, but suspect, is that the mounting of the PSOne in the Dynastation's case is done in a way to provide some sonically beneficial vibration reduction/isolation.
I don't know if Musicconnection's intention for these modifications is to improve the basic PSOne unit's sound. But my experience, both in doing things like this to other pieces of gear, and in the work I've done with the PS-1, is that these mods will make a profound improvement in the unit's sound, especially if the SMPS is replaced with a competent linear supply.
And of course, their secondary intention for these modifications are to allow it to be packaged with and use their tube output stage, which by their admission, is intended to make the unit sound good.
Technically I'd agree with Thomas that it's correct to say the Dynastation's PSOne is not tweaked... But it is darned sure modified... and those modifications, even without the serious tube output stage (I love that idea!), are gonna make a significant difference in the unit's sound, likely for the better!
And I'd agree with Thomas that the Dynastation is really an entirely new piece of gear... But then, my 'Franken-Station' is that too. Sounds like one too!
thokra2003 said:
To some extent, this is a matter of semantics.
Greg in Minneapolis
More lotsa reply!
Thanks for noticing, Floric! 😉
Sorry, I have hard-wired cables in my system, so I don't do any comparisons there and really don't have any recommendations.
I totally agree that the PS-1's sound very 'analog-ish'... And that's a large part of the charm of them for me too.
Three other player's I've used a lot have done this also... The Ah! Tjoeb, the Njoe Tjoeb, and a highly modified (and somewhat tweaked!) Magnavox CDB-650 I used for many years. Oh, I modified the Tjoebs too!
But the thing that has really drawn me to the PS-1 and my Franken-Station is the revealing of subtle details that I don't hear with other CDPs.
Hmmm... That's worth following up on and easy to try. OTOH, the cable I use between my franken-playstation and amp is pretty high capacitance, likely approaching this value!
Hmmm... I'm sure at least 20 horsepower should be used to run your car... But I bet it's a lot more fun to drive with 250!
Seriously, I am sure this is a minimum requirement, not a recommended value. The value needed is going to depend on how low of a cutoff you want and what value resistance it is terminated into. As others have noted, the stock PS-1 uses a 10uf and that works well. Most pieces I've had that used output coupling caps have had values in the 1uf to 10uf range... And 4uf to 10uf gave the best bass.
Totally agree... And that's always such a tradeoff... Add a buffer for better impedence-matching, remove it for better sound... What to do? If I have to have a buffer, I do like the Musicconnection philosophy of a supremely overbuilt output stage that is designed to add and subtract little to and from the sound... And have what little is added/subtracted sounds good.
Quite a bit I'd like to hope... And not a valid measure here. I modify and tweak for the fun of it... Not as an end in itself, but to get better sound out of my gear. My other hobby is model airplanes... And I like both building and flying, just like I like both building and listening to my audio gear.
Amps = either a highly modified Counterpoint SA-12 hybrid tube/transistor amp or a Alta-Vista Audio NP-220 (rebuilt Counterpoint SA-20 hybrid amp) (www.altavistaaudio.com)
Speakers = Eminent Technology LFT-VI push-pull planar magnetic/ribbon speakers (www.eminent-tech.com). Of course, modified and tweaked!
Room = rougnly 18' x 24' livingroom/diningroom combo, standard US 8' ceilings, hardwood floors with area rugs, some minor reflection/resonance control.
I find natural presentation and pace very important and want to hear the subtle details and textures of the instruments while also hearing the overall gestalt of the musical experience. I am very sensitive to inner timing in the cable and speakers... Many of my previous speakers have been full-range electrostatics... And I must have time-aligned and phase-coherent speakers for long-term listening.
Yours?
Really not much. With my working schedule this week, I'm lucky to listen to a couple CD's when I get home each night.
I did change out the initial coupling caps I used (2nd-generation TRT Wonder Caps, the white w/green ends version) to 4th generation TRT Dynamicaps. Definitely an improvement... Both types of caps increased the overall smoothness and lack of hash in the high-frequencies over the original electrolytics, but the Dynamicaps are more dynamic (duh!) and transparent.
Greg in Minneapolis
Floric said:
Thanks for noticing, Floric! 😉
Floric said:
Sorry, I have hard-wired cables in my system, so I don't do any comparisons there and really don't have any recommendations.
Floric said:
phn said:
I totally agree that the PS-1's sound very 'analog-ish'... And that's a large part of the charm of them for me too.
Three other player's I've used a lot have done this also... The Ah! Tjoeb, the Njoe Tjoeb, and a highly modified (and somewhat tweaked!) Magnavox CDB-650 I used for many years. Oh, I modified the Tjoebs too!
But the thing that has really drawn me to the PS-1 and my Franken-Station is the revealing of subtle details that I don't hear with other CDPs.
jives11 said:
Hmmm... That's worth following up on and easy to try. OTOH, the cable I use between my franken-playstation and amp is pretty high capacitance, likely approaching this value!
ttrentt said:
Hmmm... I'm sure at least 20 horsepower should be used to run your car... But I bet it's a lot more fun to drive with 250!
Seriously, I am sure this is a minimum requirement, not a recommended value. The value needed is going to depend on how low of a cutoff you want and what value resistance it is terminated into. As others have noted, the stock PS-1 uses a 10uf and that works well. Most pieces I've had that used output coupling caps have had values in the 1uf to 10uf range... And 4uf to 10uf gave the best bass.
thokra2003 said:
Totally agree... And that's always such a tradeoff... Add a buffer for better impedence-matching, remove it for better sound... What to do? If I have to have a buffer, I do like the Musicconnection philosophy of a supremely overbuilt output stage that is designed to add and subtract little to and from the sound... And have what little is added/subtracted sounds good.
thokra2003 said:
Quite a bit I'd like to hope... And not a valid measure here. I modify and tweak for the fun of it... Not as an end in itself, but to get better sound out of my gear. My other hobby is model airplanes... And I like both building and flying, just like I like both building and listening to my audio gear.
thokra2003 said:
Amps = either a highly modified Counterpoint SA-12 hybrid tube/transistor amp or a Alta-Vista Audio NP-220 (rebuilt Counterpoint SA-20 hybrid amp) (www.altavistaaudio.com)
Speakers = Eminent Technology LFT-VI push-pull planar magnetic/ribbon speakers (www.eminent-tech.com). Of course, modified and tweaked!
Room = rougnly 18' x 24' livingroom/diningroom combo, standard US 8' ceilings, hardwood floors with area rugs, some minor reflection/resonance control.
I find natural presentation and pace very important and want to hear the subtle details and textures of the instruments while also hearing the overall gestalt of the musical experience. I am very sensitive to inner timing in the cable and speakers... Many of my previous speakers have been full-range electrostatics... And I must have time-aligned and phase-coherent speakers for long-term listening.
Yours?
thokra2003 said:
Really not much. With my working schedule this week, I'm lucky to listen to a couple CD's when I get home each night.
I did change out the initial coupling caps I used (2nd-generation TRT Wonder Caps, the white w/green ends version) to 4th generation TRT Dynamicaps. Definitely an improvement... Both types of caps increased the overall smoothness and lack of hash in the high-frequencies over the original electrolytics, but the Dynamicaps are more dynamic (duh!) and transparent.
Greg in Minneapolis
Another great German PS-1 Mod site
I forget who posted this website in this thread originally, but I finally saw it and went to it today:
www.highend-info.de/html/netzteil.html
Another great German Playstation Mod site! I may have to learn German so I can read them without the aid of translation sites.
Interesting section he has on modifying the SMPS.
Greg in Minneapolis
I forget who posted this website in this thread originally, but I finally saw it and went to it today:
www.highend-info.de/html/netzteil.html
Another great German Playstation Mod site! I may have to learn German so I can read them without the aid of translation sites.
Interesting section he has on modifying the SMPS.
Greg in Minneapolis
Re: More lotsa reply!
Hi Greg, my coment about the 250pF low pass filter caps on the outputs. If you follow the Mick_F mod these get bypassed along the way. Before Mick figured that elegant solution we were bypassing and removing things one-by-one. I had a DC blocker cap bridging the 2 sets of caps near the DAC (look at some earlier posts). I also followed Dragonmasters mute transistor removal. At this point I still had the 250pF caps in cicuit along with the "mystery object" which it turns out is connected with summing a mono signal if you connect to a TV. Anyhow at this point I think the sound was pretty good, the compression during loud passages was gone BUT there was still the top end warmth.
Now at the risk of sounding like the boy in "the emperors new suit of clothes' story (H.C. Anderson), I wonder if 'some' of the mysterious analogue quality comes down to a moderate treble slope ? a contentious view certainly, but I have a QUAD preamp which has some subtle filters (slope controls) It's certainly possible to warm up CD sound with this and I often rolloff -5Db at 15K. I took the full Mick_ mod route as I can rolloff in the preamp, so would rather have the option to do it there, than have it done for me upstream.
Greg Stewart said:
Hi Greg, my coment about the 250pF low pass filter caps on the outputs. If you follow the Mick_F mod these get bypassed along the way. Before Mick figured that elegant solution we were bypassing and removing things one-by-one. I had a DC blocker cap bridging the 2 sets of caps near the DAC (look at some earlier posts). I also followed Dragonmasters mute transistor removal. At this point I still had the 250pF caps in cicuit along with the "mystery object" which it turns out is connected with summing a mono signal if you connect to a TV. Anyhow at this point I think the sound was pretty good, the compression during loud passages was gone BUT there was still the top end warmth.
Now at the risk of sounding like the boy in "the emperors new suit of clothes' story (H.C. Anderson), I wonder if 'some' of the mysterious analogue quality comes down to a moderate treble slope ? a contentious view certainly, but I have a QUAD preamp which has some subtle filters (slope controls) It's certainly possible to warm up CD sound with this and I often rolloff -5Db at 15K. I took the full Mick_ mod route as I can rolloff in the preamp, so would rather have the option to do it there, than have it done for me upstream.
Re: More lotsa reply!
I am currently using 1uF WIMAs. I would like to try 4-5uF, but keeping this cheap, I would rather string more of the WIMA's together (which I have 6 more of). Would it be odd to connect 3 more 1uF WIMA's end to end (series i suppose) to get up to 4uF? Would this be acceptable or not since they will discharge at different rates?
Greg Stewart said:
I am currently using 1uF WIMAs. I would like to try 4-5uF, but keeping this cheap, I would rather string more of the WIMA's together (which I have 6 more of). Would it be odd to connect 3 more 1uF WIMA's end to end (series i suppose) to get up to 4uF? Would this be acceptable or not since they will discharge at different rates?
Re: Re: More lotsa reply!
Go parallel to use multiple caps to increase capacitance, not series.
Greg in Minneapolis
P.S. And it's an ok thing to do, sonically.
ttrentt said:
Go parallel to use multiple caps to increase capacitance, not series.
Greg in Minneapolis
P.S. And it's an ok thing to do, sonically.
I just wanted to let you know that I am still alive. I dont know why, but I didnt receive any reply-to-post emails until today.
Mick
Mick
Yaaayyhhh!
Mick is back.
We have missed you here man while questions and controversys raged.
Hey, we need the rest of your website up! The Playstation is the hot topic and you are one of the reasons!
Greg in Minneapolis 😀
Mick is back.
We have missed you here man while questions and controversys raged.
Hey, we need the rest of your website up! The Playstation is the hot topic and you are one of the reasons!
Greg in Minneapolis 😀
Re: Re: Re: More lotsa reply!
I did this, making 3uF of WIMA caps and i did not notice a difference. I tried to search for an answer, but I do not follow your analogy earlier about 20hp/250hp vs smaller/larger caps. I do understand what difference larger caps make, as long as the cap/resister combo high pass network has a low cutoff frequency.
ttt
Greg Stewart said:
I did this, making 3uF of WIMA caps and i did not notice a difference. I tried to search for an answer, but I do not follow your analogy earlier about 20hp/250hp vs smaller/larger caps. I do understand what difference larger caps make, as long as the cap/resister combo high pass network has a low cutoff frequency.
ttt
Re: Re: Re: Re: More lotsa reply!
First, to be clear, to make a larger value capacitor out of several smaller ones, you connect them in parallel... all the leads from one side of each of the caps together, all the leads from the other side together. When you connect them in series as you said in a previous post, the capacitance value is reduced.
Second, my 20hp/250hp analogy for larger or smaller caps was in response to your comment:
The data sheet is saying exactly what it says... at least a 1uf cap. But that is a minimum recommendation. What actual value cap you want to use will be based on the LF cutoff you want. And you plug the LF cutoff you want plus the load impedence into the formula (on Mick F's website) to get the actual cap value.
But what cutoff frequency you want to use is not a simple matter. Looking at it very simply, you'd think you could use a cutoff just at or below that of your speaker's cutoff. But then they add, so your total rolloff is higher in frequency than you thought.
So then you choose a frequency a bit below your speaker's cutoff... say your speakers go down to 40hz, so you pick 20hz. But then the phase shift caused by the 20hz rolloff will still be measurable at the 40hz of your speakers cutoff, so it is likely affecting the bass quality you get.
In my experience, the simplest way to make sure that you avoid the above problems and others I won't go into here is to go pretty low in cutoff frequency... 5hz or below. Since most consumer audio gear has an input impedence of 10Kohms to 100kohms, 3uf is about the minimum I recommend to cover all bases... and I think 5uf to the original Playstation 10uf is the best choice (but that is definitely my opinion).
Honestly, I think you are best off using the largest cap you can above 3uf as long as the quality of the cap does not suffer... I think it's better to use a good quality 3uf film cap instead of a middling quality 20uf electrolytic cap, but if you have a good quality 20uf film cap and can fit it in and implementing it doesn't compromise it's sound, use it.
So just like your car could be driven with 20hp, but will work better with something more like 150hp - 250hp, you could use a 1uf cap at the output, but then it'll work well only into a limited set of situations. Something larger... like 3uf to 10uf will allow it to work well in just about every situation with consumer-grade audio gear.
And don't forget what I mentioned in a post a few back... that the resistance at the output of the Playstation is in parallel with that at the input of the next stage, so if you use 22K (like Mick F did) and the next stage has a 10K input, your effective input inpedence is really only 6.875K.
I hope I'm a bit clearer here.
Greg in Minneapolis
ttrentt said:
First, to be clear, to make a larger value capacitor out of several smaller ones, you connect them in parallel... all the leads from one side of each of the caps together, all the leads from the other side together. When you connect them in series as you said in a previous post, the capacitance value is reduced.
Second, my 20hp/250hp analogy for larger or smaller caps was in response to your comment:
ttrentt said:
The data sheet is saying exactly what it says... at least a 1uf cap. But that is a minimum recommendation. What actual value cap you want to use will be based on the LF cutoff you want. And you plug the LF cutoff you want plus the load impedence into the formula (on Mick F's website) to get the actual cap value.
But what cutoff frequency you want to use is not a simple matter. Looking at it very simply, you'd think you could use a cutoff just at or below that of your speaker's cutoff. But then they add, so your total rolloff is higher in frequency than you thought.
So then you choose a frequency a bit below your speaker's cutoff... say your speakers go down to 40hz, so you pick 20hz. But then the phase shift caused by the 20hz rolloff will still be measurable at the 40hz of your speakers cutoff, so it is likely affecting the bass quality you get.
In my experience, the simplest way to make sure that you avoid the above problems and others I won't go into here is to go pretty low in cutoff frequency... 5hz or below. Since most consumer audio gear has an input impedence of 10Kohms to 100kohms, 3uf is about the minimum I recommend to cover all bases... and I think 5uf to the original Playstation 10uf is the best choice (but that is definitely my opinion).
Honestly, I think you are best off using the largest cap you can above 3uf as long as the quality of the cap does not suffer... I think it's better to use a good quality 3uf film cap instead of a middling quality 20uf electrolytic cap, but if you have a good quality 20uf film cap and can fit it in and implementing it doesn't compromise it's sound, use it.
So just like your car could be driven with 20hp, but will work better with something more like 150hp - 250hp, you could use a 1uf cap at the output, but then it'll work well only into a limited set of situations. Something larger... like 3uf to 10uf will allow it to work well in just about every situation with consumer-grade audio gear.
And don't forget what I mentioned in a post a few back... that the resistance at the output of the Playstation is in parallel with that at the input of the next stage, so if you use 22K (like Mick F did) and the next stage has a 10K input, your effective input inpedence is really only 6.875K.
I hope I'm a bit clearer here.
Greg in Minneapolis
Re: Re: More lotsa reply!
To my ear, the analog-ness of the sound is due to the low-level detail resolution, lack of hash in the high-frequencies, and lack of background noise and hash. One can put in a rolloff with an appropriately-sized cap across the output of the PS to make it sound a bit more like a some records, but without those other qualities, it would not be analog-like to me.
I've bypassed all the output circuitry in the unit too, so I don't have the 250pf in mine anymore. I will certainly play a bit with some rolloff... but in my system and to my ears, the high-frequencies are well-balanced and not accentuated, but fairly flat-sounding. So I'm not hearing a need for a rolloff in my system.
I'm very much a 'purist' with my system, elminating any stage, wire, or contact that doesn't serve a necessary purpose. I'd only put a capacitor in to cause a rolloff if the highs were accentuated.
Greg in Minneapolis
jives11 said:
To my ear, the analog-ness of the sound is due to the low-level detail resolution, lack of hash in the high-frequencies, and lack of background noise and hash. One can put in a rolloff with an appropriately-sized cap across the output of the PS to make it sound a bit more like a some records, but without those other qualities, it would not be analog-like to me.
I've bypassed all the output circuitry in the unit too, so I don't have the 250pf in mine anymore. I will certainly play a bit with some rolloff... but in my system and to my ears, the high-frequencies are well-balanced and not accentuated, but fairly flat-sounding. So I'm not hearing a need for a rolloff in my system.
I'm very much a 'purist' with my system, elminating any stage, wire, or contact that doesn't serve a necessary purpose. I'd only put a capacitor in to cause a rolloff if the highs were accentuated.
Greg in Minneapolis
Greg, I am also happy to see that the PS is attracting increasing interest. It really pays off that I have written my website in English instead of German, as now the knowledge on this little gem is spread from Germany to the rest of the world.
I hope to put some more things on my website soon. Next will be a documentation on recasing the power supply. I am also working on a rev. 2 of my output-stage mod.
It may take a little more time, since i spend all my spare time in the darkroom. I have a photography exhibition in April and I am currently absorbed by printing work.
All the best,
Mick
I hope to put some more things on my website soon. Next will be a documentation on recasing the power supply. I am also working on a rev. 2 of my output-stage mod.
It may take a little more time, since i spend all my spare time in the darkroom. I have a photography exhibition in April and I am currently absorbed by printing work.
All the best,
Mick
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: More lotsa reply!
I did connect them in parrallel like you said earlier and than you for the detailed explanation about the caps/resistors. With the 1uF cap and 22K resistor I was around 7HZ. Adding the other two caps making 3uF pushes me down to ~2HZ.
Maybe I will keep my eye out for some larger caps still.
Greg Stewart said:
I did connect them in parrallel like you said earlier and than you for the detailed explanation about the caps/resistors. With the 1uF cap and 22K resistor I was around 7HZ. Adding the other two caps making 3uF pushes me down to ~2HZ.
Maybe I will keep my eye out for some larger caps still.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: More lotsa reply!
I'm not clear from your message... did you take into account the input impedence of the next stage too? If not, your LF cutoff is anywer from a little higher to twice as high.
Greg in Minneapolis
ttrentt said:
I'm not clear from your message... did you take into account the input impedence of the next stage too? If not, your LF cutoff is anywer from a little higher to twice as high.
Greg in Minneapolis
Re: Lotsa reply here!
Not as clear as water, Greg.
I my opinion modifications of the Playstation can be fine, but they are not a must-have. The stock Playstation SCPH-100x is a brilliant CD player furthermore. You already named the unique skills of this little gem.
100% agreed, if you add a modification of circuitry as a sub-category of modifications, too.
Mike Elliott of Alta Vista Audio says that very little of the money given to the retailer is spent on the the parts that actually handle the signal. This is the main reason for all kinds of modifications IMHO. The second main reason is technical progress.
Counterwise I'd like to avoid any pricey tweaks - the benefits of powerline cables thick like water pipes for example are highly questionable - different approaches showed that there is a great divide between claimed benefits and reality. Hence I agree to your trial-and-error approach. As I posted recently IMHO too much retailers are dedicated to (pricey) tweaking.
Agreed, with the exception of your conclusions concerning the power supply.
First I thought that music connection converted the power supply to a linear supply. But they didn't:
The PSU used within the dynastation is the standard wall power supply of the PSOne (Is it really SMPS?). No modifications at all !
The power supply of the SCPH-1002 is 100% SMPS and I suspect that it is SOTA to date.
The casework seems to be a product of trial and error, in addition it has to match the so-called steam engine design of music connection.
The tube stage is - in a word - great !
Sincerely,
Thomas in Dortmund
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/de/d/s/dortmund.html
P.S.:
Great contest, I highly appreciate it 🙂
Greg Stewart said:
Not as clear as water, Greg.
Greg Stewart said:
I my opinion modifications of the Playstation can be fine, but they are not a must-have. The stock Playstation SCPH-100x is a brilliant CD player furthermore. You already named the unique skills of this little gem.
Greg Stewart said:
100% agreed, if you add a modification of circuitry as a sub-category of modifications, too.
Mike Elliott of Alta Vista Audio says that very little of the money given to the retailer is spent on the the parts that actually handle the signal. This is the main reason for all kinds of modifications IMHO. The second main reason is technical progress.
Counterwise I'd like to avoid any pricey tweaks - the benefits of powerline cables thick like water pipes for example are highly questionable - different approaches showed that there is a great divide between claimed benefits and reality. Hence I agree to your trial-and-error approach. As I posted recently IMHO too much retailers are dedicated to (pricey) tweaking.
Greg Stewart said:
Agreed, with the exception of your conclusions concerning the power supply.
First I thought that music connection converted the power supply to a linear supply. But they didn't:
The PSU used within the dynastation is the standard wall power supply of the PSOne (Is it really SMPS?). No modifications at all !
The power supply of the SCPH-1002 is 100% SMPS and I suspect that it is SOTA to date.
The casework seems to be a product of trial and error, in addition it has to match the so-called steam engine design of music connection.
The tube stage is - in a word - great !
Sincerely,
Thomas in Dortmund
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/de/d/s/dortmund.html
P.S.:
Great contest, I highly appreciate it 🙂
Sorry to say but I don't understand the meaning of this statement of yours ... keep in mind, please, that I am not a native speaker.Greg Stewart said:
Re: More lotsa reply!
Hi Greg,
I got two totally different rooms. My study is crowded with books, equipment, files and papers of all kinds and thus heavily damped: roughly 12' x 14' with classic JBL 4311B speakers. Our family's livingroom is hardly damped, got standard ceiling, floor w/ parquet and ALO pictures and a large window: roughly 34' x 12' with Triangle Scalene speakers in near-field arrangement.
Amps: AMC 3030a, Arcam Delta series, ALO classic and recent stuff, partly of friends and retailers (Cayin EL34PP, Acoustic Masterpiece SRPP Pre and KT88SET and so on)
Sources: Playstation (CD), Thorens (LP), Tuners (too much)
BTW I really love the ESL-55 and ESL-63 speakers, but have to admit that the small listening zone is annoying.
Thomas
Greg Stewart said:
Hi Greg,
I got two totally different rooms. My study is crowded with books, equipment, files and papers of all kinds and thus heavily damped: roughly 12' x 14' with classic JBL 4311B speakers. Our family's livingroom is hardly damped, got standard ceiling, floor w/ parquet and ALO pictures and a large window: roughly 34' x 12' with Triangle Scalene speakers in near-field arrangement.
Amps: AMC 3030a, Arcam Delta series, ALO classic and recent stuff, partly of friends and retailers (Cayin EL34PP, Acoustic Masterpiece SRPP Pre and KT88SET and so on)
Sources: Playstation (CD), Thorens (LP), Tuners (too much)
BTW I really love the ESL-55 and ESL-63 speakers, but have to admit that the small listening zone is annoying.
Thomas