[chadbang]

My PS1 "audiophile" CD player arrived today. I have to say it got off to a shakey start. At first I couldn't get it to play. Then, after a little cleaning and some slight "jarring," ahem, it began to play. Everyone is right about burn it. It sounded like absolute crap for the first hour. All glassy midrange. But I have to say, I don't think 3 days of burn-in is necessary, either. About two hours later the highs and lows started filling out. And IT SOUNDED GREAT! I was going from the PS1 into my Airhead into my Senn 600s. Very nice clean midrange which sounded fantastic with female vocals and acoustic instruments - from sax to horns. I was listening to "Bjorkestra Enjoy" and I have to say it was a pretty stunning listen .. .while it lasted. The PS1 started dropping out to the point where it was just annoying. Unlistenable. So I tried to open it up and adjust the laser intensity per this page. http://dogbreath.de/PS1/LaserAlignment/Laser.html
Sadly, I got frustrated and started thinking about just replacing the whole laser mechanism (costs about $16 bucks), But the lead socket tore off the motherboard and it was over for this little PS1 (at $20 bucks I wasn't weeping). Luckily I have another on its way to me in the mail (I ordered two thinking this scenerio might occur).

But the good/great news is that for that brief shinning moment (about two hours) the PS1 one sounded very, very good. Very smooth and natural. I must report that in my opinion, the quality of the PS1 isn't a hoax, but a very real thing with a very clean natural midrange and soundstage. For awhile there, I heard some of the best soundstaging I ever heard out of my Senns, no kidding. It's a shame I didn't get to hear it in my home system, but this whole listening experience transpired at work. Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed #2 is a little further away from the graveyard than my first foray. Long live the PS1. A really nice sounding spinner.

 

[NajoBB]

.........oh, what a hell....long live PS1!

PS: If i manage to find mine under all those boxes ecc, ill definitely try it too.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

I have one that I was going to try but I don't have a controller. Does it have to be hooked up to a TV?

 

[matt_510]

few years ago I got one at game stop brand new for $20 (yes the correct older model)

its not a bad player no giant killer though.

ran the ps1 into my M3, I would say it sounds worse than my DiyMod feeding the M3. cans were senn HD-650's

edit: I may have to sit down and compare again, since its been a while.

 

[chadbang]

I got my second one yesterday and I've hooked it into my home system, which terminate in a pair of KEF 103.2 speakers -- pretty revealing speakers. I've been A/Bing with my Carver CD player. I have to say I'm slightly preferring the Playstation at this point. The soundstage is a bit more withdrawn with the Playstation, which I like and vocal are a bit fuller on the PS1. I'm gonna wait two more days of warming up before I make my final call, however.

 

[GreatDane]

My old PS1 sat in a closet for years until I found out that there were suckers out there and sold mine for $100.


Just kidding.

I gave mine a shot before selling it here for a fair price. It is mostly a novelty IMO. For $15~$20 it's a fine deal but I'm not buying the hype.

 

[chadbang]

I dunno. Today is 2 days of full burn in and I went at it again. Now the Playstation has some rolled off highs (which I often prefer) which translates into a little less ambient detail, but it's midrange is fantastic with vocals. I put on my wife's (yuck) Celine Dion CD and that annoying diva was right there in the room with me on the Playstation. I kid you not. The best vocals I've heard out of my system. The PS1 gave just the perfect weight to her vocals, killing my Carver CD player (which has been my favorite lately). Yes, the Carver had all kinds of high frequency breath noise and ambient echo bouncing around (eg detail), much more so than the Sony, but the Carver just didnt have the correct presence and body that the Sony did! But the downside is that the Sony basically sucks wind when it comes to tracking cds. Forget about CD-r, mine is horrid tracking those, if at all. And unless my original cds are pristine, it skips all over the place. I tried to adjust the laser intensity on my first one, but failed at that. (what damn tool do you use to adjust those tiny bias adjusters with? I went through every screwdriver in my arsenal.) So I'm very frustrated, here I have a great sounding CD player that imparts the warmth and body I like in vocals, but it reads cds like crap. I'm tempted to buy one more and see if i can improve things. But again, after 2 days, this Sony is doing some very important things right. If you're a maniac for the last shimmering sound wave off a cymbal bouncing off the wall, this might not be your player, but if you want and extremely listenable cd player that get vocals right, I'm still defending the PS1. It's warm, but not obscured. It pulls better detail than my Marantz 6000 OSE and also beats that player. Now help me cure the tracking errors and I'll be in heaven.

 

[chadbang]

Another comment. I tried burning a CD-R with my best gold cds at 1X speed and still no luck at reading cd-r. This is sad since the laser seems to be working fine (no trouble skipping tracks or reading from inside to outside of the disc.)

I just spend 20 minutes with the "Rent" soundtrack comparing my Carver to the Sony and, again, the Sony is the hands down winner. Better dynamics and perfect vocals. Just perfect vocals (that's why I picked "Rent," musicals are all about human beings singing).

I like to think I'm being completely objective here because I don't have any high end equipment to feel jealous of. Yes, my Carver was a $600 cd player in it's day, but I picked it up used for $9! (and loved it). I did spend $300 on my Marantz, but the Carver clearly outshone it. So, the Carver being killed by the $20 Sony doesn't upset me at all, financially. I'm just depending on my ears here.

Oh yeah, going to order another Sony from Amazon right now!

 

[chesebert]

great. now go get that $400 power cable and $500 IC to restore the lost treble and bass.

 

[powertoold]

People need to make sure they have the SCPH-1001s! I think people are assuming all of them are supposed to sound good...

 

[NajoBB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by powertoold /img/forum/go_quote.gif People need to make sure they have the SCPH-1001s! I think people are assuming all of them are supposed to sound good...

I'm sure that if someone is interested enough to actually try this thing (me), he'll inform himself well enough to know which model works

Thanks for the info though, it's helpful.

 

[chadbang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chesebert /img/forum/go_quote.gif great. now go get that $400 power cable and $500 IC to restore the lost treble and bass.

Man, we are talking a true "budget" audiophile here. I waited 20 years to buy the speaker I wanted to get them at tenth the price! I'd say treble is a little subdued, but the bass is fine. But the rest.....ah... Listening to Steve Hoffman's AJA remaster. I'm on the last track... and I haven't listened to the whole album in years! That should tell you how in love I am with this sound.

 

[japc]

It wouldn't surprise me a bit if there where some audiophile qualities to the PS1 first models. As it wouldn't surprise me that they went cheaper and cheaper as it started selling as hot cakes and profit margins needed to be increased.

 

[Bomo.is.ooc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by japc /img/forum/go_quote.gif It wouldn't surprise me a bit if there where some audiophile qualities to the PS1 first models. As it wouldn't surprise me that they went cheaper and cheaper as it started selling as hot cakes and profit margins needed to be increased.

Agreed, and I think it applies across the board. Introductory stuff tends to be top notch and then dwindle off in quality as it catches on.

I just found a Magnavox CDB 480 cd player for $5 at a thrift store and have fallen in love with the sound, more so than I have with anything at any price range under $200. It's amazing what some of the (now cheap) introductory stuff is capable of.

 

[moodyrn]

I have an old 7501 model that was stored away in a closet. Anyone thinks it might sound anywhere close to a 1001 model?