Okay, Found my PS1. It is a SCPH-7*** so no good. So, I did a search on Craigslist and ebay and came up with nothing on Craigslist and only expensive ones on ebay. Okay, not expensive, but maybe $50 after shipping.
You have to have the SCPH-1001 in the US and the 1002 in the UK.
I posted a "wanted" add on Craigslist and got 2 responses. One of the people was good enough to follow through and sold it to me for $20, delivered!!
I plugged it in. Noise. I have been fighting a problem with buzzing toroid and then this problem makes me think I have DC on the Mains. Gio has been very kind in helping me with this as has Bruce. Thanks guys. HOWEVER, now I dont think DC was the problem. I had an issue with my LM3886 since I closed the lid on it after showing off the guts to a friend. I think I pushed some wires together and had a short. One channel went out. I grabbed it and off to the workbench.
After rewiring much of the rats nest just for good measure I remembered that I had seen a reference to the pin of a RCA connector being the Signal. I had it connected as Ground. Ooops I thought. Thats probably my issue. So I switched them back to how they should be and rerouted my wires from RCA to Volume Pots to avoid crosstalk.
Wired up and ready to test. Fire it up and both channels are working
Good so far. I had previously thought I had a DC problem and I also thought that there was a loose connection in one of the ancient PS1 RCA connectors. It still needs to be tightened up, but who knows, maybe my new RCA arrangement in my amp fixed the problem. Maybe it wasnt the PS1 all along. So I plugged into the PS1. Switched on the amp.
Listening impression: Go Buy a PS1. Probably now is as good a time as any. Or better than any. This is a fantastic CD player. I liked my setup before, even with ground and signal reversed it sounded nice. Who knows why? I dont. But, man... This was the second revelation. The first was that the LM3886 sounded so much better than anything else I ever owned. The second was that this PS1 is an incredible addition to my system. Love it. Here is what happened...
The soundstage got wider and deeper and more real. This time it really felt like the singer was IN the room. Before it sounded great, but constrained somehow and it would make you a little tight in the shoulders listening, even though it sounded good and was fun (by the way its not as loud as it used to be, but still loud). So while listening fatigue was diminished on my pre PS1 setup it is now DRAMATICALLY diminished with the addition of the PS1. Okay, the sound is floating around you. Its weird and relaxing and the digitallness (whatever, use your own word to make it seem more "real") is just gone and the chance of you closing your eyes and finding two point sources in the room is gone. I am quoting someone and I dont recall who but "the sound is coming from behind the wall somewhere" except its not so hard to figure where its coming from. Its coming from the band in front of you. Yeah, Its that good. Go get one. It beats the pants off of your existing CDP.
RI
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