I am now that I found a great cd player! The Playstation 1! I would have paid $500 for this thing easy!

By the way, I didn't buy most of my gear new. I get gear used and have for about 25 years now. I got my first 2 Linn Sara's at a divorce garage sale for all of $10 for the pair, WITH the Linn metal stands! One of the little connectors on the back for bi-wiring was missing the nut, so it only either played the woofer OR played the tweeter but NOT both. The lady said "Since they don't work right, $10 is fine for them. They were my exes anyhow". I took them home and promply put a nut on the biwiring connector and they sounded great! I have to admit, I saw the "Linn" name on them but knew nothing about how good these were when I got them. I never heard of "Saras". I had heard of Isobariks but didn't know these were Isobariks! I bought them on the "Linn" reputation only. I later learned that these things are awesome, even today vs. today's modern speaker competition. My next pair of 2 I got off Ebay for all of $350 for the pair (I'm only using 3 now for my fronts, but when I find another one or two I'll use them for rears too). Linn Saras are the best sounding speakers I've ever had in my room! I've auditioned tons of high end speakers! Proacs! Definitive Technology! Energy! NHT! B&W! Linn rules them all! One LINN to rule them all, one LINN to mind them. One LINN to rule them all, and the soundstage in the darkness find them... (Maybe a stretch, but I think Tolkien's work can apply to real life examples if one merely tries).

My Acurus gear I also got off Ebay for a fair price. Hi end doesn't have to cost even 1/3rd of new retail prices, you just have to wait for the best opportunity to get it cheap! I really think Stereophile should do a series on real world hi end stereo/theatre systems people have. Few people have the bucks to go buy much new stuff, much less all new stuff, for a system. Mine improves gradually over time, like most of us!

I've been reading a great book lately: "How to Want What You Have". Great for all of us audiophiles. I have some awesome Linns and now an awesome Playstation (or two I guess, maybe 3 if I can fix the laser)! Who needs anything more?

Who else is trying out the Playstation? What did you experience?

- LinnSaraFiend

Hey MisterB: Very interesting post. So if I read that right, you are saying the AV multiout DID give you great sound? I wonder if I should pursue that further then. The stock Sony multiout cables I got sounded really terrible compared to the RCA outs (or maybe there was some other problem with the multiout on that player? Hmmm). I read that the AV Multiout port doesn't use part of the output circuitry that the normal RCA outputs use and some people said they liked the sound this way better than the RCAs. My experience was just the opposite, but I don't currently have good AV multiout cables. Or maybe my Acurus preamp really wants whatever the circuitry is doing with the normal RCA outs. I don't know. I'm a mechanical engineer, but I'm not a Double E for goodness sakes! Somebody help and I'll fix your car!

What do we need to do for the best sound?! I don't think this is figured out yet by any means! I'm starting to think too that some people who investigate the ps1 get varying levels of quality from them! These are pretty simple and appear to vary tremendously in quality after so many years! I think some systems may do better with these than others too. For instance, the midrange is a little emphasized on the ps1, and a system that already does that too much might not benefit from it so much. They are great for imaging though. Right up there with my vinyl on my AR ES1 turntable! I've never had that with cds before! I would love a Linn turntable sometime. I haven't found one of those cheap yet!

Funny story, one of my wife's friends came by and I demonstrated my new high fidelity cd player, using the little corded game controller. I turned to her and said, "Do not be deceived, this is not a toy." As I hit the little triangle play button. My wife turns to her and says: "It's a toy. Ignore him." But then I played it and she was amazed. Loreena McKennitt sounded right there in the room. Her friend was a singer herself. Now just a week later, she is scouring ebay for one for herself and her hubby! In fact, she wants to buy some of my other speaker "finds" I have laying around as leftovers in my house! Anything I touch now seems to have newfound merit, even if rejects or less than "prime" quality bonded stereo gear! If my wife would only see these qualities in my hobby!

By the way, I forgot to mention, I also use equalization on all my speakers in my setup. I've found the losses associated to be minor and irrelevant compared to potential gains of correcting room response. It allows me to use different brand rears than fronts and blend it all in great. I haven't touched my "normal" equalization setup with the ps1, but even if I wanted to turn down the midrange just slightly (which is too emphasized in general with my Acurus gear), I could do so. So the benefits of the thing, fluid smooth sound, fast transients, great imaging, far outweigh any frequency response concerns for me. I highly recommend equalization too for any "entry level" or less than all class A systems out there. Oh, room lock. I forgot to mention, I get room lock with my subs with the playstation 1. I don't get that otherwise! This is when the bass locks with the room and your eardrums are "one" with your subs. Roomlock is great. The ps1 gives me that!

LSF (New Official Stereophile Representative Provided Acronym for LinnSaraFiend)