It’s a common occurrence that some items we buy become more and more obsolete as time passes. This is especially true for electronics gear since technology progresses so quickly. [Rochefoucauld] had a PSP that he didn’t use anymore and was trying to figure out what to do with it. Then one day in his basement shop while yearning for some tunes, it hit him: use the PSP as a media player.
The PSP is actually not modified and uses the standard media player, it is the project’s execution that is interesting. Some old computer speakers were taken apart to harvest the amplifier. [Rochefoucauld] had an external hard drive that broke so he scavenged the sleek looking case and mounted the amplifier PCB inside. The speaker outputs were routed to terminal blocks mounted on the back of the case. The PSP now resides on a mount made out of a floor joist hanging bracket from the hardware store. The PSP and amplifier share the same power supply and master power switch. The whole unit powers a pair of bookshelf speakers.
In the end, [Rochefoucauld] solved his lack-of-music problem with parts he had kicking around and is also now making use of his PSP that was otherwise collecting dust. For more non-traditional uses for PSPs, check out this status monitor or this extended display.
I still use my PSP regularly to play ROMs and stuff. Not for very long, though– my hands are much larger than the ones Sony apparently envisioned using the PSP and cramp like a mother after an hour or two.
Cool idea. I’m a big proponent us recycling consumer hardware for stuff like this. For instance, I buy used quad core Android cell phones on Ebay for $25. The raw amount of power and flexibility you can have with 25$ is stunning.
i am surprised the amplifier has a common ground between speakers…
More common than not, actually. Most stereo amps out there are common ground output.
Most audio systems (with a few exceptions) use a star grounding configuration. It prevents, among other thing, ground loop hums in the signal chain. A couple of exceptions that come to mind would be guitar amps sometimes and when you are using patchbays for rack mount signal processors. The ground is still there, but sometimes it has to be broken in order to rectify an inadvertent ground loop.
whats the power requirements for a psp just a thought but maby you could wire up a step down charging board and wire it directly into the psp that way you only have one cable coming out the back of the hard drive encolsor
Not sure a step down transformer would eliminate the speaker cables, of course with some of the things the guys around here pull off, I would not be surprised. I am supplying the whole thing with a 19vDC power supply, so I guess that would be one cable, with the exception of speaker cables.
Even at the mouse power of the amps, they need more copper to be hooked up than landline wire. Those needless terminals will break off that tiny gage wire and just go in the trash.
It’s CAT5, not phone wire and he did double up the common. 24ga. solid is probably more copper than your average cheapo computer speakers cable have, and it is perfectly adequate given the quality of the rest of the components. As far as the terminals go, again totally appropriate for what he is doing here. Lighten up and try to be a little less negative, he said right from the top it was a “down and dirty” get ‘er done solution.