After all the long awaited moment and patience I finally possess the Sony D-50 discman, world's first portable cd payer. Won this off ebay for quite a reasonable price (USD 62). Nowadays, it is real hard to find a mint condition D-50 on Ebay. The seller listed this item as non tested but obviously I wouldn't want to miss the chance to grab hold of a mint  D-50 doesn't matter if it's a non working unit.

 http://www.ebay.com/itm/281090...id=p3984.m1423.l2649

However, I was lucky when I received the unit. In fact this player is still working perfectly as new when I power up and play some cd's. Couldn't believe that the sound quality is awesome, huge power out to headphone as well. To share with you, here are some of the pictures of my D-50 and also the video I upload from YouTube.

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 I give the metal body a few layer KIT wax to bring out the stunning glossy look.

 Alongside with my other collection.

Hey there Ken fantastic to finally add the D-50 to your beautiful and so nicely displayed Discman collection.  It really does have a true sound to it before they added circuits to adjust the digital output the earliest players just play the real pure encoded sound. I have a black one that works perfect still picked up few years back.  Thats a great find and luck yours works and priced so well to boot!  I have the orig. Sony slip on slides and locks under with a/c power supply same size as back of player about 2 in. deep.  I have the 8 C battery OMG heavy portable power supply add on Sony power supply. It slides onto bottom with a metal bar flips over front and locks top of player down. Crazy heavy to carry and with no oversampling carrying it while playing was out of question.  Great to go with a Boombox though   Sony also made a slip in case covered the entire unit except front face that was battery powered.

    I have mine D50 in my spare bedroom hooked up to Aux In on my JVC DC7 GIANT boombox 1983 w Linear tonearm.  I replaced speakers upgrade to 3 way with crossover. Video using D50 .  

Loved your earlier topic where you tested several of you fine Discman with video.  Its where I found the I ROBOT movie JVC FS-SD9 the most awesome desk top stereo ever.  The glass sliding and opening top is just too cool.   My brother and 2 of my friends all had to have one after seeing/hearing mine.  Found all of them ones on ebay getting pricey now sadly.   Paid $60 for mine.

 http://REPLACEMENT ERROR/topic...iscman-demonstration

Hi Brutus, this model require stringent 9V power supply in order to operate properly. Any voltage lesser will cause cd read problem, no sound or skipping issue. Also ensure your power supply current is sufficient to drive the unit. Currently I'm using a voltage selectable power supply unit which is not really appropriate but soon will get a proper 9Volt regulated power supply for my discman usage. Please do be careful with the polarity when you handle the power supply to avoid damage to your unit.

Hi John,

Thanks for the comments. It's great to hear that you have a full accessories for your D-50 and I totally agree that this baby is great to go with Boomboxes cause it may not be practical to carry around as personal player without the ESP feature. By the way thanks for sharing the video, may I ask if you are using a shock proof base when you place yr D-50 on top of the speaker?

Thanks Ken

I'm using the Sony supplied AC power supply/ line out device bundled with the unit
from the factory. Although the unit calls for 9V output I'm getting 12V?? I'm on the high side but don't know why. I have not tried a 3rd party power supply yet but I am aware of the Sony's polarity (which makes it harder to find a good selectable power supply..most I've seen are cheapo's and have dubious safety ratings)

Any diagnostic help appreciated...I'd love to get this old girl up to speed again

Hi Brutus,

Let's put the power supply issue aside first, can you explain in detail what's the nature of problem you are facing with your D-50? Kindly share what are the symptoms of your player, then we will brainstorm together using proper diagnostic approach.

Will do Ken.

I get no power or indication on the unit when plugged in. The multimeter shows power is available but it's at 12V not 9V. I want to isloate this issue becasue if I did find the D5 faulty, using this as a power source would surely damage it.

Thanks for your help!

Hi Brutus first of all, the specification of power supply require for this unit is 9Volt and you are getting 12 Volt ( which is abnormal ). I suggest you to stop using this psu to avoid further damage to yr unit. Let's get started for the first verification.

1) Get a standard 9V battery pack and fabricate the terminal connector with the power jack.

 Ensure the correct polarity according to yr D-50 (it should be like the image below)

Plug in the connector to the 9V battery pack and measure the voltage to confirm the  correct polarity.

Then you are ready to use this power supply on yr unit. Here is the schematic diagram of the power supply for D-50. If you still cannot power -up the unit, you may need to get to the main board for further diagnostic. Tap the voltage at the regulator line and confirm whether there's power supply received by the control circuit. There could be likely chance that the regulator chip may be damaged.

I'll give this a go when I get home (at work now).

I'll also have to grab a 9V connector....thanks for your help Ken. I'll keep you updated!

Sony 9V ac power adapter AC-E90HG input ac120volt Output DC 9V 800mA Measured 13.4 vdc no load

AC power adapter to my Sony Discman D303

need about Five hand's to take this picture

I don't have a Sony wall wart power adaptor. In this case, it's a unregulated power supply.

So getting 13.4V shouldn't happen based upon it's specs correct?

Sorry I'm not terribly handy with the electrical/ electronic diagnostics but I'm wanting to learn.

Thanks for the photo traveler, it must have been awkward with only five hands

Have you just revealed accidentally to us that you are :

1. an alien

2. a poly armed mutant human

Or maybe :

3. had a friend in the room with you to take the shot

4. used a camera mounted on a tripod with a timer set

5. no tripod, but balanced the camera on your shoulder with it set on timer

# 1

&

# 4

I did an experiment with my D-50 today just to find out clues from your problem. Guess what? When I tune up my selector from 9Volt to 12 Volt the unit wouldn't power up. And when I set the power back to 9Volt, the player resume power and able to operate again. In fact if you study the schematic diagram, there are voltage protection comparator chips which protect the unit from over voltage. Now you may have a good chance to revive your D-50. The best is try out the standard 9V battery pack that I proposed to see if your player works. This unit should not consume more than 500mA given that the consumption is 4Watt (info from the service manual).

Great addition to your also excellent collection, Ken.

I agree with you that the D50 has an excellent sound quality. I't so curious that this old player that lacks almost every feature beats many modern discmans that have megabass, XBS, surround, SRS and many other features but lack a decent base sound. It's also very well built and I many of like it more than the modern "eggs"...

KEN :  By the way thanks for sharing the video, may I ask if you are using a shock proof base when you place yr D-50 on top of the speaker?  

The larger speakers on outside in video were hooked up so no shock proof isolation used with D50 sitting on orig. JVC speaker.

Here is photos of my orig. Sony model # AC-D50 power supply DC 9 volt 500mA.   Also pictures of the portable power supply EBP-300.

Thanks for posting your photos, John. Here's my D50:

It works nicely. Here is playing a CD:

The back:

There's also a very rare red version that I could get some time ago. It's sooo beautiful. Really nice. Unfortunately, it doesn't work.

Thanks Hugo for your comment. Good photograph of yours D-50. I wonder how could you possibly find the rare Red colour D-50, really really beautiful and classic look unit with the striking red colour!

Hi Brutus, if the current is not sufficient to drive your D-50 you might need to join two 9Volt batteries in parellel. Pls see link for reference.

http://www.4physics.com/phy_de...eriesInParallel.html

This is some promising news Ken!

I'm going to try the 9V's in parallel tomorrow and see if I can revive her. It would be great if it was just the PSU. How many mA's does two 9V's generate?

I'll let you know how she goes...and thanks for the link on parallel circuits. My mind is full of crap but there's still a little room for some good stuff