Ayon CD2 is AMAZING

Sorry to hear the Dac is not living up to expectations in your system! You should notice an improvement with tube rolling and so far my 5814A are better than my $100 Tele smoothplates. My CD2 is bright in comparison to the EE, soundstage is richer, wider and deeper. So far I see it as the CD2 sounds digital and the EE sounds like analog. Also, give it time to break in

Just out of curiousity but why whould anyone put tubes in a CD player?

Mordante-below are some comments from the Modwright website that Dan makes about his top modded Sony 5400.

WHY TUBES? WHAT ABOUT MAINTENANCE? WHY THE 6SN7?

Vacuum tubes are best for amplifying VOLTAGE and SS devices are best for amplifying CURRENT. In a line-level circuit such as this -opposed to an amplifier, tubes require virtually no maintenance.

We chose the 6SN7 for its sound and general popularity among people who love tubes. It ended up being the tube of choice for our Transporter mod, of which we sold hundreds of units!

The tubes are purposely driven VERY conservatively to give 10,000-12,000 hours + of tube life. The circuit is fully auto-bias, therefore no maintenance required. We chose tube rectification simply BECAUSE IT SOUNDS BETTER!

Afc- are you running the CD5 directly into amps or into a preamp? Have you compared both ways?

There is likely something wrong with the system if the EE does not sound better through the CD5 as transport. Perhaps try ajusting the gain on CD5, as this can greatly help or skew the sound, depending on the system.

Afc- are you running the CD5 directly into amps or into a preamp? Have you compared both ways?

I am interested in this also. I am considering a CD-5 to replace my CD-2 and Shindo Aureiges MM. The CD-2 direct to amps was no match for Shindo/CD2
combo. I really like the CD2. I wish I could control the sibilance on decent recordings with the occasional hard hot spots (Wilco Summerteeth) Perhaps it is to much to expect a dac to overcome that in a recording or can the CD5 or MiniMax Dac accomplish that?