Ayon cd5-s or Skylla -2 dac. Big improvement

Melbguy if sonic tone is a thinness then Furutech solid copper fuses
Are a win win situation many times less resistance and sound of Copper
Which is always warmer anyway ,a choice is allways good .I may
Try mixing and matching in several crucial areas such as several fuses 3.125A
Ihappened to have a bunch of fuses left from a lot I bought.
In this hobby their is nothing set in stone !

Hi Audioman, I'd agree the Furutech fuses could be a good option. Thanks for the tip on the Furutech nano fluid. I think though in the Ayon circuit, we're only talking about a very modest improvement. And inevitably such a change is going to shift the sound character of a player, hence why I wouldn't want to steer too far in the direction of neutral/transparent. You might as well buy a ss cdp otherwise. One thing is for sure though, the CD-5s with a tube upgrade & some minor tweaks is an excellent player.

What tubes do you recommend and how many are are to be replaced?

Melbhuy1, can you please tell more info on stock and Russian rectifiers 6C4P that can be used in Ayon cd-5s? Right now couple stores on eBay selling Russian 6c4p-ev 1980 from Reflector plan, but the price is very low (below $3 for a tube). The Ayon saying that the 6CP4 must be used in cd-5s or Skylla 2, and using 6c4p tubes will damage transformers. I can’t even find any info on 6CP4 tubes and to add to the confusion some website show 6Z4 as stock rectifiers for cd-5s and some show 6X4.

Does any body know for sure what rectifiers must be used in Ayon cd-5s?

Hi Denon, As Audioman noted earlier, the stock Chinese rectifiers can lose their composure with complex orchestral passages, so it's worthwhile replacing them with NOS rectifiers. Audioman mentioned some rare (and expensive) examples, however in this Ayon circuit, the rectifiers are about one evolutionary step above the lightbulb. Rectifiers can be more critical in some circuits (eg: Modwright), however my Audio Engineer certainly didn't think that was the case with the CD-5s, hence I wouldn't spend any more than needed. Also remember 6H30DR tubes used to cost US$15.00 years ago, so don't be concerned about the price ($3.00). To address your concerns, there is no such tube as a 6CP4. That is obviously a typo. To clarify, Ayon recommended I use NOS Reflektor 6C4P tubes in lieu of the factory rectifiers. There are different suppliers of 6Z4 tubes, however the CD-5s has Chinese variants. It makes sense using the higher quality Russian tubes, but you can spend more if you like. If a website showed the CD-5s was specified with 6X4 tubes, that would appear to be an error. Cheers.