Eastern Electric MiniMax cd Tube player MINT

This is a unique  CD player. It sounds as analog and warm as any I have heard. I have moved my office system to a bare minimum so cant use it. It includes 2 NOS very expensive Amperex white label tubes  or  2 Genalex Lions in addition to the stock tubes. If you choose the Amperex the price is $100 higher.

It is mint with a 3mm paint blotch visible only on close inspection on the right hand top. Cosmetically otherwise perfect and functionally 100%. No scratches.

Remote great to work. Original packing and Manual.

This is really a CD player to be treasured. If I didn't have an EAR Acute, I would keep it.

Read the Soundstage review in its entirety. Just google Soundstage/EE Minimax CD

"The $900 USD MiniMax CD player features Burr-Brown 1732 DACs and accepts two 6922 or 6DJ8 tubes, with a pair of the 6922s included and pre-installed. A custom toroidal power transformer was designed specifically for the MiniMax. The player supports both conventional and HDCD-encoded compact discs, and includes a small LED to tell you when the latter is spinning. The unit also supports homebrew CD-Rs.

The MiniMax’s derriere is equipped with one pair of RCA analog outputs plus one S/PDIF coaxial digital output, which you might use to connect the MiniMax as a transport to an external DAC. The IEC power cord is removable and thus can be replaced with a sexier number if that's your thing.

Eastern Electric products exhibit a clean, metallic design aesthetic that is subdued but classy. The MiniMax CD is well built and sturdy. At about 13 pounds, 12 1/2" wide, just over 13" deep and just under 4" high, the glossy unit is about average sized for a CD player but not featherweight like some -- no doubt thanks to its toroidal transformer. The Phillips CD12 transport mechanism and CD7II servo circuit result in robust and silky-smooth mechanical operation. On its face the unit offers several standard push buttons -- on the left, main power; and on the right, forward, back, play/pause and stop buttons, plus tray open. Besides the power button on the left side is the HDCD indicator, a headphone jack, and a headphone volume control

Conclusion

For some people, like myself, owning a tube amplifier isn’t really in the cards. My amplifier is the heart of a system that is used for a variety of purposes, including a PC-based home theater. It seems a waste to expend valuable tube hours on sounds pumped from a computer soundcard. Besides that, the tube amplifiers I have evaluated haven’t turned my world inside out, although they were very listenable.

But the tube MiniMax CD player does lead one to pause and consider. It certainly sounds beautiful -- open, airy, musical, yet strong and confident. As a source component it’s more practical to power on only when needed, and the tubes are rather unobtrusive.

For tube lovers, giving the MiniMax CD player a listen is a no-brainer. And for those who are either curious or skeptical about tube designs, the MiniMax offers a practical hybrid that leverages the convenience of digital and the warmth of analog. You stuck your chocolate in my peanut butter! And it was delicious.

...Aaron Weiss
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