Ayon CD2 is AMAZING

I'm going to give the pre a go within a few days and man will I be sad if I have to sell my Belles 21A modified unit.

My Ayon CD2 is being used as a transport now, using the Berkeley Alpha Dac and love it.

The Eastern Electric Minimax DAC plus the CD2 blows the CD5 out of the water. Get one while you can before the demand goes through the roof!

Bassraptor

Do you know what changes are being made?

Thuan,

See Douglas Schroeder review on dagogo.com The CD2 is quite good.

I have the CD2 and thought about upgrading to the CD2s, but after hearing the EE DAC after install and cold, the CD2 doesn't come close. My soundstage is deeper, wider with images you can touch. My system is very resolving and I'm hearing things I've never heard and my unit is only 5 days old. Decay notes and the ambiance is unbelievable with pin point imaging even at the edge of the soundstage. The gain does appears to be a little low when ran into my CD2 with an XLR but you'll just have to turn your pre up another 1/4 turn to reach the same SPL. This is a bargain price for a DAC and the BDA-1 doesn't come close. The Minimax sounded better than the CD2 even with a 10 year old RCA cable

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

Guys,

Not sure if you have discovered that the Dac phase switch should be lit red for better sound quality!

Wig

I would definitely take it slow before dropping down 5K on outdated technology. The Minimax is that good and it does get better with tube rolling. Telefunken smoothplates didn't work well in my system, better focus, detail, imaging but the soundstage lacked in comparison to 5814A. I have some Mullards boxplates coming soon which are very musical tubes and should match well in my system. I have updated the fuse to a silverstar hi-fi fuse and JPS digital AC powercord. The level of detail, richness and imaging is fantastic with a deep soundstage. The CD2 is great player but it's even better with the EE. EE sound is much smoother and less fatiguing.

It's easy, unless you have fat hands. Just 1/4 turn to remove tube sleeve and pull tube straight out. I wiggle mine a little and it comes right out. The smoothplates were wonderful in my pre-amp but not that good in the Dac which was eye opener since they are $100 and my $20 Jan 5814A are more musical and satisfying but the Mullards will be better when them come in since I have used them in the past. Give the unit time to break-in because mine is sounding better daily and approaching two weeks in which it should be done, just needing 100+ hours on the digital cable now before I can really hear what the Dac can do.

Would you recommend removing the tube out of the unit since I'm using a Berkeley Dac? This would eliminate the amount of heat the unit puts out and should be better fot the transport.

My Ayon CD2 is a good player but can sound bright and forward on occasion and this is with tube and biopolar equipment. I tried the EE Dac with silver star fuses, power cords and Vintage Mullards but it shrunk the soundstage and I thought the CD2 was better in my system.

The Berkeley blows the CD2 out of the water, you would think the Berkeley was a tube unit if you had to listen blindly. Better soundstage, imaging and cues easily heard.
I thought about the CD5s but decided to go with a better sound, a Berkeley Alpha Dac.