Eastern Electric Tubed CD player: Good Value??


I want to upgrade my "original" Sonographe CD player. I have read a few reviews of the Eastern Electric Mini-Max Tubed CD player. Would appreciate any feedback on the performance and reliability of this product. And...will it represent an upgrade over my Sonographe??
sunnyjim
I've owned the Eastern player for a year now and have had no problems with it. I find it to be very musical. It does not have an 'aggressive' sound which I find so many players under 1K possess. My main love is still vinyl playback but I find I can really enjoy my CD's with the Eastern Electric. I bought mine with Electroharmonix tubes in it; I switched to Mullards and it only gets better. I haven't listened to it as a transport. I find experimenting with different interconnects is worthwhile.
Happy listening.

PS. The remote is full of tiny buttons which is very annoying to use in the dark. (or day)
I recently replaced a CAL Sigma II tube DAC with the EE MiniMax CDP and unfortunately I have not been impressed. I'm hoping that the problem is due to the stock EH tubes, but with them I find the sound a little veiled, limited bass, lacking 'air', with a limited soundstage. ANY TUBE REPLACEMENT SUGGESTIONS ARE APPRECIATED. I did just buy a pair of Bugle Boys which I should get next week and I will report back on the sound with the new tubes. I am hoping I can find the magic people describe, if not I will try the Jolida. Good luck.
I have had one for a short time. IT has the Underwood 2 mod on it so I suspect that may make a little difference. It's a terrific CD player. IT outleagues my Rega Planet 2000, even with an external DAC on the Rega. What I wanted to add wasn't about the way the player sounds, but more about an amazing fit this particular deck makes in my system. If you are anywhere near my tastes, this is the piece that put it all together.
I use a Jolida 502b with Kimber silver interconnects and Acoustic Zen Satori speaker cables to connect with my Gallo 3.1 speakers. The addition of the Minimax CD player was incredible. I have used several decks that were fine and a little better than fine in the same configuration, but the Minimax excels noticeably here. Even my wife noticed it. If you are in a reference system of any sort this little player will provide more detail than these easily: Rega Planet 2000, Music Hall Maverick, Adcom gold plate CD player, or the upper level Cambridge Audio player (maybe the 540C?). I am not at home to check the dsetails, but this is a great match. Great player.
read my review of this player at the website: audiophilia.com. i reviewed the player in 2006. you will need to check the archives. click on cd players.

i found the player rather hyper detailed, overly focused, insensitive to tube replacement and generally very unforgiving.