Bought new from Bill at Morningstar, who in truth was a bit, shall I say "distant" after the sale. Nevertheless, regarding the CDP itself - what others said is so IMHO, especially when listening to HDCD's. Commisioned (12/20110) a recapped "Jim McShane Level II upgrade" HK Citation II & look forward to pairing amp with the Tom Tutay twice-modded, tube rolled MiniMax CDP, its sister tube rolled MiniMax preamp, and Bob Crites modded Belle Klipsch.

This Eastern Electric CD player with 2x ECC88 (6922) tubes in analogue section have changed my opinion about digital sound. I'm still a vinyl enthusiast but after buying this MiniMax CD I play CD's more than I thought I should come to do. I'm also owner of a Sony XA7ES but this CD player have never give me any kick to play CD's more than LP's. The MiniMax CD give you more than any analogue LP gives, still with a high-end turntable/arm/pick-up combination. It gives you more dynamic, more quiet background in the sound-picture and full musicality as you still get from all thel good vinyl recordings.
The weak point must bee the Philips transport compared to Sony, but all sound features is much better than Sony and many other good CD players.
I will highly recommend this CD player!

As an audiophile wannabe as in -- cant afford the best, my purchases are infrequent and like all of you who read these pages, made after much research and audition. When the upgrade bug hit me I decided on upgrading my source over my amplification as I believe next to speakers, the source provides the more profound impact to the overall sound.
The mimimax was purchased based upon web reviews and not auditions which was scary, however after a couple of weeks I could not have been happier. This player definitely takes the edge off CDs and provides many hours of fatigue free listening reminiscent of my vinyl days with my precious Thorens. I assume the tubes have a lot to do with this.
I should qualify my review by statig that 90% of my collection is non-rock as in jazz, folk, classical, world, and opera. I am not qualified to offer a critique as to how this player will present rap or rock for which it may be a poor match.
I will say that the improvement to my system's sound was equal in scale to the improvement experienced when I upgraded my speakers over 10 years ago.
I cannot believe that any lover of acoustical music sources would be disappointed in this purchase, not to mention the potential for tube rolling which I have done with guidance from Bill at Morningstar.

Outstanding sound, period. Hard to believe it's this pristine, but it is. It's making me a believer in high-end Chinese gear.

Only aestethics, if that bothers you.

I now own two of these fantastic tube CD players. The first I bought brand new from Bill @ Morningstar, the second from a seller here on Audiogon. I can't say how many sub-thousand players are out there, but my friends and I clearly identified this as the best from all we tested together. That included a high-end Marantz SACD, Sony ES, Rega, and Music Hall among others.

What we discovered was that this little guy has extreme clarity, fullness and soundstage that was unmatched by any of the others in the exact same configuration. That's why I bought the 2nd unit, which serves as a headphone only amp.

I have not tried rolling the tubes, but many others have. I am so delighted with the sound as they are, I doubt I'll follow that path. But, who knows?

Similar Products Used:

Rega Apollo, Marantz 8260, Sony CDP-X33ES, Music Hall All-In-One.

soundstage,depth,clarity,detaled.

none whatsoever

This player is simply amazing in all aspects.Clarity,soundstage you name it it can do it.Very solidly built dispite it's small size.I had a marantz before the minimax and it wasnt even close.Even compared it to a rotel rcd1072 and the minimax was significantly better.Additionally the headphone jack in this player is amazing.I've taken the player in my bedroom and just listened thru the headphones and it was amazing.Obviously it also comes own to tastes.If you havent tried it do yourself a favor and audition one.

Similar Products Used:

marantz,rotel

I buy a lot more CDs than I do audio equipment. But I'm fussy about the audio gear that I buy. My interest is in the sound a system can give me on classical music. My comments don't take high level listening or rock into consideration. As a bad piano player, I want to hear the best from people who can really play- like Alfred Brendel. A couple years ago I bought a Rotel RCD-1072. It was significantly better than my old Denon. I was very pleased with it. It was by accident that I even became aware of the Mini Max. Putting it in front of my system I find the classics sound better than ever, especially chamber works of small ensembles or solo piano. The Mini Max doesn't sound any clearer than my Rotel did, but it sounds warmer, lusher, more real. I have a real high end system too, but the Mini Max impresses me so much for the money and I have it in a moderate system in my office where I won't annoy my family while I listen. If I fire up the big system it dominates the house! I recommend the Mini Max to anyone looking for warmth and beauty. It seems to be built real solidly too.

Quality construction. Soundstage is very large. Solid, deep lows. Detailed, but musical. Very stable transport--reads all discs.

Screws on case are not recessed--a bit industrial looking. Display does not dim completely.

A few months ago my old Jolida 601A died, and I started researching new CD players. I hoped for tubes, but was willing to hear and consider what solid state could do. The Rega Planet 2000 didn't do it for me and I wasn’t too excited about the Jolida JD100 either. I really hoped I could find a machine that would sound beautiful to my ears without pouring time and money into upgrades, and for less than a thousand dollars. The MiniMax has a small footprint, a solid build, a good-looking case, and a very stable and quiet transport. It read a number of CDRs I own that have not played well on other machines. This is a great bonus to me because I thought I'd never be able to litren to those recordings again. Cue time is quick. There is a soft click heard when the player starts the disc or is re-cued. There is a technical explanation for that (see the 6 Moons review) and it doesn't bother me. The remote has good range and is a solid aluminum piece that seems quite durable. It has a button to dim the display by two levels, but the display doesn't disappear. I don't think the sound improved with the dimming of the display. Of good news to tube rollers is the easy access to the tubes--they are located in a protected area at the back of the machine. There is no need to pull off the cover of the player in order to roll tubes. A flashlight is necessary to help me get the tube pins lined up without a lot of hassle, but it is still a LOT easier than pulling off a cover all the time. The soundstage is vast. I think that pace and timing are great as well. Symphonies and rock are fun to hear, chamber music poised and elegant. My perception is that the Eastern Electric MiniMax is a musical machine and forgiving of bad recordings. The player sounds open and fast to me with good cable choices. Truthlinks were too warm, Belden 89259 DIY's were better, but not very refined. --I like it best with Nordost Blue Heaven IC's and a Harmonic Tech Pro AC11 power cord with Hubbell plugs. I tried the same power cord, newer version, with Furutech plugs, and I thought the machine was too smooth and lost detail. It has been a lot of fun tweaking with the cables I have on hand and I've almost got the sound where I want it I certainly found that Amperex white label 7308's were musical in the player, but detail was not there. Things were too warm for me. I put in some Electroharmonix 6922's and the machine really came to life with a lot of pop and clarity. Unfortunately the Electroharmonix tubes also added some grain. I just installed a pair of Siemens 7308's. They sound great in the Mini Max and I am very happy I spent the $$ to get them. All in all, this machine sings for me in a way that the Jolida JD100 did not. That it comes at an affordable price is great. I specifically hoped for a machine that would not demand extra cash outlay for internal mods. This is that kind of machine, and I am relieved to now stop researching hardware and just enjoy the music. YMMV.

Similar Products Used:

Jolida JD601A Jolida JD100 Music Hall CD-25 Rega Planet 2000

Details!!!!, Bass, Huge Soundstage!

My previous reviews for the Eastern Electric MiniMax Tubed Preamp and Tubed Amplifer were no brainers: They are simply Giant Killers and are far, far better than similar components costing 3 or 4 times as much! But, as to their CD Player, there's a lot of competition out there, especially at the 1 grand and under price point. I own this gem, along with their Pre and Amp. But I'm also fortunate to have on hand an AH! Tjoeb 4000 CD Player and Jolida's newest model. Soundwise, with stock tubes, the AH! would be the winner, with the Minimax next, then the Jolida. Now, as the MiniMax & AH! both use varieties of 6DJ8 tubes (6922, 7308, etc.) rolling was essential. Suffice to say that they both had their strengths (at this price, is there really a weakness?), but here is my verdict (strictly an opinion, though I'm 56, and have been at this for too many years!): The Jolida, which is indeed an excellent CDP, is not a match for the other two. The AH! has a certain 'magic' in the mid-range which is remindful of tubed equipment of yore. But....it can sound a bit bloated there on certain music, and this seems to make the Highs more rolled off (but it's very musical). The MiniMax never lets go of any deatils, and is more even throughout the spectrum. And, in the Bass department, the Minimax shines! Both are the 'real deal', and genuine giant killers (or, in the case of the MiniMax, a sleeper). And, as the AH! is about $250 less (with the same tubes in both), it might appear to be the choice here. HOWEVER......Everyone has noted the 'cheap' look and construction of the AH! (on its Marantz chassis). The MiniMax, like the other MiniMax items, just exudes Quality in the construction and parts areas. It probably weighs nearly 4 times the AH!, and the Remote Control unit feels like it came from Krell! There is something wonderfully reassuring about the way this is put together---and, without a hint of skipping, clicking between tracks, or other digital noises, one gets the feeling that it will stay in the rack for years. All these players need a good amount of burn-in time, BTW. I don't ever expect a good performance from any new component for at least 100 hours. Though I prefer the Minimax, your results may vary. But...at least be fair to them all and let them settle for a bit!

Similar Products Used:

Kyocera DA-710, Rotel RCD-990, many more.