An MHZS CD66 player weighs over 30#, has two 12AX7 tubes w/ LED status indicators and a window to see them without pulling the cover, balanced outputs, upsampling on the solid metal remote, and is a top loader to boot. I'm not sure how the tubes affect the output but the whole package makes for one musically satisfying experience. I found mine for less than the dac mentioned above, and have a few dollars left over for tube-rolling, although I'm not really tempted to do so yet as teh stock tubes play just fine for now. Nice to have the option down the road.
What are the advantages of tubes in a CD Player?
.....and are they better than solid state CD Players? I have had a few players. Rega Apollo, NAD 542, and a Cambridge Audio (actually a DVD Player). I loved the Apollo, but thought I wanted to go to a complete Computer Audio system so I sold it. Now I am contemplating buying another player. I hear the tube sound is so warm and non-digital sounding, which is why I bought the Apollo, well that and the look of it. So, should I go tubes this time? I was looking at that Raysonic 128 and the Shanling and maybe even the Consonance Droplet