Audio Note CD5.1x
This product is offered through private inquiry. Reach out to arrange a listening session at the gallery.
About the
Audio Note CD5.1x.
The CD 5.1x is Audio Note UK’s top single-chassis CD player — a Level 3 build that takes the one-box player as far as Audio Note takes the format. The top-loading Philips CD Pro 2LF mechanism is modified in-house; the power supply is valve-rectified and regulated (6X5 + ECL82); the analogue output stage runs a 5814a and a 5687WB into AN’s own output transformers — SHiB cores with copper primaries and secondaries. Tantalum resistors and Audio Note foil / Mylar and electrolytic capacitors sit at the critical positions, and the in-house digital transformers are silver-wound on the transport side, copper-wound on the DAC side.
Audio Note CD5.1x across 4 variants.
Four CD players combining transport + DAC in one chassis. Each player sits at the same tier as the DAC inside it — the CD 2.1x/II contains a DAC 2.1x equivalent stage, the CD 3.1x/II contains a DAC 3.1x equivalent stage, and so on through the tier ladder. Same NOS R2R conversion, same valve output topology, same tier-matched output transformer.
| Model | Tier | Output Stage | Balanced Output | Notes | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CD 2.1x/II | 2 | Valve, copper-coupled | No | Level 2 single-chassis CD player | — |
| CD 3.1x/II | 3 | Valve, transformer-coupled | No | Level 3 step-up | — |
| CD 4.1x Balanced | 4 | Valve, balanced output | Yes | Level 4 — balanced output | — |
| CD 5.1x | 5 | Valve, AN silver throughout | Yes | Level 5 flagship single-box CD | — |
