The power supply of the CD player is a meticulously designed valve rectified and regulated system, utilizing a 6X5 rectifier tube and an ECL82 voltage regulator tube. This carefully crafted power supply design ensures stable and clean power delivery to the various components of the CD player, minimizing noise and distortion that can impact the audio performance. The use of vacuum tubes in the power supply brings the benefits of their warm, natural, and musical sound characteristics to the CD playback, contributing to the overall high-quality audio performance of the CD5.1x. The combination of valve rectification and regulation is a hallmark of Audio Note (UK) products, known for their attention to detail and pursuit of superior sound quality.

The analogue output stage of the CD5.1x CD player features a combination of 1 x 5814a and 1 x 5687WB vacuum tubes, which feed into a pair of their world-renowned output transformers. These transformers utilize SHiB (Super Hi-B) cores with Copper primaries and secondaries, ensuring exceptional performance. The CD5.1x also incorporates Audio Note (UK)’s own 0.5 Watt and 1 Watt non-magnetic tantalum resistors in critical areas, along with their custom foil/Mylar and electrolytic capacitors.

In addition, the CD player utilizes Audio Note (UK)’s in-house designed and manufactured digital transformers. These transformers are Silver wound for the transport side and Copper wound for the DAC side, further enhancing the performance and accuracy of the digital-to-analog conversion process.