What are the advantages of tubes in a CD Player?

it will be hard to beat that sound at that pricepoint. The Consonance is 3K although a new one is on here right now at 2200. I have to admit, it is the look of the Raysonic and the Consonance that first got my attention.

The quality of the analog output stage ultimately matters alot, but there are aurally successful designs from both camps in your better players. Ultimately your ears will decide, and try to listen with an open mind. Not all tube gears imparts tubiness, and the same applies for solid state. For example, the McCormack UDP-1 initally fooled me into thinking a tube was in there somewhere. You may want to add that one to your list.

The Consonance Droplet is not warm sounding. I have not heard the Raysonic. Very little current production tube gear is warm sounding.

My suggestion if you want to add some nice warmth and creaminess to your system is to try a MHDT Lab Paradisea DAC. It has toslink, S/PDIF and BNC inputs, and it uses one 5670 tube as a buffer. Really nice sound from this DAC. Sold only on E-Bay for $499 plus $35 shipping from the builder in Taiwan.

You could run your computer audio through it, and if you want to play CDs, you could buy a used Sony 7000ES or 7700ES DVD player. They are excellent transports.

Sonic Frontiers SFCD-1 or you could also go with a tube DAC. The SFD-2 is one of the best Red Book dacs ever made.

there are none. its simply a preference for people who like tubes