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High-end digital audio playback gets an integrated boost in the form of the Mark Levinson No 5101 streaming SACD player/DAC. Precision-made to extract room-filling detail, texture, dynamics, and tones from both physical discs and electronic media, the U.S.A.-made No 5101 touts signature engineering and bespoke construction to achieve precedent-setting performance. Equipped with all-analog circuitry, a PrecisionLink II DAC, a discrete PurePath Class A output stage, and smart connectivity, it serves as both a standalone music player and premium DAC (replete with one coaxial and one S/PDIF input) for any digital source.

In addition to handling SACDs as well as FLAC files, No 5101 can stream from NAS drives, navigate files from a USB flash drive connected to its USB-A input, and support DLNA and UPnP devices connected to your network via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. No matter which format you choose, you'll enjoy immersive fidelity. At the heart of the processing stage beats the latest ESS Sabre PRO 32-bit DAC with jitter-elimination circuitry and a fully balanced, discrete, current-to-voltage converter directly taken from the company's No 5802 and No 5805 integrated amplifiers. For the linear power supply responsible for fueling the DAC and all-analog circuitry, Levinson includes a toroidal transformer mated to 13,600uF of filter capacitance. Moreover, individual regulators for each channel assure dual-mono operation.

True to Levinson tradition, No 5101 overlooks nothing when it comes to build quality. The unit's power supply, transformer, and control PCBAs come encased in a steel cage shield isolated from the digital and analog audio signal path. And when it comes to spinning discs, a robust slot-loading transport suspended on steel standoffs – floating on a PVC- and styrene-butadiene rubber sandwich and shielded with a steel cover – will kill ruinous vibration while providing optimal stability.

On the exterior, one-inch-thick aluminum front panels arrive bead blasted, black anodized, and machine contoured to seamlessly pair with the sleek glass display, itself recessed into a bead-blasted and clear-anodized aluminum bezel. Custom aluminum feet round out the architecture while an aluminum remote control and various communication ports ensure superb integration and easy operation.

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