Amp upgrade from Ayre V-5xe

i think Charlies reputation as as engineers engineer and music lover is unassailable..especially by the mouthy peanut gallery

i was messing w a buddy of mine, there is no such thing as a SOTA Eico amp.....but he has a highly modified one that sounds fantastic w Revel speakers....

in the interest of full disclosure I did replave the Vx-R with the Vandersteen 7 amplifiers.....

who knows, maybe he will build a preamp..some day

ha

yes and no...I can assure you a ARC REF5se driving an AYRE Vx-R is sublime.....and in my system of hodgepodge mix and match provided great sound....

NAIM into Aesthetix into ARC into Ayre into Vandersteen....All AQ cables

5 out of 6 of those designers are friends and hang together, sharing patents, etc...

but yes, your results might vary....

OP congrats !!!!!! I think for your system you made 200% right call

enjoy that new amp

my experience w Twenty series is right from cold amazing sound.

enjoy

i have heard the be
they are quite good
even pushed by a SOTA very highly modified Eico 18 wpc integrated....system synergy and tge room count for a lot...

you really should consider Aesthetix....not very obscure for those in the know.......Jim is a pretty talented guy, his stereo sig amp made my final three cut. Tube front end, mule kick back end.....at least listen....

@thyname well sorted indeed, love the maple shade bases, etc...
they make some great recordings also...
making something really improves the ear :-) imo

love the nuc, I may go that route if I get serious about ROON....

I would not call the Ayre dark... ever

vx5 twenty
but Nelson is really quite good

My shortlist when I bought the Ayre VX-R

MXR
Aesthetix Stereo ( now in Sig level )
ARC ReEF150

there are a few people, me included that think the vx-r is better than .the mx-r
ya might have a listen.....

Hard to beat an Ayre stack
....vxr is under radar underrated amp
especially if you can find a twenty series....
i spent 3 x to better it....,,

work your cables, isolation, myrtle blocks, power cords before you change..,,,,