I have read GREAT things about Ayre products but sadly have never heard them. McIntosh I have heard most of there better sounding amplifiers ( McIntosh makes a lot of different amp circuit types) this is not one of them, the 5200 uses no traditional autoformer its newer circuitry (I wont go into it now, but if its not double balanced or quad balanced with autoformer stay away) What you do get is a hell of a lot of stuff in 1 box. Also, the built in DAC is very good. and you get a MM phono stage (not so good) and a Headphone amp ( very nice ) So, I would say that if you have a large vinyl collection stay away from the MAC, if you love digital music, get the McIntosh. McIntosh makes some very good products they also make very expensive (pedestrian sounding) ones, wading through all their products can be daunting, I hope you have a good Mac rep so he can explain the differences properly. That MA5200 is NOT cheap! Because its versatile. But that dosent make it "the one to buy" Be careful, make sure you listen to them all first before buying if you can. Its YOUR ears that need to be happy.
Matt M
Matt M