AtmaSphere + Ayre

    I really love my AtmaSphere MP3, but am not a big fan of the Chinese tubes that come in the phono stage. Ralph recommends them because its so hard to find 6 quiet NOS tubes that work in the phono stage. Well, I've been on a mission to do just that. And I'd say I've been pretty successful. I still get some tube rush between tracks at high volume though.

   I really wanted to hear what a "dead quiet" SS phono stage would sound like in my system.  Enter the Ayre P-5xe.
What a wonderful sounding pre. I really loved that it keeps with the fully balanced/zero feedback theme of the rest of my gear.(AtmaSphere MP3 and M60 monos)

This phono pre is the real deal. Nice deep and wide soundstage and tonally correct. It doesn't sound like what I was expecting a solid state preamp to sound like( I've never had one)

Here's the deal though.....I really don't think its any better than the phono in my MP3. If it is, its not by much. I was expecting a completely black background when I crank it up, mainly because with the MP3, when I switch to my digital input from the phono, the hiss goes away. That made me think it was just the phono tubes. But I still get some tube hiss at high volumes with the Ayre, slightly less.

This post is in no way meant to knock the Ayre,its great. It just confirmed that the AtmaSphere gear is awesome and something I can probably live with indefinitely.

My two cents for any Ayre and AtmaSphere fans. Two great companies with outstanding products!