Ayon CD Players: CD-1 and CD-3

Sally, my new Ayon CD-1 arrives tomorrow. I'll let you know how it compares to my Consonance 2.2 once I've had a chance to listen. The distributor has a money back offer, so if it doesn't live up to expectations, you can send it back.

Sally and Darealjaydee,
The unit I purchased was the review unit from the recent Dagogo review, so Doug Schroeder did the hard work of breaking it in. I bought the unit from USA Tube Audio. I have enjoyed working with them and previously bought my amp there too. They are really responsive and great to deal with.

I listened to the Ayon for several hours after I received it Tuesday. I'll only send preliminary impressions now, since one day is hardly enough to make a judgement! It took a while to warm up because it had not been used for a while during shipping. Impressions on first listening are very positive. I have been thinking of getting new speakers and mentioned this to Charlie at USA Tube Audio. He said to try the Ayon, you might not need new speakers. I was skeptical about that as a sales pitch, but I have to admit that I am less interested in new speakers after I added the Ayon CD-1. Clearer sound, deeper bass, less "honk" on vocals. More 3-d soundstage and more detail. I am quite pleased so far, but as I said too early to say much more. Can't wait to spend more time listening, although the demands of daily living might be getting in the way of extended listeing for a while.

I'm planning on taking the Ayon over to a friend's house tomorrow night. He has a very nice system with Wilson Puppy 7 speakers and Pass Amp/preamp, so we'll see what he thinks compared to his vinyl set up.

That's it for now.

Howard

I've had a bit of time to listen to my Ayon CD-1 and I have been delighted. Just to add that I took the CD-1 to a friends last week and compared it to his heavily modded Sony SACD. He has a nice set up with Wilson Watt Puppy 7's and Pass amp/preamp. On his system, I really enjoyed the CD-1 and prefered it to the SOny. Of course, I was not unbiased, but given the return option for the Ayon I was listening quite critically. I found the Ayon more engaging: Highs were crystal clear without being bright, bass tight and deep, very musical throughout the range (blah, blah, blah -- the reviews say it better, but I was happy to be keeping the Ayon). My friend liked the Ayon, but was not won over in the session. He thought the Sony had more weight, but was impressed with the detail of the detail and musicality of the CD-1. He enjoyed the Ayon, but did not feel moved to give up the Sony for the Ayon.

Anyway, I'm a happy customer.