Ayon CD2 is AMAZING

That player rocks. You have chosen wisely.....

The CD3 was a two box unit, with a separate power supply. Ayon has since done away with the two box pieces, and the CD2 should be a significant upgrade over the CD3. Schroeder's review claims the CD2 to be "at least a 15% upgrade over the CD3." It uses the same four 6H30 tubes in the CD3. The kicker was that Ayon reduced the price of the CD2 from that of the CD3.

I don't think so. The CD5 has a digital out, but I don't think the CD2 does. Have to check. The CD2s does have a digital input.

Not so sure on the amount to spend on a TT setup to get the same sound quality as the CD2. I just bought a Clearaudio TT setup (the Champion Limited) for a shade under 5K, and I was told that it would "approximate" the sound quality of the CD5. We'll soon see- the TT arrives in about three weeks. Waiting on the next shipment from Germany.

Besides, isn't the point of an analog setup to surpass the sound quality of CD's?

I like the turntable. The Champion Limited package comes with the Unify tonearm and the Aurum Beta S MM cartridge. Clearaudio screwed up my order- they sent the table with the clear plinth instead of the black plinth. So, as compensation, they upgraded the cartridge to the MC Talismann free of charge. It's got a very detailed sound, more "live" than CD. It lacks the bottom slam of the CD player, though.

Nice, a bit different from CD. I like it, sounds very nice, and I have some stuff on vinyl that was never put on CD.

My CDP is the Ayon CD5.

I had the CD2 for about three months before getting the CD5. The CD5 smokes the CD2. Better resolution, better bass slam, tighter....just an all around much better performer, as it should be for nearly double the price.

Jazzy, if you don't own any old vinyl that you're seriously jonesing to hear, I'd stick with the CD2 for now. Getting a TT to match the sound of that player requires some bucks- and you don't have any vinyl to use with it. Would better spend that money getting the CD5.

Ral, the CD5, as you probably know, has an adjustable gain setting. I've tried all three settings.....on every one, the CD5 shines. It tosses a bigger soundstage, produces better detail, is more authoritative with bass and imaging is superb. It's about impossible to discern the CD5 from the Clearaudio analog rig I just installed. I settled on "medium" gain for the CD5. High gain will blow the doors off, but you seem to lose a little detail with it. Low gain is very similar to medium gain setting, you just gotta crank the volume knob on the preamp a bit more.

I use the CD5 with my preamp. Just like the sound a bit better. Part of the issue, I think, is some prejudice on my part- the gain on the CD5 preamp section is very linear, so you have to crank it up to get high volume. That's in contrast to the relatively non-linear gain on the EAR 868- or probably any preamp- where I don't go much past 10 o'clock before it's all I can stand. Having said that, I could easily live with the CD5 as a one box solution. The preamp section is nice. A little more dry/thin than the EAR. My original intention was to sell the EAR to finance the CD5. In fact, I had a buyer here in less than 24 hours, but he backed out. I'm glad he did, since I now have an analog rig, and the EAR has a great phono section, so I avoided having to drop more cash on a stand alone phono section. The CD5 is a significantly better sounding player than is the CD2 IMO. It's tough for me to ascertain much of a difference between the CD5 and the Clearaudio analog rig I currently run. The 5 just has more detail- bass is stronger, the high end more delicate, and the soundstage has a much fuller impression than does the CD2. Doug Schroeder's review on dagogo was pretty much spot on as far as I am concerned, but I don't know if I would go so far to say the CD5 preamp is as good as anything up to the cost of the 14K VAC Renaissance preamp. The EAR 868 is much less than that.....on the other hand, I know of some people who are very satisfied with the CD5 as a one box unit, and they've traded in some very high end preamps. Nobody really ever said that about the CD2. The biggest drawback to the CD5 as a preamp is that it has only one set of analog output jacks- so if you bi-amp, or run a sub off the preamp, as I do, you're looking at splitter cables to make things work, and that probably costs you something in terms of sonics. It has both XLR and RCA outs, but you can't use both at the same time- you have to choose which one you use via the toggle switch on the rear chassis.