Ayre Acoustics AX-5 Twenty

I own Ayre K5xeMP and owned Dynaudios (Focus 140) before. I wouldn't call Ayre dark, or Dyanudios lively.  In my experience, Ayre is dead quiet, noise free if you will, very open and transparent, and believe it or not, it's a bit sweet, I certainly enjoy it more than my previous tube preamp. It's super detailed, tight on the low end...sweet on the high end. I am very impressed by Ayre.

As for Dynaudios, Focus series was dark and boxed in, needed very high current and high volumes to open up. Once opened up, very nice sound. I like Dyns, they have a sweet top end, and an engaging low mid, high bass tuned type of a signature. Recently I heard the Contour C20s while speaker shopping...and they were very, very nice. I loved their big sound.

Sorry - to answer your question, I think if the speakers are somewhat efficient (don't know which model you're talking about), ie, like 87db and up, the Ayre would be a very good match for Dynaudios.

That's very difficult to say. Dynaudios typically demo with Octave gear, so no doubt there's great synergy there. I heard the C20s with Primaluna, which also sounded great.  As for Ayre, if their entry level preamp is this good (K5xeMP), then I'd be highly surprised if the AX5-20 doesn't live up to expectations. However, as we all know, hyperbole aside...electronics reach a level of diminishing returns past a certain price point. Improvements, yes, but never night and day like people claim. But at that range, I think you should also check out Gryphon if possible.