Ayre AX-5 Integrated Amplifier


Any comments on the New Ayre AX-5 Integrated Amplifier? I know its list price is $10,000. Does anyone have any impressions on this unit that was recently released?
hgeifman
I'm pretty sure ill be hearing the AX5 on Monday. It's going to have to really be something special for the price of admission. There's no shortage of amazing integrateds in that price range. The AX7e barely made my drivers jiggle in my Harbeth C7ES3's so Ill be curious if this unit will do anything for me.
I own it and I told Ayre its underpriced because the sound stage and transparency are beyond the listener's expectations. Of course it helps if you have the C-5XEmp, Heimdal RCA Interconnects, and Thiel CS-3.7s to deliver what's really laid down on the CD.
It sounds great straight out of the box with few hours of play.
Ayre recommends 100-500 hours of break-in time.
I use it with DCS Debussy connected via Audioquest Sky XLR.
My sources are Mac-mini,satellite and bluray player from Pioneer.