Ayre C-5xe-mp v Sony XA5400ES

Zd542,

I'd really like to hear both, but we live in Montecito, a small town adjacent to Santa Barbara, so sampling is limited unless I venture into the dreaded LA area, and even then, the Ayre has been discontinued. I suspect you guys are right though. In a reply to my post at Audio Asylum about whether seeking an Ayre still made sense with Hi-Res computer downloads, he suggested an SACD on an Ayre could better a download.

db

I realize I left out a referent to he. It's John Atkinson. I'm likely to buy a used Ayre if I can find one under $3K.

db

I have an Oppo 105 in addition to the Sony XA5400ES, Tarp38. Both are connected via analog to a Parasound JC-2 that feeds Proceed HPA amps that drive a pair of KEF Reference 107/2s. The surround channels of the Oppo go directly to the amps.

db

IIRC, I read that the mechanicals are Pioneer, and that Ayre has stocked backup units for meeting future service needs.

db

Tarp38,

The mechanicals may be Pioneer, but the electronics that get superb analog out the door are from Charles Hanson et al., and I suspect the cost is in that design genius and the selection of components. Yesterday, someone whose audio judgment I trust, wrote to tell me he had heard the Ayre C-5XEmp in John Atkinson's house, and that the sound was "very, very good." That's good enough for me. I'm on the look out for an Ayre C-5XEmp for no more than $3K.

db

In looking at photos taken at the Newport Beach show on the Asylum web, especially those of turntable and speakers, I wondered if there is a market for that stuff or are they vanity products much like books written to satisfy the authors' ego. Artisan or vanity, I wonder.

My original post was about the Ayre C-5xeMP, a product that seems to have been produced in sufficient quantities to have a track record on the used market, and that the editor of Stereophile still uses in his system. Is John Atkinson duped by a fancy case, Tarp38, or does the Ayre really sound as good as the reviews suggest?

the case is actually not that fancy

The case appears less fancy that that of my Sony XA5400ES, so I hope the sound is sufficiently superior to compensate for such a plain-jane appearance. I expect to experience that sound myself if I find one for not over $3K -- I'll divert my eyes when playing it.

db

It's been years since I've seen the Ayre, so I rely on photos. I think both the Ayre and Sony are handsome in a functional minimalist way, neither manufacturer seems to have squandered money on bling.

I just received a Linn SACD sampler that reinforces my impression that the Sony is no sonic slouch, and I'm sure to play that disc on the Ayre when I get one. I also played surround from the Linn disc on my Oppo BDP-105. In my setup, the Oppo is limited to PCM because it does speaker management. The Sony does DSD but not analog surround. All my audio connections are analog. The Oppo is no sonic slouch either, but I prefer stereo DSD from the Sony to surround PCM from the Oppo for this Linn disc.

db