They are still around although not a ton of new developments post Charlie Hansen. The only newish product I see listed is the KX-8 which appears to be a mashup of some of their existing 8 series products, though it does seem like a pretty nice multi-function all-in-one preamp/DAC/streamer.
Ayre CX-5 / CX-7
A friend loaned me his Ayre CX-5 CDP to listen to in my system. I am impressed, however, when attempting to research this player, I’ve come across different versions of this CDP. What I find is the CX-5, the CX-5xe, and the CX-5xemp. The back plate of my friend’s player simply identifies it as “CX-5” (no ex, or exmp). The only information i have found so far, is that the mp is a version upgrade that supposedly takes this unit, and upgrades it to a much higher level. My questions are:
#1 Do I have these model designations correct (CX-5, CX-5ex, CX-5exmp)?
#2. What is the difference between these three (CX-5, CX-5ex, CX-5exmp)?
#3. I may be looking to purchase one of these, how do I identify which one is which?
#4. Also, is there sonically much difference between the CX-5 and the CX-7?
In advance, thanks for your input!
8 responses Add your response
I agree with @v-fi and would be very wary of buying a CD player that’s 15+ years old and would certainly check with Ayre first to see if especially things like the drive mechanism/laser can be replaced at reasonable cost if/when they fail. That said, the MP version is an excellent performer that probably holds up well even today, and here’s a review written by, um, me exactly 14 years ago!?! that might provide some helpful nuggets FWIW. Hope this helps at least somewhat, and best of luck. https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/94-ayre-c-5xemp-cdsacddvd-a-player |
It's been a long time but if I remember it right, the CX-7 was their "affordable" CD player of that era. I think it sold in the $3-4K range. The C-5 was a universal player if you remember those. That means it played CD and also DVD Audio and Super Audio CD, and sold for roughly double the CX-7 price. I never heard them back to back, and recall different opinions as far as how much better the more expensive model was. But the 5 should be at least somewhat better than the 7, and it plays more formats if that still matters to you. I think it went C-5, then C-5xe (with the E standing for Evolution, mostly power supply upgrades), and then C-5xeMP where the MP was for Minimum Phase, a new filter they added. It's hazy but I don't think they labelled them with a sticker on back saying what the model was. You could send your older player in for an upgrade so even if it started as one thing, it could end up as another, and there's no way to really tell just by looking. But maybe I'm remembering it wrong. Those were great players back in their day but I think even the newest examples have to be over a decade old by now, or even 15 or 20 years in some cases. I'd be worried about things wearing out, such as the drive mechanism, laser, or capacitors in general. You can email Ayre and see if they have any advise but I personally would pass, you can find some great newer stuff for a good price these days and have many years of life left in them. |
