Ayre CX-7E or Musical Fidelity A5?

Can't speak for the MF A5 but I have an Ayre CX-7 (soon to upgrade to e) and I am very happy. I won't tell you that it makes bad CDs sound good, but it sure makes good CDs sound wonderful. Great soundstage, bass, dynamics, detail.

Sorry to not help your decision but, my experience is an exact 180 of Tgyeti's. Ayre was musical. The MF had no glaring flaws but, just didn't do it for me.

You might try listing the rest of you system in case someone has some of the same components with one the players you are looking at.

I am the proud owner of the MF A5 Intergrated Amp and A5 CD Player. My humble opinion is that the Muscial Fidelity is going to blow your mind!!!
I'm currently using Aerial 7B speakers which are extremely power hungry. Transparent Super MM series interconnects, Transparent Supers Speaker cables and just the same stock power cords that came with both units. I have tried different power cords such as the Shunyata Alpha Helix and the DH Labs Power Cord. BUT, I'll tell you now. You will notice very very little difference in the sound with the A5 series. Musical Fidelity is just that good. They got it right the first time. Now you will notice a big difference with the A3 amp and A3 CD player if you use the Shunyata Power Cords but not with the A5 stuff. I hope this helps your decision.