Ayre owners and preamp options: seeking advice

Good advice,hk_fan.  Thanks for the suggestion of VTL.  Looking for a little more everything but resolution, separation, and pristine extended upper frequencies to flesh out lightly brushed cymbals etc. to name a few.  I do not want a wholesale change in sound.

...what more could you want...

More Ayre, of course!
 Done with room and system tweaks. The suggestion to look at new DACs is reasonable too. But I'd want something with an upgrade path. 

Now that new 8 series looks interesting.  I will also look at the codex specs again.  It has received a lot of positive reviews.  My current dac receives a USB input from my Mac Pro as well as an optical input from an older meridian CD player which I use as a transport.  I should try a newer dac  and see where that brings me.  If not a big change then I will very likely just get a new Ayre pre.  I really do love the Ayre stuff.  It's built well,  reliable and musical.  I'll probably die before it does.  thank you all for the helpful suggestions!

Randy-11:  Agreed.  First thing on my list.

 Drrsutliff: if you are using a mc cartridge with yours, what is its output?  Can you hear tube rush at medium loud listening levels?

That there is nothing out there regarding Ayre mods speaks volumes about the quality of Hansen's designs and overall satisfaction of owners of Ayre equipment.  Guess I answered one of my own questions.

Hi @aubullience , I'm the OP on this thread. Ayre electronics are a great choice because they sound great, are reliable, and backed by a solid company that offers great customer service. I made a few changes to my system since my original post. First, I felt my speakers needed more grunt so I sold the VX-5 twenty and replaced it with a Pass X350.5 amp. I also sold my K-5xeMP preamp and replaced it with the fantastic Ayre K-1xe. It gave me slightly greater extension, improved transparency but most noticeable was a more 3 dimensional image and soundstage. I have enjoyed this preamp immensely for a few years now though it is getting a bit long in the tooth. I still use my Ayre phono pre.  I started looking at other preamp options including Pass, Zesto, and Backert to name a few.  The problem is I know I can't keep the big Pass amp forever, it is just a beast and I am too old to lift it. So whatever preamp I get needs to be broadly compatible and will likely be end-game for me.  I will say that the K-1xe is a fantastic pre and deserving of the praise it received when it first came out. Thanks for reawakening this thread.