Ayre V-5xe Review

About a month ago I decided to upgrade my aging NAD S200 amp.  Since I adore my Ayre CODEX and P-5xe, I decided to try a V-5xe.  Johnny Rutan at Audio Connection lent me a brand new V-5xe to put in my system and told me to take as long as I needed to decide.  He also spent about an hour hooking it up, changing the termination on my speaker wires (gratis) because he thought he could make better connections, and making sure everything sounded right.  My speakers are Vandersteen 3a Sigs.  I run all-balanced interconnects.

The difference between the NAD S200 and Ayre was more dramatic than I expected.  The biggest overarching difference was that the Ayre has a certain sense of speed and attack that the NAD lacks.  In order words, it seems as though the Ayre has much better transient response and resolution of detail.  This came across obviously in bass heavy recordings, like the 96kHz release of Side Pony by Lake Street Dive.  What sounded like thumpy bass on the NAD now had texture and detail.  Similarly, the ride cymbal in "So What" on the 192kHz release of Kind of Blue didn't just sound like pings, but the actual impact of the stick on the cymbal could be perceived.  One of my favorite vinyl recordings is (don't laugh) Frampton Comes Alive.  I think it's a great recording, though I grant that people can be of different minds as to the music.  Regardless, the wall of sound that album projects never sounded so alive. My neighbor came over for a listen--who's old enough to have been a teenager when that album was released--was in absolute rapture.  It only took a day of playing for me to decide to buy the Ayre.  It works wonderfully in my system.  

The only downside I can identify with the amp is that the layout on the back is kind of confusing because it is mirror-imaged.  Be careful or you'll wire your speakers out of phase.  No sonic shortfalls that I can identify; I know some have pointed out that the last bit of the last octave of bass is missing.  I tell those people to c'mon over and listen to the Chesky recording of Sara K. doing Brick House.  

Thanks to Ayre for the great product, and to Johnny Rutan at Audio Connection for best in class customer service.