Ayre vs Conrad Johnson

I agree with Timo62. I doubt there is anyone else out there that knows Vandersteen better than John from Audio Connection. Great place to do business.

I have heard a ton of equipment over the years, and although I respect Ayre the company, I find there house sound to be a bit dry and lackluster. Tonal color seems monochromatic as well with slightly diffuse imaging. Krell, ARC and even CJ have better overall presentations.

I like Ayre. I've never experimented directly with the exact combination of all three directly but I have owned all these brands at one time or another. I would think the CJ/Vandersteen combo could go a little to much to the warm side of things. I did compare an Ayre preamp with CJ and that was quite a stark contrast I preferred the Ayre by a lot.

Conrad Johnson had always gone well with Vandersteen , especially the tube equipment. I have not heard the Ayre with Vandersteen , but have heard many good things with the pairing of the two.
I would contact John at Audio Connection in Verona ,NJ. He is man to talk to about Vandersteen products. He sells both Ayre and Vandersteen. He would be able to give you a wealth of knowledge on this subject.

http://www.audioconnect.com/

I've owned several products from Ayre and CJ. Vandersteen is my favourite speaker, as well. I love all 3 brands but if I had to choose between Ayre or CJ for Vandersteen's it would definitely be Ayre. (Actually, I've already made the choice. I use Ayre/Vandersteen myself.). I don't have a lot of time right now to type but I will say that there is incredible synergy with the combo. If you have any specific questions, just post them and I'll try to answer them for you as best I can.