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Best interconnect between Ayre AX-7 and CX-7

Time for another change in the second system. I found a few months’ old Ayre AX-7e at a bargain that I’ll pair with my Ayre CX-7. In every review of the AX-7 I found, and especially when looking at it together with CX-7, reviewers have praised the superior performance of balanced interconnects. Sadly, mostly without mentioning the IC’s used.

I read through a few older threads on interconnects for Ayre gear as well as the (disputed) general merit of balanced IC’s, particularly over short lengths. And was left a bit puzzled as to what the views expressed there would boil down to for this particular pair of machines.

Can anyone lift the veil (… or add to the confusion) what IC’s would bring the best result with this gear? In case Stealth Indra leaps to your mind, I am rather looking at something in the $ 500-600 range here (between 0,5m and 1m length, new or used). As far as XLR’s are concerned, I have seen a pair of Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II that would fit the bill, but would it fit sonically? (I have as yet not received an answer from the German distributor as to the availability of Ayre’s own IC’s btw, so I can’t judge their price level over here.)

As always, many thanks in advance for your thoughts or recommendations (XLR or RCA).
karelfd

Showing 3 responses by karelfd

karelfd OP
476 posts
 
Hi Beerdraft,
Thanks for the interesting lead. The Altairs look indeed a bargain. Would you happen to know whether the XLR Altairs are a true balanced design, as Nrenter pointed out?
Karel
karelfd OP
476 posts
 
At some point one just has to cut the knot, I suppose. I couldn't acquire some of the cables mentioned above within the budget I had set. Also, I read a few more reserved comments on the character of Cardas and, sadly, no reply from the German Ayre distributor. So I decided to be adventurous with this system and took advantage of a great offer for balanced Virtual Dynamics Nite II Reconditioned cable (ok, they look sooo cool with that twin double barrel of course). First impression is extremely positive, but I'm still working on this system. Luckily, I guess, this will remain a one source system, because I'm not so sure whether their Speed-Of-Light technology magnets would tolerate any other ICs next to them without sonic impact.
karelfd OP
476 posts
 
Redkiwi, thank you very much for your comments.
You will most certainly never hear me say that some manufacturers apply XLR plugs to unbalanced cables and then claim they are balanced designs. However, I have read several times (including older A'gon threads) the simple statement that XLR-finish is not synonymous with balanced IC. Given I sometimes see one and the same cable offered with RCA-to-RCA, XLR-to-XLR or RCA-to-XLR at the purchaser's choice, it looked wise to explicitly inquire about the topology of any XLR-cable. Any additional thoughts from others posters on this?
I have no first hand experience, the Ayre-combo would be the first gear I'd like to use balanced IC's with. Which is precisely why I'd put a few big fat exclamation marks after the last sentence of your second posting as it summarizes the reason for my original question: Do owners of the same gear think it is wise/worthwhile/indispensable to go balanced. And then one more: Of the many brands and models available, which one seems the most rewarding, the most "right" if you want.
Karel
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