Best Preamp for Ayon Orthos II monoblocks?

Dougie, Stan's comment about the CD-5's preamp section are relative to what he feels is "good". Of course no integrated pre-amp is going to be as good as a dedicated reference tube pre for example, but imho the latest CD-5s has an excellent tube pre. I rolled the factory EB tubes in my player to NOS DR's & have been very impressed. In an a-b comparison in the same system, my CD-5s bested an Aesthetix Janus preamp with similar hours to my Ayon. The above-mentioned Meridian/Audio synthesis pair are both solid state, so personal preference weighs in. My advice is, let your ears decide.

08-10-11: Gammajo
"Of course no integrated pre-amp is going to be as good as a dedicated reference tube pre for example,"
I think that this may not necessarily be true

So if the one unit is well designed and shielded, if think it can compete and beat separates at the same cost.

Gammajo, of course yes the possibility to save the designer and end user money using a single box is obvious, and I agree Ayon have produced an excellent built in pre in the CD-5s. I also agree, that saved money can go toward better ic's & pc's (always a good thing), but assuming you already have reference level cables, adding a separate pre has the possibility of making a good improvement as there is less compromise in a dedicated preamp. In a well sorted system, I think the Ayon Orbis should be good for a 10-20% imrpovement over the CD-5s, and in high end those aren't small numbers. Move up to Vitus and it becomes night and day.

Audioman, your responses indicate to me you have spent a lot of time reading websites and reviews, but don't seem to have a clear understanding or appreciation for the differences between the two preamps. You seem to place a high importance on the measured figures of the CD-5s. Cheap cd players from your corner audio store can have excellent measurements, but in reality measurements reveal little about the sound qualities of a component. The fact is the Orbis is an ultra new linestage concept, with a remarkable 6H30 circuit (parallel single-ended design with high current bias point – yes we are talking about a preamp). Ayon spent a crazy amount of time on R&D for the Orbis to get out a new performance standard. Compared to the CD-5s, Orbis is a superior circuit design imho. It has in-house designed & built transformers, a regenerator ps which compensates for waveform irregularities to provide a clean, low distortion sine wave (It is not a filter as you described, though of course the Orbis uses chokes and filters elsewhere in the ps). Ayon are using a superior custom 4 channel/24 position volume potentiometer & new chassis with superior ventilation. The importance of the ps & volume control in preamplifier design can't be over-emphasized.

Audioman, i'm a bit confused as you remarked earlier that the Orbis is a noticeable improvement and were prepared to put a number on the difference, but you haven't heard the Orbis in your system? FWIW, I think the CD-5s as a cdp is an outstanding rbcd player at its price point, and my example is staying. The Reimyo CDP-777 had a better transport & superior processing (Extended K2 processing), but the Ayon has the edge elsewhere. An a-b comparison between those two players would be interesting. The CD-5s has an excellent pre for an integrated player. But i'm having a hard time with your estimate of the Orbis only providing a 5% gain over the 5s. Even an identical preamp as a separate pre should give a 5% improvement. And taking into account my earlier comments, i'd have to say i'm skeptical. But i'll reserve any judgment until i've done an a-b comparison between my upgraded CD-5s & the Orbis around the end of the year which should be interesting. Both pre's will be running identical tubes, so the 5s will have a fair crack. According to Gerhard Hirt, the Orbis has a rich, warm sound like the CD-5s, but it is a higher end pre with a newer, more refined design (even a little bit different to Spheris).