Being as I have owned both players, I can say that the Ayre is a better machine(but not with a better transport.) However, and you'll love this, I liked the Arcam better! The Ayre has excellent resolution and all the good hifi stuff people talk about BUT the Arcam is warmer and more analoque like. It's just one of those players you can get hooked on. It makes bad CD's (which they're a lot of)more listenable. Its sound is very similiar to the old Sony XA7ES player. A very good sounding player and betters the Arcam somewhat. Both are very "Undigital."
The Ayre is a little lighter in its overall sound which I think leads to the slightly better resolution. It also probably has better low register bass. But here again, I'd rather listen to the Arcam!
Don't get me wrong, the Ayre is a good player and if you want EVERY detail on the disk, it's wonderful. It's well built (except I do question their choice of transports which both the Arcam and especially the Sony top hands down.)
My all time preference for just listening to music is the Sony XA7ES. No, it's not perfect but what it does do is some kind of fine. Very analogue like but maintains its resolution, etc.
In the Arcam's corner is it does HDCD which to me, with the appropriate discs, sounds pretty dang good!
The Ayre is a little lighter in its overall sound which I think leads to the slightly better resolution. It also probably has better low register bass. But here again, I'd rather listen to the Arcam!
Don't get me wrong, the Ayre is a good player and if you want EVERY detail on the disk, it's wonderful. It's well built (except I do question their choice of transports which both the Arcam and especially the Sony top hands down.)
My all time preference for just listening to music is the Sony XA7ES. No, it's not perfect but what it does do is some kind of fine. Very analogue like but maintains its resolution, etc.
In the Arcam's corner is it does HDCD which to me, with the appropriate discs, sounds pretty dang good!