I have owned Ayre and Pass Labs. They cater to the same genre of sound. The Pass XA60.5 monos cost twice as much as the Ayre V5xe, so this is probably not a fair comparison. Be that as a disclaimer, I do prefer the Pass. Some might say that the upper frequency extension for Ayre is better. To me, class A amp. such as the XA60.5 definitely has fuller body, more detail, and the mid range is much more natural. Now unlike typical complaint about class A amp., the XA60.5s do not lack that last octave of the upper frequency at all. After listen to them for some time, I've come to realize that the artificial top end in so many class A/B amplifiers is what cause harshness and electronic sounding. It also makes the music more aggressive than what it naturally is, thus my ears got tired after a while. So Pass does it just right.
