Esoteric X03SE vs Ayon CD-2 or CD-5

Dear Nisey

One of the "things" the joule preamp does is spread out the music into a "wall of sound" that fills up the room really big. You don't get a framed "acoustic image" between your speakers. I prefer big sound.

I auditionded the Ayon CD2 through my Joule Electra tube preamp, Vac 80/80 tube amp, Aural Symphonic cables and Sonus Faber Extrema speakers and found instruments in musical selections to be disconnected in space albeit the imaging, resolution and soundstaging were very fine indeed. The
Ayon to me was analytical rather than musical.