Integrateds: Luxman vs. Ayre?

This shootout is between the Luxman 507x and Ayre EX-8 2.0

Currently I own a Luxman 507x. Rather happy with it... but...

I use a separate streamer (Pi/Roon) and DAC (Mytek Brooklyn) for music and an external Anthem processor to feed it HT 2 channel.

My thinking is, the EX-8 would let me eliminate the DAC/streamer AND it has a separate sub out.

The issue is I've not heard the Ayre integrated, only the separates and I really like them, though they do seem to have a distinct sound to them.

Thoughts?

erik_squires01-11-2024 2:19pm

erik_squires OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 15,803 posts 01-13-2024 at 01:37pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Based on more reading it doesn't seem like the DAC in the Ayre integrated is as robust as the one's in the standalone products or other devices.
erik_squires OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 15,803 posts 01-12-2024 at 10:51pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete I have to take some exception to describing Luxman as sparkling. I find it equally extended at the top and bottom of the range. It may make a Parasound sound thick and overly warm by comparison, but it it snot harsh or extra colorfuil there IMHO, unlike say a Mc. By comparison to Ayre and Parasound it may sound cooler, but I don't think of it as a color saturated integrated.
erik_squires OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 15,803 posts 01-11-2024 at 04:15pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete I don’t find Ayre necessarily neutral. It has it’s own ... almost noise cancelling ... signature. It’s hard to explain it. Maybe the imaging is superior and lets you hear more into the recording as if it ignores the room? I can’t really describe it... but I find it’s audibly different. Maybe it's excessively quiet? I'm afraid words really kind of fail me to encapsulate what I've heard in the past.