My last pre-amp, Rowland Capri or Ayre K5xe ?

Fo me, the Ayre was a huge disappointment. I'm mystified by the good reviews it gets.

Hi I have the Capri in my system and would be happy to discuss it if you are interested. Stephen 978 877-9123

Cirrus, did you get to a conclusion between the Capri and the Ayre K-5xeMP? I`m with the same doubt right now and your help would be very important for me. Thank you in advance. Antonio

I wonder why the Mac C500T doesn't often get mentioned as being a world class pre? Fantastic unit.

i'll second the ayre. own a k5xemp with matching amp.happy as can be. good luck

I have a Pass X2.5 and what I don't like is the silly hierarchical menu structure, which shows no evidence of the designer having even a rudimentary understanding of how people use preamps. Also, the display is too small. I also have the Ayre and I hate those silly icons. I used to have a Rowland Consonance, which I did not like for all sorts of reasons. They say the Capri is better, though.

Cirrus,
If you would like to discuss the Capri in detail, give me an email outside the thread, I own one.

Greg

I will second the Klyne recommendation;Stan is one of the best at what he does and a great guy to have a conversation with as well.

Very happy with the Capri, which replaced an ARC LS25mkll. The volume control is great. Great value too, and if you want analog the phono card is also a great value.

Dear Roscoeiii, The thing that really bothers me about the Pass X2.5, is that the volume settings are too coarse. A lot of the time the volume is too loud or too quiet.

Well then here's a biased opinion , I haven't heard an Ayre component I didn't like . I bought Ayre's KX-R preamp after owning ARC's Ref 3 and Levinson's #320s and could not be happier . I doubt it's the last preamp I'll buy , but I won't be parting with it anytime soon . Good luck in your search .

Can't compare the Capri and the Ayre. But I can tell you that I thought the Capri was just as good, but different than the Pass XP20. Both really superb pre-amps.

Just my nickels worth of advice get a Klyne and be done with the search. Stan Klyne will build it to suit your needs.

I said my last preamp would be my Pass X1.
I tried the BAT VK31SE. It actually sounded better than the X1 on single ended sources. The X1 did beat the BAT in my system with a balanced source (Electrocompaniet EMC-1up). It had a wider soundstage.
Then I tried a Pass XP-10. No contest. Another level of detail.

Can you let us know what you would like to have from a pre (features or sound-wise) that you aren't getting from the Pass?