Strange Oscillation

@falconquest Another idea would be to try that specific CD in someone else's system.

Falconquest - much of this thread points to issues unrelated to my comments below, but there are a couple of comments which made me wonder....

I do have first hand experience with a problematic Ayre amplifier and internal osculation issues.

The amp actually blew some internal components and the reason was the speaker cables, which had a sufficiently high capacitance, caused the amp to "oscilate" to a degree that some internal components were overloaded.

The cables in this case were from Cardas - replacing the cables with a pair of a lower capacitance resolved the issue completely.

The amp had previously been working with the Cardas cables, but the introduction of a high quality power cable was just enough to provide enough electrical energy to put it over the top.

The amp is now working perfectly well with the new power cable and a new pair of lower capacitance speaker cables.

BTW, the owner of the amp had also tried the Cardas cables on another high-current design amp and blew that amp also.

This oscillation issue is well documented on the web and effects only those solid state amps of a high current design - Ayre being one of them.

I don't know if this is your problem, but it is pretty easy to rule it out - simply try installing a different speaker cable.

Hope this helps

falconquest,
all good suggestions by other A'gon members. Here's another thing to try - use a black Sharpie to paint the outer rim of the CD (similar concept to using a Stoplight pen). I've done this to some of my favourite music CDs. Since the black line (the width of the Sharpie nib) is along the outer rim where there is no music/data content it will not affect reading the disk. What this black ring on the outer rim does is reduce/eliminate any laser reflection & multiple erroneous pick-up of data during read-back which is one source of distortion.
if it does nothing for you, you can use alcohol & erase this black ring & your CD will be back to its original looks.
Many of my CDs which have a transparent section at the center spindle hole have been colored black using a Sharpie in addition to a black outer ring. It might not make any difference but it helps cut down on laser reflection off the shiny disk. FWIW. YMMV.  

Yes, as Bombaywalla indicated a number of good suggestions have been made. And as the diversity of those suggestions shows, there are a lot of different possibilities that may account for the issue. Some further thoughts:

First, just to be sure, is the MFSL DSOTM truly just a redbook CD, or might it have an SACD layer as well, that may be what has been played without the issue appearing?

Second, given that the problem is both volume sensitive and note sensitive, the only effects I can envision that might be occurring are:

1)The player’s ability to track and/or read the disc is marginal, and vibration may be putting it over the edge when the problematic notes are played at high volume. (I would not assume that the two versions of DSOTM, one of which precipitates the problem and one of which does not, have been mastered identically). Good suggestions have been made above regarding this possibility.

2)Either the power amp or the circuitry in the preamp that is downstream of the volume control may be marginally stable, and certain notes may be putting it over the edge. (Again, I would not assume that the two versions of DSOTM, one of which precipitates the problem and one of which does not, have been mastered identically).

3)The amount of current drawn by the power amp when the problematic notes occur may be affecting the AC line voltage, and that fluctuation in line voltage may be affecting something that is marginal in the system.

Regarding nos. 2 and 3, if I’m not mistaken your power amp can be switched between class A and class AB operation. As an experiment, it may be worth trying it in whichever of those modes you have not been using.

Also, as an experiment it may be worth trying the listen/measure switch that is on the back of the Ayre CDP in whichever position you have not been using.

And it would certainly make sense to try the problematic CDs in the Oppo player you appear to have in your system.

Regarding Williewonka’s suggestion of trying different speaker cables, I agree that the application of excessive load capacitance to the power amp outputs could conceivably be involved. Especially given that your speakers have highly capacitive phase angles at certain frequencies, as well as low impedance. Although it appears from your system description photos that the cable lengths you are using are probably fairly short, which means that the unspecified capacitance of your Morrow cables is probably not especially high. In any event, as an experiment you could reduce the capacitance the cables present to the amp by a factor of two by disconnecting one of the two biwire runs, insulating the disconnected exposed terminations, and using jumpers on the speaker terminals.

Just some thoughts. Regards,
-- Al

falconquest,
an addition to my orig post keeping in mind Almarg's point #1 - if you can get a hold of a CD mat that experiment might also be useful. CD mats are often used to dampen vibration, squelch laser reflections & generally aid in producing clearer, more defined digital playback without overburdening the motor spinning the CD. I think this would be an additional good experiment, if feasible. Thanks.