Ayre C 5xe Universal vs. Cary 306 SACD

Kalan, I think it ios gorgeous in black. I don't understand why Ayre doen't have pic's anywhere. I luckily live 45 miles from Boulder and happened to call Ayre the day they were finishing a C5xe in black for shipment. They asked if I could be there by 3PM to seeit befoire they boxed and shipped it. Great people and it was love at first sight.

Hey, has anyone out there done anymore with these 2 players?
I auditioned the Ayre last night and was impressed, but no enough to lossen my wallet. I have owned a Cary 306/200 and thought it was one of the best out there. The new Cary 306 is suppose to be in another league. So I do not want to make a decision before hearing the Cary, but that will be a tall order...no local dealers. There sure are a lot of Carys for sale already and not very many Ayre of this ilk.
Mike

I actually own both players - the Ayre C5Xe and the Cary 306 SACD. I've had both of the players for over a month now. They are both unbelievably good!

Thus far the major difference appears to be that the Cary is more dynamic and possesses more "slam", while the Ayre is slightly more laid back and has (slightly) more inner detail. I actually prefer the Ayre for acoustic music, male and female vocalists, and chamber music, while the Cary really shines on massed instrumental, symphonies, sound tracks and music of that ilk.

Oh, how I wish I could keep both - but - ultimately I must make a decision between the two. I really love both of these incredible players - on SACD and on Redbook - both are wonderful - they just sound different.

Which is right? Which is the "best"? At this point, I'm really not sure. I have both units connected to my preamp and every time I switch between the two, I am convinced that "this one sounds better".

Since "decision time" is rapidly approaching, I guess I'll have more to report later. . . . . So . . . . . Later . . . . . .

Jprice we'll expect your final desicion, I'd like to add that if Cary is better in massed instruments it's a good sign for me, this is more dificult than Jazz trios.
Both are excellent though.
Do you play via xlr connections? both act better through xlr, Ayre is designed that way and Cary has multiple differential dacs. Please describe the rest of your system.

Thanks for asking Kops.

I connect the players through a balanced input, although my preamp only allows for one such connection. In order to make comparisons fair, and although it takes longer to make a switch, I will change interconnects, rather than utilize the switch on the preamp, to change from one to the other. When I'm not making comparisons, I use one unit single ended and the other balanced.

My other equipment is Spectral DMC-30SL preamp, Spectral DMA 250 amp. All MIT Oracle cabling, Avalon Eidolon speakers.

Actually, most of my listening is Vinyl (Basis Debut V Vacuum turntable, Graham 2.2 arm, Graham Nightingale 2 cartridge, Pass X-Ono phono stage) and I try to get digital sound that replicates that medium. Both of these machines come very close. Sometimes, I think they may be better!

I do think that both units exhibit better soundstaging with XLR connections.