Ayre VX-5

the professor

the professor

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Has anybody heard one of these in non-show conditions? I understand they are starting to show up at some dealers.
 
I'd be curious too. The reviews have been great so far but I think it may run a little warm.
 
Was on the market for a pair of MX-R, went to my local Ayre dealer where they had both the VX-R and VX-5. Following the rave reviews I thought the Vx-5 could do the job but after listening to them I stayed with my initial purchase decision. I had read VX-5 were 90% of the VX-R but after listening to both side by side my opinion is that they are closer to 70% of their big brothers, similar signature but not as much depth nor presence,sounded more solid state to my ear. Still a very fine amp. Mind you I may have been biased as I had already made my mind prior to the VX-5's intro, second the unit may not have been fully broken in.

My 2 cents

Dan
 
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RedSectorA... Hello & Welcome to AudioShark!!!

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Thanks for the welcome guys, more of a lurker than poster but you will see me post from time to time. Audio, like many things in life, is a very personal thing so I generally keep my opinions to myself although I enjoy reading others. When I make a decision I let my ear and wallet do the thinking
.

Dan
 
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RedSectorA said:
Was on the market for a pair of MX-R, went to my local Ayre dealer where they had both the VX-R and VX-5. Following the rave reviews I thought the Vx-5 could do the job but after listening to them I stayed with my initial purchase decision. I had read VX-5 were 90% of the VX-R but after listening to both side by side my opinion is that they are closer to 70% of their big brothers, similar signature but not as much depth nor presence,sounded more solid state to my ear. Still a very fine amp. Mind you I may have been biased as I had already made my mind prior to the VX-5's intro, second the unit may not have been fully broken in.

My 2 cents

Dan
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thanks for your thoughts

from what I hear, Ayre will have an upgrade for the mxr and vxr using the diamond tech. so your choice is very likely to get even better.

enjoy your new amp. Ayre has great sound.
 
I got to hear the amp last week at my local hifi shop. I heard it with an Ayre CDP, ARC LS 27 and an Atma Sphere MP-3 preamp paired with Magnepan 3.7i's and the 1.7's. The Ayre gear had a warmer and darker sound. It was a nice sounding amp, very detailed but dynamically and musically it could not hold a candle to my Pass X250 amp. I went back to the shop a few days later to listen to the preamps again, but this time with a Mac MC452 amp. The 452 sounded better than the Ayre. I think part of it was the Ayre just did not have the power to drive the Maggies as well as the Mac or my Pass. The bottom end just did not have the speed and oomph that the other 2 amps have. Even the Mac was not as dynamic as my X250.

I did however like the warmer presentation. The sound was fairly warm and dark with the ARC LS 27 and a less dark with the Atma sphere preamp
 
I use the Ayre KX-5 preamp and VX-5 amplifier, with a Wilson Sophia 3's, which aren't too challenging to drive. Absolutely love the sound of this amp. I used to have the Ayre V-5xe; the VX-5 has more body, and certainly more low end than the V-5xe.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I've heard the VX-5 on Revel Studio2's and would love to hear it on my SF Evolutions. It's a great amp for sure.
 
wizard said:
VX-5 Twenty

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For all VX-5 owners: What happens when you do the Twenty upgrade is that you send in hi-fi and get hi-end back. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Just got mine back from the upgrade recently and the VX-5 Twenty is definitely in a different league compared to pre-upgrade. The improvement is not subtle at all.

But be prepared to wait a bit, I ordered the upgrade in January and got the upgraded product back in September (I'm Europe based though).
 
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