Soulution 520 preamplifier vs Ayre KX-R Twenty ?

joeinid

joeinid

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Thoughts? Hoping to ultimately pair with Ayre MX-R Twenty amps? I know the KX-R makes more sense.
 
Joe, the Ayre pre may well make more sense with the MX-R 20 amps. If you are curious about the soulution 520 Alan Sircom just wrote a review about it in the June issue of HiFi+

You can d/l a single copy of it thru the Newsstand ap on your iPad.

I am quite happy with my 520 preamp. In fact I've A/B'd it next to my soulution 725 preamp and the distance in performance is not as great as one might think.
 
The 520 is a single ended design. The Ayre is fully a fully balanced design. If you want to use Ayre amps you should pair it with a balanced pre. The 520 is supposed to be great and has the built in phono stage. It depends on how serious you are about sticking with the Ayre.

I have 2 Ayre sources and they always sound a little better balanced.

if you listen to both preamps with the amps you should be able to chose the one that suits you best.
 
The 520 pairs so well with anything I have put it in front of, my vote is for the Soulution. In saying that I haven't heard the Ayre
 
dan31 said:
The 520 is a single ended design. The Ayre is fully a fully balanced design. If you want to use Ayre amps you should pair it with a balanced pre. The 520 is supposed to be great and has the built in phono stage. It depends on how serious you are about sticking with the Ayre.

I have 2 Ayre sources and they always sound a little better balanced.

if you listen to both preamps with the amps you should be able to chose the one that suits you best.
Click to expand...

Can only second this, for optimal results Ayres need to be fed balanced.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Thank you for your opinions everyone.

I've never heard Soulution, but thought since Ken was going in a different direction with one of his systems, I'd take advantage of his sale. Normally I'd take a chance, but mixing and matching in this case does not make as much sense for me now. If I were not fixated on Ayre at the moment, I'd jump on Ken's gear.

My current Ayre combo has me happy with the synergy I am getting. Years ago, I had a non-twenty KX-R and did not realize how good it sounded. Only upon having many other pieces and coming back to Ayre recently, do I understand what I am looking for in a piece.

With the new Twenty upgrades, Ayre has made great gear even better for not crazy, crazy money (I know it's all relative).

So this leads me to looking for the KX-R Twenty, if possible.
 
go for Soulution, ask Ken when I advised him this......
 
Instead of spending 30k on the Ayre preamp (or any other preamp) I'd use that sum to buy a top DAC that could properly drive the amps directly (dCS Rossini/Vivaldi, Weiss Medus, Chord Dave, Bricasti M1, Ayre QX-5), it seems a waste IMO to spend so much for essentialy a separate volume control.
 
Anatta said:
Instead of spending 30k on the Ayre preamp (or any other preamp) I'd use that sum to buy a top DAC that could properly drive the amps directly (dCS Rossini/Vivaldi, Weiss Medus, Chord Dave, Bricasti M1, Ayre QX-5), it seems a waste IMO to spend so much for essentialy a separate volume control.
Click to expand...

Joe has a VPI turntable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Anatta said:
Instead of spending 30k on the Ayre preamp (or any other preamp) I'd use that sum to buy a top DAC that could properly drive the amps directly (dCS Rossini/Vivaldi, Weiss Medus, Chord Dave, Bricasti M1, Ayre QX-5), it seems a waste IMO to spend so much for essentially a separate volume control.
Click to expand...

I am seriously thinking about the QX-5, but absolutely love my Lumin S1. I do have a TT as well. But, I have always preferred a preamp in the chain and don't care for DACs played directly to the amp(s).

Mike said:
Joe has a VPI turntable.

:blush:

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
 
joeinid said:
Now that looks interesting :D
Click to expand...

Hi Joe,

My experience relates to the Levinson 326S preamp which is a current production model that is second to the top of the line preamp in the ML product lineup.
It has excellent reviews. While it sound very good, I preferred my Marantz SC-7 s2 preamp, which is more "musical" without sacrificing transparency/resolution & dynamics.
Ultimately, the Levinson 326S was a bit dry/sterile sounding in my set up.
Knowing your taste in the presentation of music, the Ayre preamp with the twenty upgrade would be more to your liking.

Anshul
 
Thank you Anshul. I'd have to agree, especially based on my current KX-5 Twenty. It's a wonderful preamp, probably as good as I need, but the KX-R Twenty is calling my name. It may take a little while, I'd love to have that piece.
 
Have you looked at VTL preamps, Joe?

I have demo'd the 6.5 with Ayre VX-5 and it worked very well. Preferred it to the all-Ayre pairing.
 
Hi Keith,

I have considered VTL (and even their amps too) but it always seems to be a difficult purchase. I have no doubt that they sound impressive, but the process seems to get complicated. Maybe my relationships with VTL dealers is not as friendly.


KeithR said:
Have you looked at VTL preamps, Joe?

I have demo'd the 6.5 with Ayre VX-5 and it worked very well. Preferred it to the all-Ayre pairing.
Click to expand...
 
Yeah, there just aren't a lot of fully balanced preamps. ARC and BAT are the other two common options. Not an ARC fan myself though.
 
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