Based on some posts by jkalman, I decided to give the ayre k-1xe preamp and V-1xe amp a listening to with the 802D. Actually, my dealer first hooked them up to some Magenpans. Very clear sound but a little bright and not much bass. To their defense, the Maggies were new.
I was totally blown away with the ayre + 802d combo. The realism was amazing! We put in Willie Nelson's Stardust cd and I could not believe the holographic imaging of his voice. I could practically see Willie and his braids singing in the room. His voice had a palpable feel to it that was 3-dimensional. It was like his voice was this 3-dimensional entity floating in front of me. The music was sooo smooooth and everything had an airy, clean presentation. i also tried the 802d with the cheaper k-5xe preamp. though very good, it just did not have the same realism and holographic presentation of the k-1xe. Is the k-1xe worth more than twice the k-5xe? I am not sure. This demo made me realize the deficiencies in my current system. By comparison, my system is flat and 1 dimensional. Of course, the 802d system is more than 3 times my current setup.
My plan is to upgrade my preamp, speakers, then amp in that order over the next 12 months.
I have never heard of ayre before recently and must say that i am impressed!jkalman, you were right about how great ayre sounds. I will be auditioning the Plinius preamp and amp combo soon as I hear that Ayre and Plinius are pretty similar in their warm, tubelike sound.
I was totally blown away with the ayre + 802d combo. The realism was amazing! We put in Willie Nelson's Stardust cd and I could not believe the holographic imaging of his voice. I could practically see Willie and his braids singing in the room. His voice had a palpable feel to it that was 3-dimensional. It was like his voice was this 3-dimensional entity floating in front of me. The music was sooo smooooth and everything had an airy, clean presentation. i also tried the 802d with the cheaper k-5xe preamp. though very good, it just did not have the same realism and holographic presentation of the k-1xe. Is the k-1xe worth more than twice the k-5xe? I am not sure. This demo made me realize the deficiencies in my current system. By comparison, my system is flat and 1 dimensional. Of course, the 802d system is more than 3 times my current setup.
My plan is to upgrade my preamp, speakers, then amp in that order over the next 12 months.
I have never heard of ayre before recently and must say that i am impressed!jkalman, you were right about how great ayre sounds. I will be auditioning the Plinius preamp and amp combo soon as I hear that Ayre and Plinius are pretty similar in their warm, tubelike sound.
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