Ayre and B&W...anyone heard this combo?

[jonnyz]

after a week-end with the 803D's I am still thinking about a pre/amp combo for 2 channel.

There is a premier Mcintosh dealer a few blocks from where I live so I stopped in yesterday and chatted the owner up. I told him about the combo I listened to and was pretty much ready to pull the trigger on the 402/220 combo when he sat me down and had me listen to an Ayre/Dynaudio setup that was stunning. After a week of Classe/Mac/Musical Fidelity on the 803D I had decided to go with the Mac. This dealer has been a Mac dealer for 25 years with his dad(not at this location) He has Nac in his own system but really thought I should take home a Ayre system for an in home demo and see what I think. He is convinced I will will like what I hear. He thinks that the Ayre is the best built/sounding thing on the market today in terms of resolution/musicality and was pretty much trying to talk me out of the Mac!!

Obviously, my ears have to do the deciding and he said as much but he really thought this would be a fantastic setup for the D's.

For what its worth, price was a fair amount less on the Ayre combo so I don't think $ was motivating...

decisions, decisions

[joetama]

I have always been pretty impressed with Ayre Equipment that I have heard.

But, I have never heard it on B&W speakers.

[audioqueso]

I remember reading somewhere on this forum someone using Ayra with a pair of 703 or 704. Try searching for the two and maybe you can contact the member.

[sikoniko]

I compared Ayre to Classe. IMO, Classe was better. You said you like Mac better than Classe, so Mac would be better than Ayre.

Of course, I don't like Mac, and you do, so two different people, two different opinions. Take him up on the home demo. You're spending a lot of money. No reason not to give it a shot.

[RebelMan]

B&W 800's Better with Ayre or Classe'?

FWIW, Ayre has been demoing their best electronics, the new KX-R pre-amplifier and MX-R monoblocks, (which I have heard) with the TAD-R1s. They are no longer pairing with the WP8s as I wrote about in my article and have since heard. I find it interesting that Ayre is still trying to find the optimal home for its electronics. Classe' needn't bother, they are already there. :B

[Greg Gale]

I have a Classe CA2200 and an Ayre K5XE preamp...

which I evaluated against an Ayre V1XE and a Bryston 14BSST in terms of power amps and the Classe CP500 pre-amp for over one week running N802's.

My audiophile freind was over for the comparisons and the combination that sounded best was the Classe CA2200 amp and the Ayre pre-amp. I really wanted to go for the CP500 to have matching units along with a built in phono stage option but at the end of the day I went with the Ayre pre-amp with CA2200 combo and have been extremely happy.

I purchased a Graham Slee Era Gold Phono Stage to go along with my Rega P25 with Dynavector cartridge and am pleased with this combo.

[jonnyz]

Thanks guys for the input and Rebalman>>

Thank you for the in depth review/comparison. Very informative reading. Forums like this benefit from folks like you who take the time to sit down and really listen to the equipment involved and then take the time to write up a detailed summary.

I will reserve my opinion for after my in home review of the Ayre/Mac audtion. I will reread your review and take your points into the experiment. I will report back what I find. It will be a few weeks as I want to wait until my new rugs/furniture are in my home.

thanks again!