Attn: Ayre v-5xe owners



Hello,

There's been a lot of Ayre v-5xe amplifiers (two-channel 150 watts per channel) for sale on Audiogon over the past 3-6 months. Wanted to ask previous and current v-5xe owners what your opinion is of this amp. It seems that one recurring complaint is that the bass region is a little light.

Both reviewers and owners alike agree that the MXR monoblocks are expceptional, but most of us will only be able to afford the mid-priced Ayre amps such as the v-5xe. Wanted to ask if the v-5xe is a viable mid-level alternative or we should keep our fingers crossed that the MXR technology will trickle down to the lower-priced Ayre amps at some point in the near future.

Thanks in advance for your valuable opinions. As usual, the community is very helpful.

Matt
mminor

Showing 4 responses by fredericklarson

I have an XP-10 coming in for a demo next week. I also hope to demo side by side ARC LS-17se. Stay tuned.....
More time in the saddle needed, but initial impressions of the XP-10 and V-5xe pairing are excellent for overall tonal balance, tall/deep/wide soundstage and transparency.
With significant listening time now.....I have no reservations recommending the Ayre V-5xe as part of a rig in the $10-15K retail range. IMHO, it offers sufficient low end weight, transparency, balance and control. Further, system matching must always be factored in and therefore YMMV.

10 year update. The XP-10 and V-5xe are the sweet part of our audio rig. Just added WA SabrinaX and delighted to report the amp can handle these speakers with controlled bottom end, sweet mids and high freq. holographic. Amazing.