Ayre C-5xe-mp v Sony XA5400ES

I owned both the Ayre C-5xeMP and Muse Erato II, but have not
heard the Sony XA5400E. The Ayre was very nice sounding and I
would fully recommend it as a top notch disc player. I
thought the Muse was even better sounding on red book and
since it also played my DVD-A discs, I sold the Ayre and kept
the Muse.

The Ayre C-5xeMPis is not related to the Oppo. Ayre's short-
lived DX-5 A/V Engine used the Oppo as a platform. Not sure
why the DX-5 was discontinued but, in my case, I get the best
sound from my music server playing files through Pure Music.
Maybe Ayre is focusing on their digital offerings that do not
play discs. The only disc player still sold by Ayre is their
CX-7eMP, which I also owned and found to be good but not as
good as the C-5xeMP or the Muse Erato II.

Correct Zd542, he doesn't a single manufacturer, but he does name (indict) several retailers selling mass produced gear from overseas that was designed to be replaced "only a few years down the road."

Magazines have to fill pages and Dudley filled four of them comparing the demise of the Victorian age and the inception of the Arts and Crafts movement with the modern state of hi fi, and implying the consumers have finally become smarter and fed up with marketable, mass produced, but poorly made gear so they are about to revolt against buying such gaudy but cheaply made products, causing the offending companies to fall like dead leaves from a tree and to be replaced by artisan craftsman hand building heirlooms. He does name gear from several companies deemed to be worthy.

I find the rant interesting coming from a magazine who for years has shunned many of the very artisan manufacturers Dudley is promoting, by refusing to review their gear - because they don't have a "dealer network." The other thing I find interesting is that I have no trouble finding hi fi gear crafted by exceptional artisans. As for the offending, mass-produced gear, as long as people buy stuff, people will sell stuff. I think it is more a matter of "different strokes for different folks" - thankfully we have a variety of manufacturers and gear to choose from.

Is John Atkinson duped by a fancy case, ... or does the Ayre really sound as good as the reviews suggest?

Yes, it is a very good sounding disc player and no, the case is actually not that fancy.