@stringreen Thank you so much. I might just give Ayre a call. From what I can hear from people, their customer service is at least as good as their electronics.
Ayre Codex DAC-pre to power amp
Hello
I am seriously considering buying the Ayre Codex DAC which can also be used as a digital only preamp. I currently own a Jolida 202 tube integrated - but would like to get rid of of it and connect the DAC/Pre to a power amplifier directly in order to get a more high power system (ideally at least 200W/ch).
In light of that, my question is as follows. Ayre are very particular about the no-feedback designs and perhaps that is the reason that I like the sound of their DAC and other amplifiers (that I have heard). However, a lot of their power amps are slightly out of my budget. If I chose to connect the output of an Ayre DAC to one of the following devices, would they color the output beyond all recognition?
I am seriously considering buying the Ayre Codex DAC which can also be used as a digital only preamp. I currently own a Jolida 202 tube integrated - but would like to get rid of of it and connect the DAC/Pre to a power amplifier directly in order to get a more high power system (ideally at least 200W/ch).
In light of that, my question is as follows. Ayre are very particular about the no-feedback designs and perhaps that is the reason that I like the sound of their DAC and other amplifiers (that I have heard). However, a lot of their power amps are slightly out of my budget. If I chose to connect the output of an Ayre DAC to one of the following devices, would they color the output beyond all recognition?
- Bryston 4BSST2
- Parasouond A21
- Benchmark AHB2 (http://benchmarkmedia.com/collections/amp/products/benchmark-ahb2-power-amplifier?variant=585551249)
- Plinius P10
- McIntosh MC402
Showing 4 responses by badri
@tomic601 Isn't this their page? https://www.facebook.com/AyreAcoustics/ I don't see the conversation that you mention on there. I apologize if I am being blind - but I would really appreciate it if you had a link handy. |
@stringreen I just called Michael at Ayre. He was quite unambiguous in stating that the Codex output could very much be fed directly into a power amplifier. He did add the caveat that the codex was designed first as a DAC and a headphone amplifier. So the fact that it has a digital volume control and variable out should not be let the customer confuse it for a high quality pre-amplifier. Adding a good preamplifier will definitely improve things (as many others in many forums here have pointed out) but that does not mean that the Codex cannot be used, at a pinch, to directly feed an amplifier. He said that they themselves had done so many times. Thank you so much for letting me know to contact them. Hope this information is helpful to others on the forum. |
@tomic601 I got my Codex yesterday. While it is too early to say what it’s sound is, given that it needs about 200 hours to break in, I can already say that the midrange is liquid, the highs are silky (though, just a bit bright) and the soundstage is much more expansive than just the Sonos. Already hearing things in my music that I had never even heard before. Massively happy with it - and can’t wait to see what happens when I move to using the balanced outputs! |