Ayre MX-R upgrade costs?

i went thru this about 3 years ( maybe 4.. memory is fleeting ) when my VX-R died. Amp was under warranty but I elected to upgrade to the Twenty series which utilizes the double diamond circuit AND eliminates the troublesome On Semiconductor Thermal Trak output devices...a great idea but not reliable....
upgrade at that time was $6 K USD retail delta between two amplifiers. The VX is a stereo amp, new amplifier boards required. Took two weeks and the Twenty proved to me anyway a worthy upgrade- the old amp sounded best left on, twenty sounded fantastic 20 minutes after turn on
notable sonic changes with Vandersteen 7 were a more fleshed out midrange and clear treble extension almost from cold. Bass and particular mid bass better deliniated and punchy....
I always had in my long range plan to upgrade to the Vandersteen M7 monoblocks, which I did with a fantastic trade in on the VX- R
....
enjoy ! IMO the twenty series Ayre is world class and so are MXR/ VXR

From Ayre -
The Twenty upgrade for your MX-R monoblocks is $11,000 a pair US Retail and that includes shipping back to you. It usually takes two weeks or less to get the upgrade completed.

Actually, looking at the website, I recall seeing that they replace everything except the connectors and something else- Which seems odd as it wouldn't significantly add to the upgrade cost. Perhaps they still use the same parts in the Twenty version.
Bob

I got quoted 15k which seemed a bit steep

Certainly not cheap in a vacuum but a good deal relative to buying a new pair, no? I've used Ayre's upgrade service before and I am a big fan of not having to buy a whole new unit to get the latest and best performance. In the case of the MX-R Twenty, I vaguely call reading a post by Charles Hansen saying that they pretty much replace everything except for the chassis and, maybe, transformer.

I recall hearing that Ayre increased upgrade prices last December. Oh well, I’m not in a rush.
Good to know about Michael, he was always my go to guy.

B

Tahnks guys, I got quoted 15k which seemed a bit steep but I guess it is what it is

I would contact Ayre's Michael Wiedmair

I e-mailed Michael recently because I thought it odd my AX-5's volume would cranked down when I put it in standby mode (turns out the behavior is as designed). I found out that Michael is now doing sales and that customer service is now handled by Gary Mulder who worked at Ayre years ago.

If I recall correctly, it it about $11K. From what I have heard the '20' upgrade is a significant improvement.
BTW, I own the MXR's, too, and I have a hard time believing that they can be made any better.
I would contact Ayre's Michael Wiedmair and get it from the horse's mouth. Though he can't say if it is 'worth' it, he can give you the details on what is upgraded and why it is done.
B

The price is the difference between the retail prices (last MX-R retail price before it was discontinued now) and current retail for the Twenty (this increased recently) in your jurisdiction. 

The Twenty is a substantial improvement over the original MX-R.  No one can answer if it's worth it to you.  What are you looking for?