I have heard both but not together, however I echo jrw40's opinion of Ayre. I have a C5xe-mp and they also did the upgrade. In addition I have been to Ayre Hqrs and they are a great group of people. I think the fact that they do upgrade would lean me in the direction of Ayre expecially if you are in the US.
Ayre vs Primare
I'm still looking for a new integrated amp. I currently have an Exposure 2010S2 driving Spendor A6's with a Sony 5400ES SACD player as my source. I have moved my system from a large living room downstairs to a smaller room upstairs so there is no longer a need for a high powered amp. My two candidates are the Ayre AX-7e and the Primare I30. Deep controlled bass and extended highs, while nice to have, are not as important to me as a natural, transparent musical presentation. Another reason these two amps are on my short list is because they have balanced inputs. Also, as a long shot I might add the NAD M3 to my list. I've searched the net, but can't find a direct comparison between the Ayre and the Primare.