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Cary 303/200 vs. Ayre CX-7

I recently purchased an Ayre CX-7 (demo w/ 200 hours). I had a brief listen a year ago and it peeked my interest. I am now comparing it to my Cary 303/200. Overall, I like both and could live with both (albeit not an option). They sound different, but both are really enjoyable. I am listening two the players with XLO Sig. XLR cables, Krell HTS 7.1, Cary Cinema 5 amp, & B&W 804N. The Ayre is with a stock PC; the Cary is with a Zu Bok.

The Ayre sounds more natural with cleaner, more detailed highs. Nuances are easier to hear. Instruments seem more life-like. Imagining is a strong suit, but the sound stage is noticeably smaller than the Cary. Overall, its sound more refined than the Cary.

The Cary’s highs are not as crisp and detailed, but the player seems more melodic. It has a fuller sound-stage with a more pronounced mid-range and upper bass.

I actually like the sound of both. After listening to a bunch of music, it’s a toss up. The Ayre seems great with vocals, acoustic & a number of rock/alt recordings. The Cary seems to have the edge with harder rock & conveying more emotion. In particular, Eva Cassidy’s Songbird….Ayre sounds accurate & detailed....Cary the vocals are not as clear (a bit smeared on top), but they just penetrate you. Male vocals, however, come across nicer on the Ayre. I assume this reflects the differences in the two players approached to detail and the top end.

This is going to be tough choice. They are both great sounding players with slightly differences approaches. I was curious to know any thoughts from others familiar with both players.
macct

Showing 1 response by mphnkns

mphnkns
68 posts
 
If I can enter a comment: I have the Ayre right now; I'm auditioning it over the weekend. I find it QUITE dynamic, although I don't know if it does fff or merely ff. However, it is clearly a dynamic player in its frequency range. Only the treble dynamics are somewhat "polite"." Could perhaps be having a room interaction? I placed an ASC tube trap on the floor last night as a test to see if the Alons I have were still interacting with the floor (the bass driver is dynamic, for those who don't know, but the mid-and-treble drivers are dipole).

It made a significant difference in the clarity of the lower midrange and bass frequencies descending -- along with a significant increase in the dynamics of the entire frequency range, as though the lower midrange boost that must have been there was masking dynamic contrasts.
I'm not buying the Ayre, so I have no vested interest in it. However, from what I can see, the dynamic range, excluding treble, is fine. Ayre's amps had the same problem in 1994, when I owned the V1 amp: they were dull in the upper midrange/lower treble. I'd say the CD player is along those lines. What I mean is, it's not "see-into" in these frequencies, although you can hear detail fine. It's a bit like a car window with an extremely light morning mist on the windshield: you can see clearly, but you also know the mist is make the windshield just the tiniest bit hazy.
It's a nice player, though!
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