Two great pieces of equipment you bought. I assume that you have a digital source and don't have the same problem with it. Aside from any really weird or very odd problem, the issue you are experiencing has something to do with your phono cart and/or your phono preamp. Its pretty safe to eliminate your Ayre because it has a passive line stage. It sounds like there is too much gain somewhere. Probably, the most common source for the problem is not having your phono pre on the right settings when using a high output MC cart. If this is the case, you need to use the MM setting on your phono pre and not MC, even though you have a MC cart.
Another thing it could easily be is your phono cart just not being broken in. More than any other component, phono carts need to be broken in. There's no question that a cart can actually sound defected/broken when they are new. It can take a good 30-50 hours of play until they stop sounding broken. Definitely put at least 100 hours on it before any critical listening.
I'm fairly certain one of the above is your problem. If not, list your entire system in detail.
Another thing it could easily be is your phono cart just not being broken in. More than any other component, phono carts need to be broken in. There's no question that a cart can actually sound defected/broken when they are new. It can take a good 30-50 hours of play until they stop sounding broken. Definitely put at least 100 hours on it before any critical listening.
I'm fairly certain one of the above is your problem. If not, list your entire system in detail.