Preamps: Ayre K-5xeMP vs Pass Labs XP-10 vs Arcam C49

@erik_squires Which Arcam integrated did you listen to? Did you find them technically close to Ayre components, or was the general warmish tonality the only similarity?    

Yeah I don't think I've actually meet someone who's heard any Arcam preamp, let alone the C49. 

@erik_squires  By "technically" I mean in terms of soundstage and detail retrieval. Sorry, I should have explained that better.

Thanks, really appreciate your feedback!

@don_c55 Well now that's an interesting development... thanks for sharing!

@nitewulf That's actually what I'm leaning towards now. I wanted to try something different just for kicks, but the Ayre was so good that I can't quite get its sound out of my head. I'm temporarily using a Parasound P5 and it's a radical difference. It's lacking in depth and is much more forward. Treble definition and timbre isn't as good and sounds dry in comparison to the K-5xeMP. It's funny because the Parasound is quite good for its price point, but the Ayre was on a different level.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I did indeed just end up nabbing another K-5xeMP off the listings here and have been happily listening to it for the past several days. I decided to not roll the dice with a preamp I had not heard in my system and go with what had made me happy in the past. Funny how the compulsion to upgrade in this hobby sometimes leads you back to where you started.