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Chord Dave or Ayre QX5 Twenty DAC???

Down to two choices in DAC's, the Chord Dave or the Ayre QX-5 Twenty. Comes down to best sound or versatility and cost. Speakers are Wilson Audio Sasha's and amp is T+A 2500R. Love the versatility of the Ayre but the sound of the Chord Dave is phenomenal, not sure if the Ayre could compare. Not sure if the Chord would still sound as good without spending mass amounts on a power regenerator and power cable. 
musicfx
ricred1
1,974 posts
 
My friend had the Chord Dave and Bricasti M1 SE. He said, "it's not even close, the Chord Dave is more musical, better separation, and better mids/highs." All around he feels the Chord Dave is better, but he doesn't like the way it looks.
gdnrbob
4,407 posts
 
My friend had the Chord Dave and Bricasti M1 SE. He said, "it's not even close, the Chord Dave is more musical, better separation, and better mids/highs
For that amount of money, I hope it is.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,222 posts
 

With audio components it is  about the sound quality when all is said and done. If I heard a component I truly believed sounds "phenomenal" (in the words of musicfx)  That'd be the one for me. Yes I'd want it to look good  but that's a secondary concern. Give me the better sound every time. You'll be using your ears much more than your eyes in the long term.

Charles

sc53
718 posts
 
I have the Ayre QX-20, replaced my Ayre QB-9DSD. Both are excellent DACs, don't know why Bar81 says not. I heard the QX-20 and the Chord in the same room at a shop; I preferred the Ayre. You might not.
sun-warrior's avatar
sun-warrior
28 posts
 
Last year I did an expensive experiment, and owned the Chord Dave, Bricasti M1, and Berkeley Ref Series 1 at the same time. With multiple outputs from my Aurender N10 and multiple inputs on my Luxman integrated amp, I was able to do various tests somewhat easily.

And very clearly to my ears, the Chord Dave offered more detail, more warmth, deeper soundstage and just plain more toe-tapping than either the Bricasti or the Berkeley.

I sold the latter two, still love the Chord Dave, and look forward to Chord's new gizmos that are supposed to improve the Dave's sound tremendously. But even with no extra gizmos...

Dave, who adds that while he didn't stick with the Chord Dave for its headphone amp capabilities that's also quite quite quite good
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