D'Agostino vs. Ayre

Im an Arye fan in fact I have the QX 5 Twenty and love it but please don't take me wrong, I kind of chuckle when I read the Arye AX 5 Integrated is so great and competes with most separates, The AX 5 Twenty cant compete with the MX R or R Twenty series of separates and yes I have heard them both" let alone most separates, yes its good but its not separates or ref gear.

Sorry guys for going off topic. @tecknik, I’m not sure if you were referring to my comments but I did say most separates (asumming also that we are talking about components in the same price range). Btw, I would not include the higher in the line Ayre reference R series separates in my comments. The MX-R series are indeed better sounding, especially if you pair its with the KX-R/20 pre-amp (this combo is almost triple the price). I'm talking in the $12-13k range. 

Imgoodwithtools I had a similar revelation a while ago that caused me to sell almost all of my existing equipment and convert to "the dark side" as some might feel.

I now use a Synology DS1815+ NAS (32TB) fronting a dCS Vivaldi 2.0 Upsampler, Clock, and DAC which drives my S-250 directly all through Transparent XL Gen V to the YG Sonja 1.2s and I've never looked back. Big fan of Roon and Tidal also. 

The Berkeley Alpha Ref is an amazing unit and certainly one of the best values. I really appreciate MSB's DACs as well.

As before I look forward to your comparisons. You might prefer the MX-Rs on your Alexias but the D'agostino worked magic with my YGs. I wish I had never listened to that Boulder 2160 however🔊🎶

Only a Month til the D'Agostino arrives! Lol. Have you heard the Berkeley Ref V2? Maybe you saw my posts elsewhere, but the upgrade to V2 Is Not Subtle. Its substantial. Great DAC. Its improvement in the upper mids and highs is causing me to sell my Atma Sphere MA-1s. The highs thru the Ayres are now as crystal clear as they were thru the Spheres.

Yes I have heard the Ref V2 but never the original. Obviously I'm a dCS fan but could live with the Berkeley easily. It's clearly in the vanguard of digital evolution. Saw your posts on the digital forum BTW.