You ended up with Ayre, what are your speakers?

@drubin, unfortunately I have not. 

@drubin, I did an extensive comparison between the EX-8 and AX-7e. My source was an Aurender N100H and an Ayre QB-9 Twenty. In a nutshell:

The Ayre EX-8:
- Has a much larger (depth and width) and more stable sound stage. It projects much more accurate, sound sources are better projected and stay in a stable position over the the whole frequency domain.
- Has more body in the sound (80-150Hz). The AX7-e has the tendency to sound more empty in that domain, with the tendency to sound nasal.
- The treble has more brass and definition, without becoming irritating, sharp or pushy/brittle.
- More authority, and very nice combination of dynamics and control.

The AX-7e:
- Sounds nasal due to the lack of energy in the low-mid region.
- Sound is more concentrated and projected between the speakers
- Is relative (!!!) “lifeless”, and has less good timing.

Overall, the beautiful sound timbre of the AX-7 and its holographic projection are outperformed by the EX-8 with more neutrality, without the tendency to become too clinical. On the contrary, it has more grandeur and authority.

I think the EX-8 is clearly sonically better on all aspects. I have the initial version, and awaiting the 2.0 update when it is available again.

Thank you very much, an excellent comparison. I see you joined AG just today, so some skepticism on my part, but still …

I have V1xe, K1xemp, C5xemp, all Ayre with Vandersteen 5A...   All the stuff is old, but so am I

@drubin I’m indeed since yesterday on audiogon (but since decades on Dutch audio forums, also active as a DIY designer, though less active due to my busy job). Even if I would be here for long times, the above represents only a sonic opinion from whomever.

The AX-7e is a very good amp, I had it since 2005, and used it with a lot of pleasure. Many people listening to it were always surprised about the amount of grandeur from this little box (typical reaction; "60W, really???"), and praised the musicality and velvet treble performance (don’t confuse it with soft or coloured). I assume the diamond and equilock circuits that have beeb introduced into the Ayre products since then lifted their products to a new level. The EX-8 is reported to be close to the AX-5, a bit less subtle and with a higher "fun" factor.

I did a thorough audition of the EX-8 (together with some friends), and we all agreed on the EX-8 amplifier part outperforming the AX-7e. I shared my notes with Ryan Berry (Ayre CEO), and he said he recognised my observations, being mostly what he also hears himself.

For the digital side it was a mixed bag. Though the EX-8 is very good, the QB-9 Twenty outperformed the digital inputs of the EX-8, exploiting more texture, sounds and reverb isolates better and decay into a darker background, treble is more airy, flanging, and pinpoint-able, the sound stage is more 3D (depth and width), and overall the overall sound embraces you more. The EX-8 sounds like the QB-9 DSD, and I assume the USB2 update (as introduced for the QX-5, under development for the 8 family) will bring it to the same level, as all the other electronics are equal to the QB-9 Twenty. The NET2 update, recently introduced for the QX-5 and also planned for the 8-series in a later stage, may lift the EX-8 to a solid ROON end-point, maybe making the Aurender and QB-9 redundant.