Ayre CX7-E vs Rega Saturn; your thoughts please

I listened to the 840c briefly prior to picking up a CX-7e and they are not really in the same league. If the Ayre hadn't worked out the Rega was on my short list along with the Linn Majik.

The nice thing about the Ayre is that it now can be upgraded to mp version.

Second the CX-7e. It is already a very fine sounding player in the evolution ("e") form and I hear that it is significantly better with the recently announced MP upgrade.

As Cpk points out, Ayre is constantly looking for ways to improve the sound of their equipment and always offer current owners very fair prices on resulting upgrades. Their equipment does sound better when using the balanced XLR connections, so keep that in mind when choosing.

Not precisely what you asked but essentially very similar.....
With redbook the (VSE/Custom Analogue) Uber Clocked Saturn simply sounds musical compared to the stock Ayre CX5-E which sounds clockwork.

Not even the slightest competition without considerations if you appreciate an analogous presentation:

Saturn=Fluidity, full blooded tone and timing
Ayre=hard mechanical articulation...

... different horses for diametrically opposed courses !

Hi Folks,

I appreciate the feedback, and it supports my inclination towards the Ayre. I had the opportunity to listen to both machines in a shop in NYC. However, the associated electronics, cables, and speakers were different for each player, and so, not an entirely, or even remotely near, objective comparison.

There are strict budgetary constraints in play. To that end, my purchase will most probably have a high dependence upon the fine Audiogon community.

Coolhand, the mod route is intriguing, and I have done some reading about the interesting evolution of VSE, and it's closely knit offspring. The results seem impressive. However, it seems that even with the purchase of a pre-owned Saturn (no relation to, and with all due respect to GM, and now Penske), this option would appear to be outside of my budget.

Please keep the opinions coming,

Thanks again.

I had both players and I preferred the Ayre.