Solid State preamp Brands

 

 

larryi

3,911 posts

09-29-2024 at 10:23pm

I am a tube gear fan. While I don’t think Ayre gear sounds particularly like tube gear, and their stuff is not tonally warm, I like their sound for some reason.

I bet I know what you mean... it’s the magic that caught my ear and is draining my wallet.

What Ayre gear have you heard and maybe I can share something that may be of interest.

I own / have owned:

• KX-R Twenty preamp
• MX-R monos (upgrading to Twenty soon)
• QX-5 Twenty Streaming DAC / Hub (replaced QB-9 Twenty)
• VX-5 Twenty amp
• K-5xeMP Preamp (awesome value / best "non-Variable Gain" preamp I’ve heard)
• AX-7e Integrated Amp (Awesome Secret)
• QB-9 Twenty DAC (sold)

@jim2 that is one awesome looking build. wow.

@willy-t  yes the JC2 is very well made. I thought the bass was the very best Ive heard, buy the high end not so much...

jim2,

Wow! that is quite the collection of Ayre gear.  I like their linestage, amplifiers and integrated amps, never heard a bad one, but, I have not heard their DACs.  I don't mind the odd quirks, like the mechanical movement of their rotary stepped attenuators by remote control making clunking sounds; they apparently prefer this sort of switching to relay switching.

Why the SPL Elector gets such little love! Beyond me. It flies so under the radar, but is IMMENSELY GOOD. Can really scale with very high end pairing components. And not nearly as pricey as many mentioned here.

👍🏼💯

Boulder