Passlabs XA .5 vs Ayre MXR

Speaker match is critical, obviously Richard likes the Ayre for his speakers as he showed with them a few times, including RMAF last month. No doubt these are the two SS designers at the top of my list (and the Symphonic Line guy in Germany, and Richard Brown and BEL).

Which amp is highly dependent on speaker match? Is it the XA160.5 or the MXR?

I suspect that both amps would be electrically compatible with any speakers assuming enough power, by match in this case I mean that Richard likes the way the Ayre makes his speakers sound; you could be pretty sure that the Ayre is a pretty good match with the Vandersteen's sound signature. That being said, I can't imagine the XA160.5 couldn't make most speakers dance as well. These are among the finest SS amps made IMHO and can't see why both would not work well. Since the Vandersteen's bass is self-powered, I can't imagine either amp being a problem. Really I think this is a toss up and is just a matter of taste - they are both great amps - I can see why you ask for help in deciding, but I'm not sure there is any defintive answer hear as neither one s*&^%ks. Not a bas position to be in.

FYI-

We seem to get a lot of press with our gear partnered with Vandersteen speakers but we have a lot of dealers that are successful with Sonus Faber and Wilson audio.
Recently, Wilson Audio purchased a pair of MX-R amps. At CES this year we plan on showing with Sonus Faber.

In the end it is always best to try the product at home and make sure it is what you want.

Best regards,

Steve

Ayre Acoustics

Steve, thank you for commenting on the CES. It would be nice if you could hook the MXR to SF Elipsa. Stereophile gave an average review for Elipsa, but my initial listening to this speaker is so positive that I tend to discount reviews out there.