Summary: I bought this ayre CD player from a ayre dealer. When I first got it home it would not work at all. No lights came on and no buttons worked. It was sent back for another one. The second one just did not like playing certain CD's and caused very loud distortion noises in my speakers. The player's sound is just turned up louder than most other player's so one doesn't have to turn your volume up so high this in effect causes people to think it sounds better when it really doesn't. I then put the player up for sale. I know this player is just a piece of junk and I would recommend consumers look else where at other brands and save yourself a lot of money.
Unlike components connected with digital connection(coax, toslink, HDMI), components connected by analog connections will output different amounts of power. This power, measurd in mv, needs to be compensated for if you connect with analog cables, either rca or XLR.
My Anthem D2 pre/pro has a section in its setup where you are able to adjust the incoming power from the source to the level that the D2 is able to handle.
When setting up the Ayre CX7-e with my Anthem D2 I needed to adjust this setting to a minus 15 (-15). Before I adjusted this setting the Ayre was very bright. After I set it correctly it is the best sounding cdp I have owned.
uriah/Dave. it is too bad that your dealer didn't help you with this. That is what you pay the dealer for- help in getting your equipment set up correctly so that you can enjoy it to its fullest. Shame on them!!
Myguesss is if you had properly setup your Ayre with your receiver/processor you would have loved it, just like the scores of professional audio reviewers and thousands of CX7-eMP owners.
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Summary: I bought this ayre CD player from a ayre dealer. When I first got it home it would not work at all. No lights came on and no buttons worked. It was sent back for another one. The second one just did not like playing certain CD's and caused very loud distortion noises in my speakers. The player's sound is just turned up louder than most other player's so one doesn't have to turn your volume up so high this in effect causes people to think it sounds better when it really doesn't. I then put the player up for sale. I know this player is just a piece of junk and I would recommend consumers look else where at other brands and save yourself a lot of money.
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Summary: I totally agree with the first reviewer, so I won't repeat.
I want to review the MP (Minimum Phase) upgrade.
In my 3 year long search for a cdp I owned Creek audio(both Classic and Destiny), Cambridge Audio Azur 840c, and the Bryston BCD-1. Of these the Creek classic was my favorite, but I hoped that there was something better out there in my price range.
The above mentioned cdp's were in the $1200- $2000 range, so it was a step up to the Ayre CX-7e at $3200, but for all the reasons that z4nupe mentioned I felt I had finally found a cdp that satisfied me.
After happily listening to the Ayre CX7-e for ayear I discovered that Charles Hanson had upgraded the model with a new MP filter. The MP upgrade had gotten great reviews in Stereophile so I checked with my dealer about the upgrade and he arranged with Ayre to have my unit sent in for the MP upgrade at a cost of $250 in a few months, since there was a backlog of people waiting for the MP upgrade.
Once Ayre had my unit it took about a week for them to do the upgrade. Since I live about 20 miles from the Ayre facility in Boulder, Co I was fortunate enough to be able to go in person and pick up my upgraded unit. Thanks to Michael at Ayre I was given a tour of their facility while my unit was going through its final checks. A great added benefit- Thanks Mike!
Once back home I hooked the unit back up to my system and sat down to listen and evaluate what, if any, difference the new filter had made. For $250 I wasn't expecting too much, but was hoping for a noticaible improvement.
Wow! It far exceeded my expectations. Sound stage was improved. Clarity was improved. The digital harshness that seemed inherent in CD's was vastly lessened. Before the upgrade the Ayre was by far the most 'easy on the ears' non-fatiguing cdp I had owned. The MP upgrade made it even more easy on the ears.
Over the last few months I have auditioned many cd's that I had listened to over the last year with the non-upgraded model. They all sounded better. Both well recorded and not so well recorded cd's.
I can not give a higher recommendation for the MP upgrade.
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Summary: I have used a couple cd players with DACs such as the Cambridge Audio D500 player with the MSB Link III and Musical Fidelity A324 DAC with the Arcam CD72T player. Both of these above examples worked well and sounded great!
When I heard the Ayre CX7e as stand alone player without a DAC, I was amazed of how neutral the machine sounded. The midrange and treble frequencies are very smooth! The bass is deep and not boomy. I was also impressed with the inner detail the machine is capable of producing as well as giving me the "I am there experience"!
The stand alone CX7e sounds a bit more refined than my Musical Fidelity A324 and Arcam CD72T combination. Where the CX7E excelled was with the deeper bass and treble extensions. The midrange was a bit smoother too!
According to the manufacturer, this machine requires 500 to 1000 hours to burnin . Out of the box, this machine sounded fantastic!!! I can not imagine what it will sound like in 2 to 3 weeks.
I will provide a follow-up review in three months or sooner for a final review, but I am very impressed with this player that will provide me with years of listening pleasure!!!!!
Strengths: Balance and Unbalanced options
Listen and Measure Mode
Bass Extension
Separation of instruments
Treble Extension
Midrange (Smooth, natural sounding vocals)
Fit & Fininsh
Soundstage is Great!
Similar Products Used: Adcom 750 Cd Player as a stand alone
CD 72T with Musical Fidelity A324 DAC
Cambridge Audio D500 with MSB Link III DAC
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