Ayre KX-R, "The eighth wonder of the world" and "Battle of the preamps".

[PHC1]

I've been evaluating the Ayre KX-R preamp, aka the "eighth wonder of the world" as one of the reviewers called it in a stereophile review in my system for about 3 weeks now.

Initially I thought of doing it as a 3 way battle of the preamps. The McIntosh C500P vs Lamm LL2Deluxe vs. Ayre KX-R as those are the preamps I currently have in my house. I've had plenty of time over the past 3 weeks to evaluate each one with equal attention. The more I listened, took both mental and written notes and tried various genres of music with all 3 of them, I realized if I approached the review that way, it would be simply unfair to all 3 of them. "How so" you say? What's wrong with just pointing to the one of those 3 preamps and saying "that one is the best"? You see, when you are listening to products of this caliber, there are no clear winners or losers, only different flavors. That is a compliment to all 3 preamps and rightfully deserved.

The problem I had with doing this review is that each one of them was special in its own way and often with overlapping qualities. Then there is also that "synergy" that kept popping up with the Lamm M1.2 monoblocks and the McIntosh MC501 monoblocks that took turns driving the Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento speakers and had all 3 preamps take turns driving them in turns as well.

How does one decide what is "best" or what is "right" or "wrong" and share that information with someone else when the systems can be as different as night and day as well as listening preference and genres of music people listen to? There is nothing "wrong" with any of these preamps so let's just get rid of that term right away. I've certainly heard many others that can't hold a candle to any of these preamps in more ways than one.

None of these preamps are grainy, harsh, slow, syrupy, sluggish, bleached, etched, aggressive, lean, thin, glassy or harmonically threadbare or any other descriptions that often can be applied to many other products out there. Of the three preamps, only one was a fully tubed preamp but for all practical purposes, it did not exhibit your classic tube warmth and it certainly did not sacrifice the audible frequency extremes to glorify the midrange. The Lamm LL2D was none of those things. If anything, the bass was stupendously well controlled, extended, textured and had such resolving capabilities that one would never think he/she was listening to a tubed preamp. The same applied to the highs, sparkly, extended but with just a hint of sweetness was my experience with the Lamm LL2D.

The problem I had with judging these preamps was the fact that they all sounded very much to my liking yet they all sound a little different. I can easily live with either one of them for a very long time and yet I had to choose since I wasn't going to keep all three....

So I thought and observed what synergy each one of them brought with what I think will be my long term reference monoblocks going forward, the Lamm M1.2's.

Here is where I will try to break it up between them just a bit.

First the Lamm LL2D. It did things that were certainly off the charts with both the MC501s and the Lamm M1.2s. The word "hypnotic" comes up often during reviews and I agree that this preamp can really dig deep to bring out all the harmonical content buried in the recording and can pull you into the music so deep that it would take a crowbar to pry one away from listening. It is emotional, involving, seductive preamp and does wonders to balance things out in a system that can use some help in that area. It brings timbre and tonal sweetness when the recording has it. Listening to violins is an experience that will leave one teary eyed. It infuses life into music, it opens up the soundstage and presents 3 dimensional images that are analog-like in their palpability and "realness". You can "feel" the space on the recording as well as hear it. Harmonic richness and 3-dimensionality are the strong points of this preamp.

McIntosh C500P. This preamp is more in line with some of the best solid state preamps out there, it does no harm to the music, it does not bleach it out to bring a sense of extra resolution and transparency. It does not sound harmonically threadbare, it does not sound lean. Quite the opposite, it sounds full and rich, there is just a hint of warmth from the midbass region, highs are extended but not aggressive, midrange, bass and highs are well balanced. This is a very linear, low floor noise preamp that does nothing wrong and is very enjoyable as well as being very flexible by design. Many solid state preamps will benefit from this full bodied, rich sounding solid state unit that is built to last. Neither sweet, nor sour sounding, it remained true to the source to the end. In the context of the MC501s, the synergy was undeniable. Together they compliment each other in many ways to make for one enjoyable pairing indeed.

Ayre KX-R. So what's with the "eighth wonder"? Well, as I discovered, it is an amazing preamp for sure. A paradox if I ever heard one. A paradox because it combines the both of best worlds, tube and solid state in a good sense of the word. The lines truly are erased between the two camps. There is no need to ponder what is better, the added harmonics or euphonic distortion as some call it when it comes to tubes or the resolution, extension and control of the solid state preamp. Once the Ayre KX-R broke in, it really bloomed and blossomed into what I would have to say is one hell of an impressive preamp. This is one of the most transparent and resolving preamps I have heard. The extremely low noise floor, the transient attack and speed, the decay, the ultra-black backgrounds, the harmonics, yes, the harmonics! and the vivid colors with which it paints upon the sonic canvas is rare indeed. Excelling at soundstage width and depth it even manages to keep up with the palpability of the Lamm preamp. Instruments, musicians, singers take on a life form on the spot-lit soundstage that extends from one wall to other, both in my room and what is on the recording. Spatial and sonic cues abound, you can hear so deep into the recording, your own listening space is almost erased. The most believable presence I have heard yet (in my system). I can only imagine what it can do with a great vinyl rig!

Yet, none and I mean none of these things in any way make the listening fatiguing. The details are presented in such a natural way that great recordings will simply transport you to the event, close your eyes and you are there. Nothing escapes this preamp, it will extract every little ounce of information that is buried deep within the recording and yet you never pay for that with listening fatigue unless of course the recording is so dynamic range compressed or so "hot" that nothing will save it.

There is one thing about this preamp that really surprised me. The PRAT (pace, rhythm and timing) is superb and exceeds the level of PRAT of C500 and LL2D by a wide margin. This preamp will convey all the PRAT that is on the recording in such a way that you are ultimately involved with the music on a different level. Feet tapping, hands clapping, air guitars, etc...

The build quality of the Ayre is also on another level. Starting from the milled chassis made from a solid block of aluminum to the way everything is carefully routed in the chassis and attention to details as well as high quality parts and a very unique and expensive volume control, all equates do a design where no expense was spared and the owner is rewarded with the most impressive presentation worth every penny he paid for. The Ayre simply took all the positives of both other preamps I had in my system and elevated them to a higher level. Job well done Ayre!




Obviously my very favorable results are in part due to the excellent Lamm M1.2 Reference Monoblocks. These amps are also in a league of their own when it comes to making music. Class A, hybrid topology is very musical due to no negative feedback, no class A/B crossover distortion and the fact that the output MOSFETS are driven by the most linear device out there, a triode.

Which brings me all the way back and to the conclusion that there are no losers in this bunch and all are great preamps and an explanation of why I decided to keep....

So which preamp am I keeping? It would have been logical to keep the Lamm, it is much more affordable and does so many things right, never mind that it is much less user friendly, except.... for my preference, with the Lamm monoblocks which are already very musical, I can afford to have more of everything, resolution, detail, PRAT, dynamics at least the way the system is right now and especially that there is no listening fatigue to hold me back from enjoying all the new found sonic benefits. So of course the choice was an easy although expensive.... The Ayre KX-R is here to stay in my system.


That is why I hesitate to say which one is the winner, for me it was the Ayre, for someone else it could be the Lamm, for another it could be the C500P easily. It all depends on system synergy and expectations.

I've thoroughly enjoyed my time with all 3 preamps and the battle, have learned much along the way and hope you guys enjoyed this post.

[Masterlu]

A wonderful review from a true audiophile, what makes it especially helpful is that very few of us would ever be able to do this hands on comparison. And most importantly, we got it from a highly reliable and trusted source.

I for one always appreciate your posts!

[Still-One]

Serge

Thank you for your comparison of these amps. I have been waiting to hear what you thought of the Ayre. I spent just a little time with it at RMAF and it was like handling a fine watch. You cannot get a real feel for a pre-amp until you get it into your own system like you did.

One question, I do not remember if you were one of the individuals who tried running your system sans pre-amp. How would you say these pre compare to running the MDA1000 direct into your amps?

You do not have a CD player with variable outputs so you cannot try that.

Jim

[gregswaim]

Good review Serge! Your assessment of sound is so very true. Once a product makes it to the top it has it's own signature sound(flavor). While these products are all well made and have top notch sound, all we have to do is decide which type of sound we want in our systems.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Stillone

Serge

Thank you for your comparison of these amps. I have been waiting to hear what you thought of the Ayre. I spent just a little time with it at RMAF and it was like handling a fine watch. You cannot get a real feel for a pre-amp until you get it into your own system like you did.

One question, I do not remember if you were one of the individuals who tried running your system sans pre-amp. How would you say these pre compare to running the MDA1000 direct into your amps?

You do not have a CD player with variable outputs so you cannot try that.

Jim

I still have my MDA1000 and just sold the MCD1000. Actually the whole review was done with the MDA/MCD combo, MS300 taking a small part in it for variety of recordings and also with the Ayre C-5xeMP for the past two days. I have indeed lived with the MDA1000 driving my 501s for almost 3 years. I have been very satisfied with the MDA1000 driving the amps, it is still a very impressive and economical way to get very good results. I went with the C500 so I can have some flexibility and gain a phono stage and not expecting much from it over the MDA1000. It proved me wrong in the end. There was performance gained with the C500P. It is more transparent and adds some "weight" to the tonality which I've always found to be a good thing. As it accumulated hours, it only became better. From that point on, the Lamm's arrived and my plans changed all together...

[two dot]

Wondrfrul review, thank you Serge.

I will echo Ivan's sentiments...

We are very lucky to have a true audiophile like you on "board"

Thanks.

[-E-]

Absolutely fantastic. 3 absolutely top-notch pieces of gear. Nobody could go wrong with ANY of them. You are very blessed to enjoy so much equipment, and we are blessed to live vicariously through such nice reviews!

[salmtpa]

Excellent comparison Serge!

[howiebrou]

Fantastic review Serge. Now we need to get a dartzeel to you for an extended period for another round of comparisons

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by howiebrou

Fantastic review Serge. Now we need to get a dartzeel to you for an extended period for another round of comparisons

I'd love to get my hands on the darTZeel preamp. Some day I'll have to that comparison.

In the mean time, here are some more pics of the KX-R.