Ayre C5xe or APL 3910 ?


I not too long ago heard the Ayre C5xe and was totally blown away on all formats at the amount of resolution, detail retrieval and it's dynamic yet smooth sound. I must admit I'm ready to pull the trigger on it, but before I do just wanted to know if there is anything better in it's price class of $6K or less. So far what comes to mind is the APL 3910 at $5K but there is no way I can possibly audition one of these so I would like some insight from those of you who have heard both players. Please, lend me your golden ears!
orjazzm
This past April, I visited Alex Peychev at his home in Fremont, CA and he kindly demoed his Denon 3910 along with the rest of his equipment--custom-built integrated amp, interconnects, and speaker wire. He is an exceedingly gracious man. In my opinion, his APL Denon 3910 was the single most revealing and balanced player I heard on a trip that had me listening to more than a dozen players, including other modified units. However, the interesting thing that emerged that morning was his news he will be marketing his own two-box player beginning next January--a DAC and transport manufactured in Bulgaria. It will be his own design, top to bottom. The APL 3910 has been discontinued and the new player/DAC replaces it. I think this is a significant development and I hope I've gotten all the facts right.
Just curious ... in all of these evaluations of the Ayre CX5e...was it run in balanced mode with any Ayre integrated/amp/preamp equipment (i.e., Ayre AX-7e or their separate amps/preamps? If so, I would have to think (based on personal experience) that the CX5e performed much better compared to the other players mentioned. It seems like there was a lot of apples to oranges comparatives, and not in the environments that would be best suited for this particular player's sonic characteristics.