Cayin H80A or Ayre AX-7e

They AX-7e is an exceptional unit and at the pricepoint, it's pretty much a downright steal (assuming your CDP is balanced). My only complaint is that the passive pre-amp section is a little veiled. The amp section on the other hand is beyond reproach. If your CD player has a volume control set that input on the AX-7e to PP and prepare to smile a lot. The best compliment I can give the AX-7e is for you to look at my current system to see how much it costs to step up to another level from the AX-7e (which I was using previously).

We do not have the Ayre, but if anyone in the Metro-Washington, DC area is interested, we (Command Perforamnce AV), will be putting that Cayin on display this week.

Check out Simaudio's Moon i5.3. It's around $3k, built like a tank, extremely smooth and musical and a 10 year warranty to boot.

I bought my wife an AX-7e / CX-7e combo for a secondary system and I think she prefers it in many respects to our big system. It really sounds great, its from a great company that has been around for a long time, has tremendous customer service, has products that last (aluminum and stainless steel construction), and is made in America. I would look no further, especially as the Ayre dealer network is very strong and your dealer should be able to provide for an in-home audition -- something Ayre founder Charles Hansen believes strongly in. - Pete -

In all fairness, the Moon i5.3 cannot be compared to the liquidity of the Cayin. The simaudio product sounds harsh and dry by comparison.

If you need a solid state amp to compete with the Cayin, I would recommend Electrocompaniet products, as they have a tube-like presentation. I have owned the above (Cayin, Electro and SIM) and virtually everyone who has listened to the Cayin gave it a best buy consideration against twice-the-price products.