Gunsur
I agree with Audiofun's cogent review. I have owned the Ayon CD5s for about a year now and it still provides daily doses of awe and wonder at how well it conveys music. In these comparisons it is important to know what tubes people are running in the Ayon when they like or dislike the Ayon. I found a very significant enhancement by going to the 1980 NOS Reflector tubes versus the stock tubes (which are very good but at a different level). Others have enjoyed substantial improvement also with the 1986 Reflectors. My main comparison for Ayon using stock tubes was with the $20,000 Meridian 808.3. The Ayon was preferred over Meridian, but with the NOS tubes there was a big grin that I finally had arrived and did not need to listen to anything else. Do not underestimate the impact of being able to simply the signal path by using several less sets of power cords and IC's with the Ayon, this provided the money to upgrade the one set of IC and power cord that you need. Hope this helps
I agree with Audiofun's cogent review. I have owned the Ayon CD5s for about a year now and it still provides daily doses of awe and wonder at how well it conveys music. In these comparisons it is important to know what tubes people are running in the Ayon when they like or dislike the Ayon. I found a very significant enhancement by going to the 1980 NOS Reflector tubes versus the stock tubes (which are very good but at a different level). Others have enjoyed substantial improvement also with the 1986 Reflectors. My main comparison for Ayon using stock tubes was with the $20,000 Meridian 808.3. The Ayon was preferred over Meridian, but with the NOS tubes there was a big grin that I finally had arrived and did not need to listen to anything else. Do not underestimate the impact of being able to simply the signal path by using several less sets of power cords and IC's with the Ayon, this provided the money to upgrade the one set of IC and power cord that you need. Hope this helps