is ayre qb-9 dac better than cx7e mp?

I haven't heard the cx7e, but I listened to the 5XE and the QB-9 with B & W 803D speakers and Ayre K5 amp and preamp. I also heard the qb-9 with Wilson Maxx speakers and Audio Research amps (sorry, don't know which ones), the 5xe with Wilson Sasha speakers and agree, to some extent, with Cerrot's opinion above. I actually did like the qb-9 though, if the right equipment was matched with this dac I think it would sound very good. Only when comparing with a more expensive cd player did it show it's weakness. With the Ayre amps and B&W speakers, it was warm sounding with good detail, nice soundstaging. Of course this was my opinion, others may not have liked it, but I thought for the price it was very enjoyable to listen to. Sandra

To my ears, in my system, the CX-7eMP and QB-9 are pretty close overall. The QB-9 sounds a bit more open and immediate but also a bit smoothed over, perhaps a hair less dynamic. I'd call it a draw, overall. It's impossible, however, to farily compare the two because the computer *must* be part of the equation for the QB-9 and there are boatloads of variables that affect computer playback (all the hardware combos, OS, msic player, power supply and on and on). I still need to try 1) different music players (eg, Jplay, JRMC, etc); 2) upgrade USB cable; 3) linear power supply; 4) SOtM USB card. I'm hopeful that the QB-9 will outperform the CX-7 after I get the computer "optimized". In the meantime, the CX-7 can't play hi-rez material even tho' it is far easier to use than ripping/tagging/organizing/backing-up music files.

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In my system, my QB-9 is better than my C5xeMP.

And it's outperformed other CX5s & CS7s (and for that matter - every CDP regardless of cost) on various locations where I was voicing a system.

I believe (not stated as fact, just opinion) that much of this is so system dependent - cables, computers, optimization of computer & files, music players, etc.

So I'm not sure if any of our opinions count for much except how the components worked in THAT system.
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According to Ayre the C5exMP has the QB9 built in, same DAC. I run my C5MP into an Audio Research DAC8 with stunning results.

@Tmsorosk

Shouldn't that be the DX5 and not the C5exMP?

The C5 doesn't have USB input.

I understand the DX5 actually has a better analog stage than the QB9.