Ayon CD2 is AMAZING

03-29-11: Mcondon
Mlb, Melbguy1, I am not a dealer and have no financial interests in any of Ayon's competitors. My forays into audio amount to a rounding error for me financially. If you read my post history, you will see that I have commented about a wide range of products and have done so deliberately and as honestly as I can.

I neither implied nor accused you of being a Dealer.

As I said before, I think that people should be able to use the Audiogon forums to gain useful insights about products they are considering buying. Can users rely on the opinions expressed in Ayon threads? I don't think so

I don't think you believe that statement. I think you're trying to rubbish all Ayon commentary because of one bad egg...sad.

No company wants an immature fraud to speak in its behalf.

That is a stretch. If you're going to accuse Jim of being an Ayon stooge, then provide proof rather than speculation.

And Jimphd14's disinformation is also a disservice to manufacturers like AMR, Meridian, PS Audio, Berkeley, BAT, and Audio Research, all of which he has implausibly claimed are trounced by Ayon.

You're taking this a bit personally don't you think? I don't think AMR, Meridian, PS Audio, Berkeley, BAT, or Audio Research would give a *hoot* about one member's opinion.

found always big problem for reliability, no found any good service after selling!

Melbguy1, I tried to post evidence regarding Jimphd14, but the moderator did not approve my post. I guess the acrimony is not "productive".

I do believe that this forum is supposed to provide honest insights about audio equipment choices and am angered that someone like Jimphd14 acts in an unethical and disrepectful way to spread disinformation. I guess I have learned not to trust everything I read on this forum, as some people don't use it in good faith.

Your experience sounds unusual Nikola, as Ayon products are known for their reliablity. If you were talking about old Audio Research, Levinson or EAR gear, i'd say fair enough. I can only assume that player had been stuffed around with, or a dodgy repair had been done?

I own an Ayon CD-1s in a system with an Ayon Spirit II integrated and a pair of PBN Montana EPS2 speakers. I purchased the CD-1s new for $2400. The CD-1s is a fine piece of equipment. I compared it to the $1650 Cambridge CD player , a Bryston player at $2,300, a Naim player at, I think $3,000 and to several DACs (using my old CD player as a transport. In direct comparison, in my system... the CD 1s was the clear winner.

Attributes? Good imaging --- wide and large. Good presence, full-bodied, rich sounding. Engaging? yes.

Weaknesses? can be bright on some recordings and is especially problematic with certain piano and clarinet recordings. That said, the boldness of the player lends well to more recordings that otherwise would be non-engaging --- more than making up for having problems with some strident piano and/or clarinet recordings.

Overall impression of the Ayon gear? I'd say that the gear is definitely not the Bugatti of Audio and probably not gear that is among the very best value/performance ratio out there... but is as well by no means a dog either. I'd say the Ayon gear is a fair to pretty good value/performance product across the board.