Ayon CD2 is AMAZING

Hi Robster, you've got a nice system there. I never found a cd player at the price point you mentioned which I found either "the Bugatti" of audio or even a high end bargain..I always wanted a better player.

As far as high end bargains go, design and build quality & amazing sound, i've been blown away by the CD-5/5s. The fact you're getting a full Skylla tube dac, high end transport & tube pre-amp done very well for under $12k is amazing. Ayon's lower end players (in fact i'd say up to the CD-2s) though good, don't create any magic for me. The CD-5 certainly did.

I agree, the Ayon players stock can sound a bit bright at times because they are uncompromising & don't use chokes, filters or feedback which detract from the sound, however th

Guys,
I am sure what TAS meant by Ayon, the Bugatti of Audio - well it was not a CD-1s and a Spirit II. More akin to the top line Orthos, Vulcan II, Polaris III products that Ayon has. You know the $50k amps. That is what TAS is taking about, not the entry level ayon gear, that by the way is better than most other comparable gear out there at the entry level price point. Spending $2400 for a CD player or an amp is entry level high end.

Mlb: Agreed they had in view the top Ayon gear. My comments about the lower end of the Ayon gear was intended to be extrapolated out. That is, at the entry-level the Ayon gear has very good to very, very good performance/value --- but not off the scales performance/value. If that applies across the board for the Ayon gear, then it is reasonable to assert that the Bugatti thing is hyperbole. Of course the performance/value relative to equal cost alternatives might get better as cost goes up for Ayon... who knows. Maybe some of you do...

My point is that, generally, in this thread we have two camps... the Ayon is awesome and the Ayon is a rip-off/sham product. I'm arguing that Ayon appears to be neither --- rather it is solid gear at fair prices like a vast array of other gear... quite a bit closer I'd think to the top of the performance/value end of the continuum than it is to the rip-off/sham end. But not at the top. The Bugatti thing is to sell magazines and prime the system more than anything else.

Robsker, have you heard any of Ayon's top components in a good system to be able to comment with authority? When 6 moons rate the CD-5 close to the Accuphase DP-700 (which is more than twice the price), that strikes me as off the scales cost/performance). Add to that exemplary build quality, components & topology, the ability tube roll & a very good pre-amp thrown in...If that is not off the scales value, i'd hate to see what is!

Melbguyl:

No I have not heard the higher end stuff --- which is why I stated in the above post that "Of course the performance/value relative to equal cost alternatives might get better as cost goes up for Ayon... who knows. Maybe some of you do..."

Clearly you do... and that adds quite a bit to the discussion. Seemingly, at least based upon your testimony, the performance/value relative to equal priced stuff does go up with increasing cost for Ayon --- at least by one measure (is the accusphase over priced?). And again, I stated, i think clearly, that Ayon at the Spirit II and CD-1s level are very, very good performers for the money.

To assert that any brand is the Bugatti of audio (even asserting that Bugatti is the Bugatti of cars) is a stretch. There are doubtless an array of really great pieces of audio equipment that constitute the highest echelon of performance/cost at a given price level. I'd say the entry Ayon stuff is very,very good at the price point --- much closer to the top than the bottom (or even the middle) and as you say... maybe as price point goes up maybe ayon gets better relative to the competition..

What at least we can agree upon is that those who assert that Ayon is a pretender --- just good advertising but modest (at best) performers --- well such assessments seem off base.