I like this idea of a Ayon Forum. I have had my CD5s for about six months and this is what I think I know at this point.
1. Absolutely great unit!
2. Using NOS 1986 Reflectors made a significant improvement.
3. Do not miss my preamp.
4. Am enjoying running my Blue Ray player through Ayon digital COAX input, for good sound on TV.
5. So far have not seem much difference with vibration control such as Pangea Mega feet compared to stock feet.
6. Prefer Balanced out in my system to my true balanced amps, even with one meter IC run. |
Mark - Welcome to the happy family. |
I have CD5s and had ping and noise through tweet and mid using balanced IC and not RCA both direct into Nuforce Ref 9V3SE mono blocks with input impedence of 22K ohm for both RCA and balanced. Ping stayed but all noise went away to totally silent and also better bass and mid when I switched to very well shielded balanced IC audiophile microphone cable from Stagg for $60 a pair and great sound to boot. Both the Ayon and Nuforce are true fully balanced designs so I wanted to stay balanced, and like the sound better than RCA by a smidge. |
MG Thanks. As stated my problem has gone completely away by changing to a better shielded balanced IC, from a balanced IC that was not as fully shielded |
I am using Stagg's one meter mic cable XMC1XX which they list as their audiophile grade with Neutrik connectors. I prefer not to mention the previous ones at this time because I am still working with the designer to see if my pair may have had a defect. I am assuming that the shielding may have made the difference but can't be sure. I have talked to a cable designer that feels better shielding may be necessary with the impedences in my system. |
I am now using Stagg's one meter mic cable XMC1XX which they list as their audiophile grade with Neutrik connectors at a cost of $30 a piece. I would prefer not to mention the last balanced IC by name as I am still working with the manufacturer to see if my pair had a defect. A respected cable designer said that he thought that extra shielding would solve the problem caused by impedence. I do not know enough to know if he is correct, but the mic cable definitely worked. |
The CD5s already has a 24/96 asynchronous USB board. Do you think that the 192 will be that different? I personally am planing to use the S/PDIF which is 24/192, because I still am still hearing squirrelly things about USB. Do you know if they will upgrade the board for free for customers that have purchased within the past year? |
Drat. Perhaps you should pressure him to offer it free to previous owners. You seem to have his ear. |
Audiolab
As far as I can see this thread was set up to discuss anything Ayon, not just the CD5s. The Cd5s is not a $12,500 CD player, rather a Transport, DAC and Preamp in one. If you are referring to me re ICs, I agree that they need to be shielded, but in many listening tests for me in my system the highly shielded mic cord sounded the best. I still kept my expensive IC's and at times put them back in to see if the result is the same and it is. You are free to try it with an open mind. |
Audiolab
Thanks for the elaboration. Good to know that you were trying to be helpful. It looks like I will have the opportunity to audition 28K worth of respected Masterbuilt cable in my system sometime soon. Will let you know my thoughts. |
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Audiolabrinth - Your's is a tough request that I will try to answer. I have Ayon CD5s, with 1980 NOS Reflector tubes running direct to modded Nuforce V3Se monoblocks into Von Schweikert VR5 Anniversary MK2 speakers. I previously had North Star Transport and DAC and heavily modded Audio Horizons preamp. I loved this combo as the smoothest, least digital sound I had heard.
The Ayon, running direct to these revealing speakers beats the North Star at its own game by being even more analogue - close to vinyl sounding. Plus the Ayon is more micro and macro detailed, exciting and dynamic, while remaining utterly natural. Soundstage is more holographic and it excels at pulling things from deep in the mix and portraying them clearly even while lots of louder things are going on in the music, for example hearing the full decay of one note even while other notes are playing loudly. It feels like the musicians are more competent, and PRAT are excellent. I compared the Ayon to the rave-reviewed Meridian 808.3 ($20,000) and while the Meridian was indeed great, particularly at detail and dynamics, for me the Ayon was more musical and engaging hands down. I think the Absolute Sound review of Ayon is quite accurate compared to what I hear. |
audiolab
I have not heard the 2s. You can PM me on the 5s for more detail. |
The CD5s sounded very good out of the box, with dramatic opening and relaxing over first 50 hours and then subtle but significant improvement over the next 300 hours - some of the caps inside are fairly huge. Power cords do not make a huge difference with the sophisticated tube rectified power supply and dedicated lines and power conditioning as long as it is a good cord. IC - I like the best is Stagg Audiophile mic cord balanced but RCA works well with gold Silkworm IC. Needs to be well shielded with my class D amps. |
Fluffers. I totally agree with melbguy1 and audiolabyrinth. I am running the Reflektor 6H30P-Dr tubes from 1980 from USA Tube Audio and it was a great upgrade over stock and worth the money to me clearly. A friend also recommended over the stock tubes, the Premium gold pin version of Sovtek 6H30Pi super twin triode from PCX. I have not heard but did purchase as back up because they are very inexpensive. |
If anyone follows the video to change tubes - it is really easy 15 minute job. All I would add is that it is useful to have a penlight flashlight to view where the screws that are deep down under, with the flashlight it is easier to seat the wrench into the screw top compared to just going by feel. |
Calvin
I tired the stock tubes first, the 1980 NOS Reflectors which I love and have used (2 different sets) for a few years, also have about 100 hours on EH 6H30pi gold pins which are much better than I expected and excellent for the price - I think about $30 a piece. |
Calvinj - I did not lose anything in male and female voices. They (and everything else) became more natural and vinyl-like to my ears. That said my second choice after the 1980 NOS Reflectors has been the EH 6H30pi gold pins which I prefer over the stock Ayon tubes. |
calvinj Yes in my opinion. They were quite good immediately and then improved from there so if you can get them on 14 day approval I think you could get a good idea of what they would sound like. |
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Calvin I too am not sure whether it is warmer that you are after. To me my system sounds like live music (which has a natural warmth but also sharpness when called for), but things that made it seem bright and harsh needed to eliminated. I have very clean power, my amps are weighted and vibration controlled and each piece of equipment is isolated electrically from each other. And my speakers are very natural (not over bright like many brands) In this system the EH 6h30pi gold pins sound very good and at $30-$40 per why not try them? Also why don't you post about your whole system and room and perhaps we can figure out what might be stealing warmth? |
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Audiolab
You may have experienced an infant tube failure which happens. USA can take a few days to respond but I am confident that they will help you. They attempted a repair on my unit after about a year and when it did not work the first time send me an entirely new unit free ship without me asking and before I even sent them back the broken one. It has worked to perfection. Let us know how it turns out |
Audiol I know it is frustrating but I think they will make it good as soon as they can. I did pay ship there and they paid ship back. To be clear about a year into my first player there was clatter and difficulty in reading CD's. They attempted repair and then when that did not work (a whole batch of Philips Transports was bad - first time that happened), they sent me new unit free, saying that Ayon's policy was that if they did not fix it the first time, you got a new unit.
I have had tubed equipment for many years and in any brand of equipment tubes of any brand can go, but failure is most likely to occur if it is going to occur in the first couple hundred hours of use which what they call infant tube failure. There is no way to detect beforehand. This is one reason that I stick with tubes in the preamp which are under less stress than in tubed amps. Other good news is that after one year of nearly daily use in my first unit the tubes tested as new which speaks to Ayon's circuits being very gentle on tubes and that tubes in the unit should last a very long time if they make it through infancy. Hope this helps |
Audiol
I have an old B&K Model 606 Tube tester (usually available on ebay) that I like a lot but it does not test 6H30's so I had USA test my tubes for me |
audio
I think I said that the cheaper tubes sounded better than I expected and are an excellent value. I have been running them for about a month and will remove them and do a comparison with the 1980's in a few weeks - will let you know result |
Yull135
Welcome to club and congratulations on your Cd 5s - nice piece of kit, is it not? Let us know what you think as you get some hours on it. |
Yull I am glad that you are pleased with the CD5s. It will only get better - many of its best attributes are very subtle and heard when you do switch back and forth between live classical concerts and great recordings. Sounds like you have excellent reference points. |
Calvin
Can you put yup a link to Conus tubes - I could not find them. I am running 1980 Dr's and want to have a replacement set |
In effort to this rack back on topic, just reporting in that I am still enjoying my Ayon CD5s with great interactions with USA Tube Audio. Have switched to all Von Schweikert Master Built Signature Power Cords, Balanced IC and Speaker Cables and the system became even more liquid and natural. |
Used many combos of wire stuff including Guerrilla Audio, PS Audio, Audio Horizons, Stagg, Silkworms and Morrow Audio SP6 biwire. Mostly wire in the range of $300 to 1,500 a piece. The reviewer in I think Positive Feedback also referred to shocking liquidity with the Signatures. |
Long time since I posted here (forgot the thread existed!). I replaced my Ayon CD5s with a new Ayon CD35 a few weeks ago and am happy to say that it is a terrific unit! It is vastly improved over the already nice CD5s in all aspects of soundstaging including height, depth, location of instruments, air and holography. In addition, micro-detail is better presented with a more natural treble and a killer bass control and extension. Speakers have disappeared better. Running it balanced direct into modded Nuforce Reference 20 monos and then Von Schweikert VR 55 Aktive speakers with Delphi Aerospace Ultra cabling . Anyone else playing with the CD35?
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