Ayre C 5xe Universal vs. Cary 306 SACD

Thanks, Theo. For whatever it's worth, I just did a comparison of the 306 SACD on Red Book CD with my own CD-only Ayre CX-7 (not what I started the thread for). On just CD's, the Ayre sounded just as good as the Cary 306 SACD did. There were differences, but their overall tonal balance and performance qualities are closer to each other than not. This makes me wonder about the Ayre C-5xe Uni-2-channel player even more.

Of course, on SACD, the Cary 306 sounded just great....really fantastic, actually.

The comparison was done in the same system, one player right after the other with the same CD’s in the same order. System: Cary SLP 2005, Cary 805 AE edition, Ruark Solstice speakers, Audience Au24 cabling throughout. Mostly Reference Recordings of classical, Joni Mitchell’s “Travelogues,” Bobo Stenson’s "Serenity." This system is better than my own; so it was a pleasure to hear all of this music this way.

Kalan,

To further build on your last repsonse I just received the evolution version of the CX-7 which replaced the non evolution unit. There is a noticable jump in improvement especially in the blackness of the background....if the C-5xe betters rebook by the same amount of improvement that the evolution version provided over the non evolution CX-7, I'll begin saving today!

Kalan
If you already ownthe CX7 then have grown to appreciate the Ayre sound. I think you would be happier in the long run with the C5xe. I know I am patiently waiting for the C5xe to hit my doorstep. 5 week wait. I do know my local dealer just received another one that the customer didn't take. It is available for quick sale. I am waiting for a black face one or would have one already.

Thank you, Mattkimb96 and Theo, for your input. When you get your C-5xe (Theo), please update us on your impressions. And if you get one too, Mattkimb96, it would be great to hear from you. (BTW, it's great to hear that Ayre offers a black faceplate for the C-5xe; the CX-7's come in only silver---as far as I know.)

In the meantime, I will wait until I can get a side-by-side audition of both machines, hopefully in my own system.

Any others who've heard the 306 SACD next to the C-5xe...?

Kalan, I have had the C5xe for about 10 days now and I believe it is burned in pretty good. I have had it playing day and night for about 5 days and it sounding unbelieveably good. I am rediscovering my CD collection.
I have not played one disc that I haven't noticed some little nuance, back ground vocal or instrument that I had not heard before. The tonal presentation is hard to describe, it has such a "natural" sound. The space between the instruments has grown but filled with the added expansion of each sound. I am sure that doesn't describe it well but the bottom line is no regrets. I owned a Linn Ikemi which I felt was great player but this Ayre just pushed the memory of it to far reaches of my mind. I could not imagine many players that would sound better for less that 10K or more!