Esoteric X03SE vs Ayon CD-2 or CD-5

I have owned the Ayon CD-2 and the PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC+Transport. The Perfect Wave combo is simply much better. The "street" price is around $4K new from a number of e-tailers, including Underwood HiFi. The lowest price I have seen on a new Ayon CD-2 is $4400, although they go for less used. The Ayon CD-5 seems to sell for more than $8K. The review of the Ayon CD-5 in the latest issue of Dagogo is worth a read. At the end, the reviewer ranks a number of players at different price points. The PS Audio Perfect Wave combo comes out significantly ahead of the Ayon CD-2 but trails the Ayon CD-5. So if money is no object and you want to spend an extra $4K, give the CD-5 a whirl. Otherwise, if you want to stay in the $4K range, the Perfect Wave is the better source hands down. The Ayon CD-2 veers towards brightness and borderline aggressive dynamics and is somewhat lacking in high end resolution. The Ayon CD-2 has a lot of fans on Audiogon, which is why I bought the CD-2, but it took little time to determine that the Perfect Wave trounces it. Even my wife (who cares very little about audio equipment) commented when the Ayon was in my system that the "other one sounds better", referring to the Perfect Wave gear. Obviously, you were not asking about the Perfect Wave gear, but I figured this information might be of interest, as few people have compared the Ayon CD-2 to the Perfect Wave combo at the same time in the same system...

Very good posts thus far. I would like to see a shoot out between a Meridian 808.3i and Ayon CD-5, both used as preamps with CD source. I know the 808.3i is 2x as much, but just becuase a piece is more expensive, does not mean it is "better".

I previously owned the PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC+Transport and when I read the review on Stereomojo where the editor compared the Ayon CD2 to the PS Audio Perfect Wave and the results were that the Ayon CD2 was way superior, I was taken a back. I purchased the Ayon CD2 and Stereomojo was correct. The Ayon CD2 is leaps and bounds superior to the PS Audio Perfect Wave in every detail. Superior body & detail, more refined, a tight fast bass, warm fluid mid extension and wow, the highs are soo sweet. The Ayon CD2 is a superior unit to the PS Audio - FOR SURE
Jim

I auditionded the Ayon CD2 through my Joule Electra tube preamp, Vac 80/80 tube amp, Aural Symphonic cables and Sonus Faber Extrema speakers and found instruments in musical selections to be disconnected in space albeit the imaging, resolution and soundstaging were very fine indeed. The
Ayon to me was analytical rather than musical.

Why would you use a preamp like Jolida when the Ayon has a preamp?