Orelayer,
Its very difficult to explain how an audio component sounds using words. I don't read reviews any more just for that reason. You can go crazy trying to sort it all out. I've come to realize that the only way to really succeed with audio is to just get as much hands on experience as you can and be honest with yourself. No sense in putting together a system that sounds amazing with classical music and terrible with rock, if thatÂ’s what you listen to.
I think its a good idea to get a used V5 to try. Worst case, if you don't like it, it can easily be resold without loosing a lot of money. I'm glad you asked about the production dates. One of the best things about Ayre is the upgrades. The V5's that first came out have been improved many times over so that current production V5's are really current. If you have an older version, you can always send it in to Ayre and they will upgrade it to current status. With your preamp, you need to make sure that you have an M in your serial number. It needs to be at the end and not the beginning. There was a small compatibility issue with your Aesthetix preamp that was fixed with the M version. Its been out for a long time so most V5's you look at will probably be OK. Either way, I would still check with Ayre first just to make sure my info is correct.
Its very difficult to explain how an audio component sounds using words. I don't read reviews any more just for that reason. You can go crazy trying to sort it all out. I've come to realize that the only way to really succeed with audio is to just get as much hands on experience as you can and be honest with yourself. No sense in putting together a system that sounds amazing with classical music and terrible with rock, if thatÂ’s what you listen to.
I think its a good idea to get a used V5 to try. Worst case, if you don't like it, it can easily be resold without loosing a lot of money. I'm glad you asked about the production dates. One of the best things about Ayre is the upgrades. The V5's that first came out have been improved many times over so that current production V5's are really current. If you have an older version, you can always send it in to Ayre and they will upgrade it to current status. With your preamp, you need to make sure that you have an M in your serial number. It needs to be at the end and not the beginning. There was a small compatibility issue with your Aesthetix preamp that was fixed with the M version. Its been out for a long time so most V5's you look at will probably be OK. Either way, I would still check with Ayre first just to make sure my info is correct.