Ayre C-5xe-mp v Sony XA5400ES

"May be why some high end audio companies put 40% or so of the cost of manufacturing into the faceplate."

Who does that?

I owned both the Ayre C-5xeMP and Muse Erato II, but have not
heard the Sony XA5400E. The Ayre was very nice sounding and I
would fully recommend it as a top notch disc player. I
thought the Muse was even better sounding on red book and
since it also played my DVD-A discs, I sold the Ayre and kept
the Muse.

The Ayre C-5xeMPis is not related to the Oppo. Ayre's short-
lived DX-5 A/V Engine used the Oppo as a platform. Not sure
why the DX-5 was discontinued but, in my case, I get the best
sound from my music server playing files through Pure Music.
Maybe Ayre is focusing on their digital offerings that do not
play discs. The only disc player still sold by Ayre is their
CX-7eMP, which I also owned and found to be good but not as
good as the C-5xeMP or the Muse Erato II.

Who does that? Read Art Dudley's column in the latest Stereophile. He berates those audio companies that put $1,000.00 worth of audio components in a #2,000.00 box. Art appears to one of the clearest thinking, most honorable audio reviewers. I say that even though I am poles apart from Dudley's socialist belliefs. But, of course, your expertise far surpasses that of those who rewiew for Stereophile.

Tarp38,

The mechanicals may be Pioneer, but the electronics that get superb analog out the door are from Charles Hanson et al., and I suspect the cost is in that design genius and the selection of components. Yesterday, someone whose audio judgment I trust, wrote to tell me he had heard the Ayre C-5XEmp in John Atkinson's house, and that the sound was "very, very good." That's good enough for me. I'm on the look out for an Ayre C-5XEmp for no more than $3K.

db

"But, of course, your expertise far surpasses that of those who rewiew for Stereophile."

Exactly why I don't read Stereophile. Getting back to my question, I really don't care where you get your information from, I just wanted to know who does that? Why take offence? People make statements like that all the time, but they never list any specifics. The tone of your answer tells me that Stereophile probably didn't list any actual companies, which means you can't either.