plinius vs. ayre

I own a Plinius SA-100. But last weekend, I heard an Ayre V1 fed by an Ayre K1 and Wadia 860 driving a Vandersteen 5. The sound was exceptional, maybe the best I have ever heard. What was particularly satisfying was the midrange and highs which were liquid, and velvety smooth. However, with this combination, the music did not have a whole lot of get up and go. In other words, it was not terribly dynamic. Maybe boring after a while. The bass showed some evidence of a slight boominess in the midbass and the deep bass was significantly lacking IMO. Speaker cables used were Nordost SPM which, I believe are light on bass. I can't tell you whether the problem was speakers, amp, preamp or cable, but V1's reputation is to be soft in the bass and light on dynamics. Also, it has been said to have even less get up and go when used with its single ended inputs. Check the Stereophile review of Sept. 1999. The Plinius has an outrageously potent and powerful midbass but I find it slightly rolled off in the deep bass. It has a beautiful tubelike midrange. There is a slight prominence to the upper midrange and the highs are extremely clean and crisp. There may be a slight rolled off quality to the extreme highs. You have to be careful not to match the Plinius with other bright equipment. The Plinius is in general, over the entire frequency range, an extremely dynamic piece of equipment as contrasted with the Ayre. To summarize, I would say that the Ayre has beauty (beautiful midrange and highs) going for it and the Plinius has both brawn (dynamics, bass slam)as well as beauty (beautiful tube like midrange). I would say neither deliver the ultimate in deep bass extension, but I think that I would give the edge to the Plinius in that regard. Which should you choose? Both are exceptionally sounding products and truly Class A all the way. At this level, its all a personal choice. However, I believe the Plinius is considerably cheaper than the Ayre ($4495 vs. 7k+). Then the V1 has twice the wattage as the Plinius. But you didn't say which Plinius you were considering. Perhaps it was a Plinius SA-250? Happy listening!

Hi Jcraig6, I didn't know anything about Ayre or Plinius, but I enjoyed the obviously knowledgable, helpful, and articulate post by Rayhall. Thanks, I learned something about these foreign amps.

Ayre is made in Colorado.

Have you listened to the Bryston amps? I demoed a Plinius 100 in my home for a week and then demoed a Bryston 3B-ST. I chose (2) of the 3B-ST's bridged. The Plinius was very warm but just lacked a sense of realism. I was simply too laid back. I have always found however that matching the amp to the speakers and the components is really the most important thing. Because i was using a Bryston pre, this may have amde the difference. The Bryston was definetely stronger on the bottom end. Sorry I do not have any experience with the Ayre. Good luck!

Anyhoo, I still say try the FPB 200 against either the Ayre or the Plinius. I don't know why it would'nt do everything better than both of them. Rayhall (Bobby?) mentions tubelike midrange. The Krell FPB series have THE VERY BEST MIDRANGE of any solid state amp, and at least the equal of most tube amps. They also have the PERFECT combination of bass tightness and bass roundness. The treble is maximally smooth with the right power cord. Dynamics are killer, especially with the right interconnects and speaker cable. You just can't go wrong with an FPB, except the monoblocks are even better. And an FPB 200 could be had used for around $3500 to $4000, so money certainly wouldn't be an issue...