I share Serge's impressions with the Ayre products. I have listened to the C5 and C7 quite a bit and the QB-9 a few times, all with Wilson Sophia 2's. All are characterized by a top to bottom coherency, openness and sense of ease. I was on vacation Wed and stopped in and listened to the QB9 and Sophia's being driven by an ARC Reference 110 tube power amp and Ayre KXR pre. The ARC definitely added a measure of warmth that was very addicting. Not too much, just a touch to that side of the neutral line that made things very, very nice. While it added a little warmth it didn't detract from the detail and dynamics. I could easily live with that system. That same dealer is having a digital audio special tomorrow so I'll be playing with iTunes and that setup a lot more tomorrow afternoon.

__________________
MC402, AudioResearch LS26, Magnepan MG3.7R, PS AudioDLIII, ACI Force XL, Transparent, Wireworld, Tara