Upgraded from Ayre K5xemp to Ayre KX-5 Twenty short review

[ctsooner]

Not derailing as OP waits, lol.

This is a great thread and we all have and love different speakers. No one is taking swipes at others and just saying why we love what we do. Refreshing if you ask me. This is why so many speaker companies do so well. As for room and electronics, they are the most underrated components, lol.

Too many dealers don't have great rooms either and they always say, oh they will sound even better in your home. I get so sick of hearing that. You want to sell me a speaker that costs over 5k, then show them off at their best and then let me hear them with lesser components that are in my price range. What if we all buy a less expensive speaker and then want better sound and can afford it. So many seem to run to 'new speakers', but in some cases just upgrading the pre or the source is a better expenditure. I do believe that speakers are the most important piece. Then the pre and the source and the amp and other stuff. That said, if your room sounds like garbage, no system is going to correct for that unless it's a near field speaker system set up. JMHO....

This is why I love the Ayre gear. To me, it's better than 95% of the stuff on the market regardless of cost. It's truly neutral for me and allows me to hear what else is in the system. I feel the same way about the AQ cables I use (balanced of course) and I love my sources and now speakers. I don't want to 'tune' my system with cables or footers or anything else. I always purchase as a system (as poster above said, they have things working together) and the only tweeks are getting cables up off of carpet etc... I don't consider making corrections in the room as tweeks.

[dbphd]

Originally Posted by GregGale

I just recently borrowed from my dealer the KX-5 Twenty to see what type of a difference this made in my system.

The difference was staggering. Everything sounded much more alive and real, where I could hear more texture in the bass notes, vocals sounding more lifelike and treble with cymbals sounding clear and distinct.

Our living setup is comprised of Ayre K-5xeMP and VX-5 Twenty driving KEF LS50s supplemented by a pair of subs below 100 Hz. Our media room setup is comprised of Parasound JC 2 BP and JC 1 monoblocks driving KEF Reference 107/2s, without subs for stereo.

Both setups are capable of superb sound, but I notice when I play Take Five the snare drum has less snap with the living room setup than with the media room setup. I hope to find a KX-5 Twenty to replace the K-5xeMP, and wonder if that might restore the subdued snap. Of course, I realize the speakers are very different, the 107/2s $6K mid-90 dollars, the LS50s $1.5K in contemporary dollars.

db

[GregGale]

Originally Posted by dbphd

Our living setup is comprised of Ayre K-5xeMP and VX-5 Twenty driving KEF LS50s supplemented by a pair of subs below 100 Hz. Our media room setup is comprised of Parasound JC 2 BP and JC 1 monoblocks driving KEF Reference 107/2s, without subs for stereo.

Both setups are capable of superb sound, but I notice when I play Take Five the snare drum has less snap with the living room setup than with the media room setup. I hope to find a KX-5 Twenty to replace the K-5xeMP, and wonder if that might restore the subdued snap. Of course, I realize the speakers are very different, the 107/2s $6K mid-90 dollars, the LS50s $1.5K in contemporary dollars.

db

After living with the KX-5 Twenty for the last 5 months it has just seemed to improve. In regards to snap if what you refer to snap as being more alive and real sounding the KX-5 Twenty will give you that over the K-5xeMP.

My best friend has the K-5xemp with almost an identical rig and he noticed the sound differences immediately with the new KX-5 Twenty.

You will need to give it plenty of time to break in before you make a judgment on the improvement.

[ctsooner]

Also, remember on break in, you must break in each input at least 500 hours. EACH one. As great as silver is for leads and what not, it takes forever to break in, lol.

[will]

Originally Posted by ctsooner

Not derailing as OP waits, lol.

Funny thing is I'm not the OP, haha. GregGale is. Consider me the thread-jacker.

[will]

Originally Posted by GregGale

After living with the KX-5 Twenty for the last 5 months it has just seemed to improve. In regards to snap if what you refer to snap as being more alive and real sounding the KX-5 Twenty will give you that over the K-5xeMP.

My best friend has the K-5xemp with almost an identical rig and he noticed the sound differences immediately with the new KX-5 Twenty.

You will need to give it plenty of time to break in before you make a judgment on the improvement.

This makes me salivate. My dealer said 6-8 weeks, and I haven't heard from them, so my guess is it will veer toward 8 weeks and possibly longer, I'm afraid. Funny thing is, my K-5xeMP continues to break in on the balanced input I switched to a few months earlier and sound better and better as I'm awaiting my KX-5 Twenty.

So if you say the differences are immediate, I'm salivating even more. (And just a side note: all my Ayre gear is in the black finish.)

[Billion$Baby]

Originally Posted by will

all my Ayre gear is in the black finish.)

You are a man with exceptional taste! I wish mine were all black...it matches everything unlike Silver.

[dbphd]

Originally Posted by GregGale

In regards to snap if what you refer to snap as being more alive and real sounding the KX-5 Twenty will give you that over the K-5xeMP.

That's what I wanted to know. We expect to move to a local retirement community in a few years, and are likely to downsize to a single stereo setup. I envision using Ayre KX-5 and VX-5 Twenties with the KEF Reference 107/2s without subs, because the 107/2s have useful LF extension to 20 Hz. Sources for music are a Thorens 124 with SME III arm and Ortofon 30 H cartridge and an Ayre C-5xeMP disc player. I hope the Ayre electronics pair well with the speakers -- I know the C-5 does.

db

[GregGale]

Originally Posted by will

This makes me salivate. My dealer said 6-8 weeks, and I haven't heard from them, so my guess is it will veer toward 8 weeks and possibly longer, I'm afraid. Funny thing is, my K-5xeMP continues to break in on the balanced input I switched to a few months earlier and sound better and better as I'm awaiting my KX-5 Twenty.

So if you say the differences are immediate, I'm salivating even more. (And just a side note: all my Ayre gear is in the black finish.)

When I evaluated the dealer unit at my house the differences were immediate and very audible for the better. I was amazed as I already loved my K-5xeMP and lived with it for almost 10 years.

When I got the new one the results were also immediate but did not sound anywhere near as good as the dealer unit did so I questioned whether I made the right decision. I was assured that you must let Ayre equipment break-in which can be a long process but I can tell you the break in is real and it did break in as promised.

In the beginning there were times I thought it sounded better than my old unit and than at other times it did not seem as fleshed out, but once it broke-in (100 plus hours) it sounded as good as the dealer unit.

One point I was told by Alex their sales manager when I asked him about break-in he said "I have got some bad news for you about break in". He said "each volume position uses a different resistor which must be broken in along with each input separately".

So bottom line is be patient and you will be awarded. The KX-5 Twenty is in a completely different league than the old K-5xeMP.

[ctsooner]

Yes, what I was told and it seems to work, is that you turn up the volume as loud as you are able to and it will break in up to that volume. It's crazy and I wonder how many others are like this. I do know that mine gets better and better the longer I listen at hire volumes. I am loving my QX5/20 with it as thats' the only input I"m using now. I am going to sell my Rhea phono stage now that I sold my Basis TT, but the input is broken in also and is marked in blue tape on the back as the input to use if I ever need a second one, lol.