Ayon Triton III a real upgrade considering the price?

I own an Ayon Spirit II amp that I have been very happy with, and when the Spirit III came out, decided to "upgrade" to it a few years later. Fortunately, I kept the Spirit II, for I found it to actually sound better all around than the newer Spirit III using the same tubes, cables and speakers. I was a bit surprised that the newer model did not sound better, despite the "improved" features on the III. I sold the III a few months later, for a big loss.....Live and learn!

bigshutterbug,
Maybe you just needed the unit to break-in more.  A few months of constant play would of gotten it to where it needs to be? 

mountainsong,
I used to own a Triton and went to a Triton II after a few months. The difference was more dynamics and slightly clearer defined presentation. This could of mostly been due to the different tubes --from Gold Lion to Black Treasures.
I would bet if you liked your first one, you'll like the new one. Just don't expect it to sound like a completely different amp. It will be the same animal with a couple or few differences to the better in varying small percentages. Thats just how audio upgrades like this work.

Oye, the Ayon ride... In 2015 I bought an Ayon CD-07 and have been absolutely delighted with it. So much so, that three weeks ago I introduced an Ayon Triton III into my system. Why did I write "Oye"? Because every time I add a really great element into my system the remaining weak links become much more visible.

I would highly recommend the Triton III, with a warning that upon adding it you will likely start spending more time wondering if that IC or those speaker cables or god forbid the speakers themselves are up to the level of the III.

For the most part most companies even ineed the $10k range use average parts at best. I have been into molding for years.years .
Buy aftermarket capacitors, resistors,  high speed diodes upgrading power supplies on adding chokes and bypass caps to the power supplies
Can and will transform a amplifier. A Vacuum tube amplifier- integrated
Vacuum tube amp is much simpler in design  are easy to improve.
I bought a Quiet gem of a integrated amp
In the Jolida Aluminum body 3502  it weighs over 50 lbs very power German Iron 
In thd transformers, it uses custom poly capacitors in the circuit for coupling 
One of my favorites the Rike S-2 coupling capacitors mainly hand made in Germany ,the old S  model not even close then the 2 version all natural oil  paper foil Great dynamics and naturalness better then my Mundorf silver gold oil caps .
Naked Vishay resistors silver copper wire  all included retail $2,300
Sold out now. Molding a amp is great. Donot forget Upgrading Vacuum tubes 
NOS tubes especially the small ones vibration control Herbiespecially vibration
Control feet ,tube dampers. Hifi tuning fuses and a very high quality Power cord
And plug into only a line conditioner that does not have too Many other products 
In the chain .non current limiting and a dedicated 20 amp line  and do buy a good aftermarket Copper gold plated receptacle outlet good ones around $100.
Everything does count, and clean every contact from rca to speakers cables and 
Terminals many people are lazy. At least 2x a year ?I use 99% pure alcohol
With good quality swabs just moist until swabs come up clean you will hear 
The difference.

Update to my post above: I have been living with the Triton III for some time now, and it just sounds better and better. Yes, I moved things around in the room ...sticking patches of sorbothane on the back of artwork and inside metal light fixtures to null music induced vibration. But the biggest change was my own ability to recognize how good an amp this really is. Physically, it is massive, solid and built for the ages. Fit and finish: Check. The freaking thing sounded great with a pair of Canadian Energy bookshelf speakers (a test) ...not as great as with much bigger and superior speakers, but... Bottomline is it is a great amp. I picked it up DEMO for 1/2 of the list price. At that price, an absurd deal.