Ayre C-5xe Break In Period?

100 hours and never turn off a digtal source. Must be powered up all the time. If you turn it off it needs at least 50 hours to sound its best again.

Talk to Charles Hansen or Steve at Ayre. My CX-7 (now upgraded to "evolution") and AX-7e needed at least 100 to 200 hours to sound their best, although the CX-7 bettered anything I had heard in its price range right out of the box.

I'd also talk to Ayre about interconnects and power cords. The TG Audio SLVR power cord and Cardas balanced interconnects had a profound impact on my CX-7's performance.

Good luck...I've read wonderful reviews of the C-5xe but haven't had the opportunity to audition. We no longer have an authorized Ayre dealer in Dallas, which is a downright shame.

Thanks for the replies. Looks as though I'll need to play it nonstop for a week or so.

Mcrheist - will be using Acoustic Zen balanced ICs and either TG Audio or Empirical Audio power cords. Next time you're in the Houston area and if you would like a listen, let me know and we'll set something up. I'm actually in Magnolia.

I feel compelled to start by saying that I was really, really impressed with my C-5XE right out of the box. I did initially notice a little bit of an asymmetrical frequency response -- certain mids and lows popped out just a little bit too much at times but not too big of a deal.

Well here I sit, about 100 hours into breakin. Never turned it off, and left a variety of CD and SACD running continuously. I have to say that this thing transformed over the last 100 hours. It is hard to put my finger on it but it is smoother than before and the music is just more credible and believable. Frequency response issues are no more, and even my junky poorly-mastered CDs sound good. And SACD - holy %$#&. I have never heard a greater seperation in fidelity between redbook and SACD before.

Bottom line - you will not be displeased out of the box, but about 100 hours into it you will be thrilled.