I managed to listen to the EX-8 2.0 at my local hifi store, side by side with the Electrompaniet ECI 6DX MKII. I wanted to compare their streaming capabilities, but my dealer had a network issue and we could not access to Qobuz. We ended up listening to a Naim CD player connected to the unbalanced entries, with only 2 CDs available: Eric Clapton (Unplugged) and Roger Waters (Amused to death). The amps were feeding a pair of Magico A1 (amazing sound for their small size)
I don't master all audiophile terminology, but in short:
- The Electrompaniet sounded "muddy". Clapton's guitar sounded dull, upper frequencies were all but refined and mids/bass were somehow intermingled into a lifeless soup. Soundstage was narrow like stuck between the speakers and we switched to the Ayre after less than 10 minutes.
- With the Ayre, sound stage incredibly opened up and music filled the entire room. Clapton's guitar sounded like a real guitar, and we felt him sitting and playing in front of us. Water's intro in What God Wants was dramatic and the creaking door during the first minutes gave us shivers. This amp sounds really good. The only mixed feeling was about its bass that were IMHO lacking a bit of power and speed at least in my listening set up... and I could not listen to its internal streamer/dac but only to its analog part.