Chord Dave or Ayre QX5 Twenty DAC???


Down to two choices in DAC's, the Chord Dave or the Ayre QX-5 Twenty. Comes down to best sound or versatility and cost. Speakers are Wilson Audio Sasha's and amp is T+A 2500R. Love the versatility of the Ayre but the sound of the Chord Dave is phenomenal, not sure if the Ayre could compare. Not sure if the Chord would still sound as good without spending mass amounts on a power regenerator and power cable. 
musicfx
I own the Ayre QX-5 Twenty. And I have heard DAVE three times in local meet ups. They are both great DACs. Ayre comes with an excellent streamer, and it’s significantly cheaper. 
And for many of us, it's just better tonally. Dave is nice as you said, but from top to bottom, the QX5/20 is a better DAC and not just for cost savings.  I do like and have owned Chord products, so I'm in no way putting them down at all.  All companies have strengths and weaknesses. they all have to make compromises when designing. 

We all just need to figure out what he can compromise on, lol.  Thanks for sharing.
Not yet as I wanted a different DAC and Stealth caps as well as a few other things.  As for TMP, I've heard it in a few systems now and it's crazy good as a server alone.  Just very relaxed with incredible timing.  It's by far the best digital I've heard to date.  

The DAC is not a quad DAC and it will have special power supplies etc...  All components will be within very tight tolerance's for sound staging etc...  I'll be using HRS Nimbus footers and the Audioquest Hurricane and possibly upgrading to Dragon as the Dragon upgrade on a source is the biggest bang for the buck.  We are shooting for the second week in Sept as I'm not in a hurry.