The Adcom sounded better than the Ayre with the Parasound HCA-3500 power amp ONLY.
With the JC-1's, its no contest...the Ayre wins hands down!
I had to let my friend have the Parasound HCA-3500 power amp back. It was just too fatiguing in the long run. Sure it sounded clear, lively, and transparent, but at the same time it was too bright.
I recently purchased a Pass Labs X-2.5 preamp.
It sounds VERY impressive. Make sure you ditch the stock power cord, however. I borrowed a Signal Cable shielded Magic Digital Reference [High Current] power cord with it and was very impressed with it, especially for the price...A REAL STEAL!
The Pass competes very favorably with the Ayre, believe it or not, and actually sounds better to my ears with digital than the Ayre. The Ayre can be too analytical with digital.
On vinyl however, the Ayre sounds alittle better than the Pass, IMHO.
With the JC-1's, its no contest...the Ayre wins hands down!
I had to let my friend have the Parasound HCA-3500 power amp back. It was just too fatiguing in the long run. Sure it sounded clear, lively, and transparent, but at the same time it was too bright.
I recently purchased a Pass Labs X-2.5 preamp.
It sounds VERY impressive. Make sure you ditch the stock power cord, however. I borrowed a Signal Cable shielded Magic Digital Reference [High Current] power cord with it and was very impressed with it, especially for the price...A REAL STEAL!
The Pass competes very favorably with the Ayre, believe it or not, and actually sounds better to my ears with digital than the Ayre. The Ayre can be too analytical with digital.
On vinyl however, the Ayre sounds alittle better than the Pass, IMHO.