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PS Audio or Ayre?

So I'm thinking about getting the BHK signature preamp or, I just read a review on the AyreK5xe preamp. They both seem like great pieces. Anyone have a preference?
wuzzer
techno_dude
382 posts
 

pacmi03, the Ayre K5xe was their entry level at the time more than 10 years ago, so it is normal that it is beaten in performance by newer designs. Your friends that use it with 30k monoblocks are bottlenecking their system big time...according their system is not bottlenecked elsewhere in the first place, may I suggest for them to try something better. The K5xe has a nice timbre, but it`s older resistive design is eating resolution and transparency, that was my experience with it in my system.

I am not selling anything, just a normal audiophile that tried different gear overtime.

abuhannibal
8 posts
 
I own both PS Audio and Ayre products. Note that PS Audio offers an upgrade path from the PerfectWave DAC to DirectStream; it is even user-installable, albeit not cheap. But still a lot less than a new DAC. With the Directstream the upgrade path is much easier as it is done via software to their FPGA chip.  Can't beat that!  Yeah it would have been nice if they had an interim-step to upgrade the PerfectWave, but a small company needs to make tough choices sometimes about where to focus their limited resources.
terp
7 posts
 
I own BHK pre. I can find no faults. Destination pre for me. Responds well to tube rolling. Very happy. Now looking for a phono pre....
longbowbbs's avatar
longbowbbs
23 posts
 
I have the BHK Pre and the BHK Mono's. I love the flexibility of the Pre with 5 pairs each of RCA or XLR balanced. Sound quality is outstanding and since it has a tube front end you can tube roll to adjust your preferred sound accordingly. It also supports Home Theater bypass if you need that as well. So far (Over 18 months) I am quite satisfied.
shiner01
14 posts
 
Another happy BHK Pre owner here.  I've never owned Ayre, but have listened to demos (not with my speakers) and they have been nice, but not nice enough to entice me to buy one. 
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