The imperfect amp: Pass or Ayre?

Haters gonna hate!
Enjoy the music

Ralph / Al, 

Your posts are reasons why I still visit these these forums. Thank you. 

@gdnrbob OK a short comparison and context for the upgrade and eventual replacement. I bought the VX-R to run Vandersteen 5a after a lengthy evaluation of several other amplifiers, notably the ARC REF150 and the Aesthetix Atlas Stereo. All from competent designers certainly held in high regard by Vandersteen. All three had virtues, ultimately I chose the Ayre for its seamless one character top to bottom balance. I did audition at some length the MXR w Vandy 7 also. I very happlily ran the Ayre for a period of years and eventually landed on the 7 speakers. Leave the Ayre amps on a d they shine after 24 hours or so, before that they sounded just a hint metallic and etched on the very top end. So just leave it on !
the On Semiconductor output devices w thermal trac proved problematic and i lost a channel, Ayre stepped up w shipping both ways and the repair covered under warranty some 4 years on...I decided while it was back at factory to get it upgraded to Twenty series. In short the twenty sings twenty minutes out of standby and lacks any of the etched quality and IMO the midrange sounds more warm and lush, like the REF150. Neither amp has the low end of the Aesthetix. Per my other comments, before I invested in a better amp, I would go as far as I could with speakers...just my buck fifty...

I own a pass labs amp, I don’t care about stats, years ago stereophile did a blind test with the worst specs an amp ever had, the other amp had near perfect specs. Guess who won? The amp with the worst specs, by the way it was a tube amp. Specs don’t mean crap, it’s all in what you hear and like.