Arcam FMJ-33 vs. Ayre CX-7

I agree that I think the CD23 would be a better purchase for the price than the CD33. The 23 used the Wolfson ring dac technology. Then Arcam changed them out for the 33. And now the 36 is coming out. You can get the 23 for about $500 less than the 33, and the jury seems pretty split between which is better. And I agree with Bigtee's assessment, the 23 just has a very smooth, pleasing sound.

However, at least for me, the Ayre is superior. Primarily in the bass, fuller and deeper. With a wider and deeper soundstage where there is more space between each instrument. I agree also that the Ayre transport takes longer to load up than the Arcam. When I heard 1 upgraded to the e version, the transport became dead quiet. Before you could here the disc spinning when you listened at low volumes. And the bass and overrall dynamics improved. To me it was worth the $400 upgrade, but I think it's pretty special before it as well.

You really can't go wrong with any of these 3 players IMO. The biggest advantage I heard from the Ayre was when it was ran balanced instead of single-ended. If you currently run balanced or are planning to, that's the route I'd go. If single-ended, get the CD23 for $1100 or so and don't think twice about it. Good luck.

As a side note to Friz1313, the CD23 uses a DCS Ring DAC(actually very similiar to what DCS uses in their machine) while the CD33 uses the Wolfson DAC's.
I agree that the Ayre has fuller bass and is more dynamic. I never heard a non "E" model so I can't speak to the upgrade. The newer Ayre transport is quiet and they added direct track access at some point that the original CX7 didn't have. After speaking to Ayre about the transport glitch, they did admit some had the problem and changing out the transport cured them. They blamed it on the program which was sourced outside of Ayre.
At any rate, the Ayre is a well built and a good sounding player. In absolute terms, yea, it's better than the CD23 but at a premium.
Friz1313 is also correct, the Ayre is better run balanced.

Thanks for picking me up on the DCS & Wolfson DACs Bigtee. You're absolutely right. :-)

Off to the side with all this,The question really is why did Arcam get rid of the ring dac?I mean was it a money thing as some have said,you know what I really ,really doubt it,Im pretty sure Arcam isnt hurting for any money.And they have a good enough track record for new products sounding better then the previous ones.They could have stuck with the ring dac,but they didnt,how bout somebody in the know really get down to whats up,Im happy with my cd 33,now they have the cd 36,lets see if in a year if they come again with the next best thing or not.