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.
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.