anyone listen to the new Ayre V5 or V6

I have using Ayre V3MKIII over 4 years.

I have listen V5 & V5x, I found that the audiophile sounding has been degraded when compare with V3 MKIII (Upgraded from MKII in yr 2000), V5 & V5x are thin in vocal & mid range, mid range not rich, and less detail in full range perfomance during compare V3MKIII, the vocal and instruments (eg. Violin, cello & piano) apart to real instruments very far, bass control inadequate.

Moreover, the internal component of V5 & V6 have been down graded, they use too much IC & EI transformer, I believe that these are the main reason why the new products (whatever V5,V5x, V6 & other preamp) are poor than V3, V1, K3x & K1x).

I think they discountinue the famous V3 to develop new series products, the reason is very obviously, since V3 with very best components and design, so the production & maintenance cost may be too large.

On the other hand, Before, between V3 & V1 are no another choice, and the different between V3 & V1 are not too big during compare with their prices. So most of people like V3 than V1, since V3 is lower prices with same grade or very close to the performance of V1 / V1x.

the V3 was discontinued due to high production costs. even after two price increases they were getting too expensive to build them anymore - this info comes directly from Ayre personnel during a conversation I had with them. Ayre is a great company & they support their customers & products very well even for discontinued items

Just wondering if anyone has had the same misfortune that I have had with two failures. Ayre replaced the first DX-5 player that failed in the first 30 days and had to replace the OPPO laser drive in the second player after it failed in the first 30 days. I have played this repaired unit about 100 hrs with no issues so far. It is the best source I have ever owned.

It is a shame Charles Hansen and company did not have the courtesy to reply to two letters I sent them. I only received an email from them when I placed an ad to sell the unit here on audiogon, since I was so disgusted after the second failure. But since it does sound great, with my REF5 and Ayre V5 and Magnepan 1.7s I guess I will keep it.

I am sorry that your experience was less than ideal. I have always had great experience with Ayre and their customer support. That said, if I had a problem on a 10k player my first call would have been to my dealer. I know he would have taken care of me and probably provided me with a temporary substitute while my unit was being fixed or replaced,

It is too bad that you had two failures but it sounds like Ayre has been taking care of you. Ayre has a great reputation for customer service and it appears that this is another example.