Ayre Acoustics AX-5 Twenty


Has anyone heard the ayre ax-5 twenty with Dynaudio Speakers? How does ayre compare to Simaudio, Pass, or Octave integrated amps? Ayre retails for about 15k !

danimaz
That's interesting. The Ayre gear tends to be supernaturally dark and quiet, but Dynaudio tends to be a little lively, lots of detail at low volume.

If you want something a little less expensive, but kind-of like Ayre, try Arcam
That s like comparing an Infiniti G37 to a BMW 550i. Great car but can't compete with a 550i there is no way! 
Btw I've heard the AX-5 and it was not 'supernaturally dark' don't know what that means. 
Anyone else ? 
I am not hearing anything "dark" with the Ayre gear.  It's a perfect match for my Totem Element Metal speakers.  

It's all about synergy so take anyone's advice (mine included) with  a grain of salt.  

I have been through several integrated amps over the last 2 years including Luxman L-590 AX, Accuphase E-470 and E-600, Gato AMP-150 and Esoteric F-05.   The Ayre AX-5 Twenty sounds better than all these thus far.  
I own Ayre K5xeMP and owned Dynaudios (Focus 140) before. I wouldn't call Ayre dark, or Dyanudios lively.  In my experience, Ayre is dead quiet, noise free if you will, very open and transparent, and believe it or not, it's a bit sweet, I certainly enjoy it more than my previous tube preamp. It's super detailed, tight on the low end...sweet on the high end. I am very impressed by Ayre.

As for Dynaudios, Focus series was dark and boxed in, needed very high current and high volumes to open up. Once opened up, very nice sound. I like Dyns, they have a sweet top end, and an engaging low mid, high bass tuned type of a signature. Recently I heard the Contour C20s while speaker shopping...and they were very, very nice. I loved their big sound.
Sorry - to answer your question, I think if the speakers are somewhat efficient (don't know which model you're talking about), ie, like 87db and up, the Ayre would be a very good match for Dynaudios.