Ayre introduces the AX-8 integrated amp

Any which way, I'd prefer a "straight" integrated without any of the DAC stuff on board.   With the AX5 twenty now costing 13K, surely there's room for a scaled down 7.5K model.

I think I read somewhere that there will be more than the two products in the 8-series. I was surprised when I first read about the EX-8 as Charles Hansen had previously shared his reasons for not wanting a DAC in the same box with an integrated (audioasylum?). I suspect there will be some option without the onboard DAC.

Please see copy of email from Ayre:

The Ayre 8 series

I know that the next question on everyone's mind is; "What is up with the 8 series!"

We are working hard to finalize the EX-8 (Digital integrated amp) and plan to begin shipping it the first week of February. Like the QX-5 it will have optional modules which can be added to expand the types of digital inputs available.

The QX-8 will be next, shipping in May, followed by the KX-8 and VX-8 which we will have as prototypes at the Munich show in May.

By the time we are finished with the 8 series in the fall, there will be 6 - 7 products in the line.

QX-5 Twenty Options

You can now customize your QX-5 Twenty!

S/PDIF (only) $6,950
USB               $7,650
Net                 $8,250
Full                 $8,950

+ Black Chassis $ 250

(Pricing is US Retail)

Additional email from Ayre:

“Ayre Moving Forward, Hello Everyone,

As you can probably imagine the last couple of months at Ayre have been emotional and somewhat disorganized. We all feel the loss of Charley and we will miss him greatly.

Fortunately, two years ago we began the process of re-organizing Ayre—at Charley's insistence—to be able to exist without him. It was a long process and there were a lot of difficult conversations. We thankfully had the help of our friend and consultant, Ian Kendrick, to assist us with this process.

All of this work has resulted in a very resilient company which will be able to carry on Charley's work for decades to come. We have both an advisory board and executive board in place to steer the company and two years worth of product designs that we are excited to bring to market.

While we can never replace Charley, we will be bringing in additional people and resources to our R&D department. These resources will help support Ariel Brown (VP and CTO), who worked side-by-side with Charley for the last 21 years, and Brendan Boyle (Software Engineer). This way we can continue to deliver the innovative products you expect from us.

Thank you for your continued support and help in keeping Charley's spirit alive!

The Ayre Team”

@hgeifman Thanks for posting that. Is that what you get if you sign up for updates? I guess I should do that!

The situation at Ayre sounds even better than I was guessing. So, EX-8, QX-8; KX-8 and VX-8 must be standalone preamp and amp with another 2-3 other products. Probably an integrated w/o the onboard DAC (AX-8?).  I wonder if a disc spinner will be one of the others. I wish them well and can't wait to hear the QX-8.