Chord Dave or Ayre QX5 Twenty DAC???

Both DACs are very, very good. But each will sound differently with any different system. You need to either borrow a store DAC with your system, or listen to either with a system that is as close as yours.

Well, it looks like I'll be selling the QX5.  I still love it and may keep it just for the great headphone amp as I listen a bit to some very high end IEM's and also a top ZMF can.  The Memory Player should be here in a week or so and I had the DAC installed internally.  It was time to simplify things as well as upgrade the sound quality.  Very excited.  I'm shocked that more people aren't going with TMP.  Their advances in lowering jitter and their defragmenting hard drive are leaps and bounds better than what's out there.  it's in a different league than any other server on the market.  

I've had both in my system and would go Dave because of Blu2.

I can only chuckle at the "authoritative" comments I read when evaluating luxury 2 channel audio electronics.  All electronics will have their particular sound signature.  While I may lean toward analytical detail and you prefer warm and lush, I truly doubt there are any responsibly assembled $75k 2 channel systems that each of you above could not easily live with for the rest of your lives.  The differences each of us hear in system A or B are merely individual perceptual differences.....whether or not a particular difference is more musical than the other is purely a matter of subjective preference.  

Hint hint.....spend you big money on speakers, amps, preamps, turn tables, linear power supplies......these items could serve you well for decades.  Show me someone who is spending ridiculously high 4 figures on digital storage, streaming, etc gear that will be totally obsolete in 3 years and I'll quickly chase him down to sell a bridge to.     

jymc.  What's your point?  I don't think I fully understand your point.  This is high end audio and of course we buy adn love then sell and miss, but are glad we changed gear.  This is teh component side of audio.

None of us are saying we are keeping the digital gear for years.  As for obsolete, my new server/DAC is fully upgradable adn will continue to be.  Most of the upgrades are software driven and the hardware has been upgraded, but folks who have owned original ones for well over 14 years to more have had the upgrades done at very fair costs based on what I can tell.  Things change and hopefully do get better over time.  I've sent gear back to Ayre for upgrades a few times and loves what they did and the prices were far less than I thought they would be.  I've had friends over teh years send gear back to Vandersteen and felt they to the same value out of it.  There are plenty of companies who do this, so they may become obsolete, but not for well over a 10 year lifespan.  

Making the comment you do is also a value judgement or am I reading your post wrong. I honestly can't tell, sorry.  Thanks.