The imperfect amp: Pass or Ayre?

@gdnrbob OK a short comparison and context for the upgrade and eventual replacement. I bought the VX-R to run Vandersteen 5a after a lengthy evaluation of several other amplifiers, notably the ARC REF150 and the Aesthetix Atlas Stereo. All from competent designers certainly held in high regard by Vandersteen. All three had virtues, ultimately I chose the Ayre for its seamless one character top to bottom balance. I did audition at some length the MXR w Vandy 7 also. I very happlily ran the Ayre for a period of years and eventually landed on the 7 speakers. Leave the Ayre amps on a d they shine after 24 hours or so, before that they sounded just a hint metallic and etched on the very top end. So just leave it on !
the On Semiconductor output devices w thermal trac proved problematic and i lost a channel, Ayre stepped up w shipping both ways and the repair covered under warranty some 4 years on...I decided while it was back at factory to get it upgraded to Twenty series. In short the twenty sings twenty minutes out of standby and lacks any of the etched quality and IMO the midrange sounds more warm and lush, like the REF150. Neither amp has the low end of the Aesthetix. Per my other comments, before I invested in a better amp, I would go as far as I could with speakers...just my buck fifty...

I own a pass labs amp, I don’t care about stats, years ago stereophile did a blind test with the worst specs an amp ever had, the other amp had near perfect specs. Guess who won? The amp with the worst specs, by the way it was a tube amp. Specs don’t mean crap, it’s all in what you hear and like.

Some top amps in this thread.  Ralph's post is priceless as Jim pointed out.  

Bob, the difference for my system was night and day.  To my ears, it shares the fast Ayre traits, but the bass got tighter, the dynamics all showed huge gains.  Feel free to call if you want to.  

Specs don’t mean crap, it’s all in what you hear and like.

A lot of audiophiles feel that way. However as I see it specs (and measurements) can often provide a lot of value in two ways:

1) By allowing one to identify and RULE OUT from consideration candidates for purchase that would be poor matches to either the surrounding components or to the user’s requirements. An example of the latter would be how much power is needed to support desired peak volumes. Examples of the former would be incompatibilities due to impedance issues, gain and sensitivity mismatches, and various issues which can result in amplifier/speaker mismatches.

One way in which specs and measurements can sometimes serve that purpose is by providing insight into the priorities of the designer, and in doing so making it possible to identify misplaced priorities. Such as specs that may be TOO good and thus may signify undesirable design tradeoffs. A classic example of the latter would be an amplifier having unusually good Total Harmonic Distortion numbers relative to other comparable kinds of designs, which can signify heavy-handed application of feedback in the design, with the downsides that have been mentioned.

If specs are disregarded and/or are not properly understood the randomness of the process of assembling a satisfactory system, and the likelihood of expensive mistakes, are significantly increased IMO.

2) Specs and measurements are also often useful in troubleshooting problems and diagnosing sonic issues. I couldn’t begin to count the number of times I and many others have referred to John Atkinson’s measurements in Stereophile in addressing such issues in discussions here.

@Nrenter, thank you kindly for the nice words.

Regards,
-- Al

Very interesting and informative comments. The most pleasurable power amplifiers I have heard with my Vandersteen model 5A speakers are the Lafayette KT-550 tube amp, the refurbished old Luxkit power amp (sounds amazing) and the hybrid tube amps that I built.

Happy Listening.