I bought the original AX-5 in 2013 then had Ayre upgrade it to the "Twenty". It certainly ran cooler and sounded better on all fronts. I use it in our family room with Sonus Faber Guarneri Evolutions. It is quite detailed, balanced and its most impressive feature is its low volume level performance. There is no loss of detail when operating at low volume settings. I have sent it back to Ayre twice for Volume control issues for which they've provided outstanding service.
I was so pleased with the AX-5 Twenty that I acquired the Ayre KX-R / VX-R in 2018 for my listening room powering Sonus Faber Il Cremonese.
