Ayon CD2 is AMAZING

Budt, who said the player is 100% MADE in Austria??? If you re-read my last post, I said the player is fully hand-ASSEMBLED in Austria from parts sourced from Europe, Japan and elsewhere. The issue I have with your previous post is, you are falsely inferring the player is made from mostly, or all Chinese parts which GREATLY devalues the brand and the reputation of Ayon players in most audiophiles opinions. So as an Ayon owner, I don't appreciate your misleading statements.

Initially Ayon mislead people(imo)into believing the units were made in Austria when in fact they were only assembled in Austria. Exactly to what degree are they assembled? I don't know and neither do you.Ayon knows but they aren't saying.What percentage is it? It has been my experience when a company does this they are trying to hide something.This is the reason why there are those who believe much of the unit is manufactured in China and finally assembly takes place in Austria.Again, is this true? I don't know but I strongly suspect this is the case.

Audio companies source their parts from all over the world. You would have to be quite naive to think that Mcintosh, AR, Ayon, VAC, Lamm all get their parts from the country that they have their manufacturing facility in. Ayon is no different, they source their parts globally and build the units in Austria. Ayon bashing is not going to work, they are a leader in this hobby, they make great gear and they are not going anywhere. On the contrary, they are overtaking the heavy hitters in audio.

Interesting how threads can always slip topics, though not always to ill effect.

I can understand how WIG's experience with the use of the Berkely vs. Ayon 2 could persuade him not to go with the 5S. If he felt like the CD 2 had a tendency to be bright and forward, it could be easily thought that this is a house sound, and though the CD 5S is assuredly much better given the price difference, the Berkely DAC seemed to counteract that for him. It is probably less financial investment, with a pleasing result, which is something we are always looking for here. That said, I would love to hear a 5s in my system....

One thing that bothers me about Ayon -- besides the sound -- is the fact that it spends a fortune on advertising and on chassis work that makes the company the supposed "Bugatti of Audio", but it has no dealers in the US. Why is this? I suspect Ayon doesn't want to go head to head with other brands in dealer showrooms. While it might work for Ayon, it is not for the benefit of audiophiles who have to buy the unit from on-line retailers or used "sound unheard". Personally, if I could have listened to the Ayon CD-2 at a dealer like Stereo Exchange in New York, I would have known to stay away from Ayon to begin with.