Ayre / Aesthetix hum problems?

In my experience, it causes a hum but it is not a ground loop. It comes from Ayre's way of not grounding the input connections to ground as most manufacturers do. It makes for better music but it does create problems with some matching preamps.
I was using Vandersteen 3a Sigs with a pair of 2Wq's at the time. You have to insert filters between the preamp and amp. This made it even worse. Ayre offered to ground the inputs but also said it would degrade the sound. They are very, very reluctant to admit to the interface problem. But it does exist.
At first, I blamed the Calypso. Jim White didn't think it was his preamps problem, which now, I agree with.
I loved the Ayre as well as the Calypso. I finally made the decision to sell the Ayre. I replaced it with a Theta Dreadnaught I and I have been happy with the pair ever since.
My advice to you, as good as the Calypso is(and it is very, very good-the reviews are right on) not to pair it with the Ayre unless you try it first. It caused me a lot of heartburn.
The Aesthetix is not the only preamp that does this with the Ayre. They're other tube pre's that exibit the same problem.
This hum, BTW, exists at a fairly low level. In a big room, you might not notice it. In my 15 x 23 room, it was very distracting unless music was playing in which case, it masked the hum.

Bigtee: so I´d better concentrate on Ayre K-5xe or K-1x as I´m very happy with the performance of the V-5xe?
Do you probably know if there are similar problems with CAT SL-1, ModWright SWL 9.0 SE or Hovland ?
Thanks so far for your very kind advise..

I'm not sure about the other preamps. Also, try the Calypso if you can get a demo. The problem may not be there for you. This was about 8 months ago. The Calypso is one heck of a preamp IMO.
If I was going with the Ayre SS stuff, I'd surely find a KIxe. The K5xe is good but not at the same level as the K1xe or the Calypso. The other preamps I'd recommend are the ARC RefII MkII or the newer Ref III, the BAT 51se or the VTL 7.5. I haven't heard the new 6.5 so I can't say on it. (The VTL 5.5 is not in the same park as these.)
I know the fellow who bought my Ayre ran into the same problem with his tube pre but I can't remember what it was. He subsequently bought the 51se and is a very happy camper. He answered your last thread with the 51se suggestion. The V5xe deserves the best you can afford. It's that good as you should know by now. Good luck with your search.

The guy I bought an Ayre V5xe and the seller sold it for this same problem. He was just a little more in love with his Aethetix preamp than the Ayre amp, so it had to go. He even went as far as to send both the Aethetix and the Ayre to Ayre and they confirmed the mismatch. Bottom line is don't get an Aethetix preamp if you are using the V5x.

I can vouch for the excellence of the V1x, I have one and it's the best hifi piece I've bought. Also for what it's worth after a long and drawn out comparison between the V5xe and the Parasound JC-1 Halos, I ended up keeping the JC-1s and selling the V5xe.

I too have the same problem with the HUM issues described above with the Raleigh Audio Line stage preamp. This is a fully balanced output transformer coupled preamp but with my V-5x it gives a very low level hum. At the listing position its not audible but distinct few feet away. Initially I was blaming the preamp and tried all grounding schemes but it was the amp that was causing this HUM.
Other than this issue, the V5x is a great amp, very musical.