New Ayre MX-4 stereo power amp and new integrated

Thanks for the information, Charles!

Keep up the good work, and I hope your injuries have completely healed.

Best of health to you!

Charles: to be honest I can´t tell you on which side I saw the mistake. I remember a picture showing a silver coloured MR-X with an acrylic top stating underneath the picture "Inside view of the Ayre MX-4"). The pages I´ve screened for show-reports were: 6moons, stereophile, stereotimes, soundstage, ultraaudio. Hope this helps.
AND: thanks for the hint you gave me once on audio asylum to tape the cooling devices of the V-5xe. Have you got another tip for K-1xe and C-5xe - I´ve just bought them to use them together with Aesthetix Atlas power amp.

Frank,

Be sure that the AC power cords are the correct polarity. (This happens automatically with US cords, but the Schuko cords can be inserted with either polarity.) Use wood blocks under all of your components. Use wood blocks to keep all of your cables (power, interconnect, and speaker) off the floor. Use balanced interconnects. Use a Marigo mat when playing the discs. (The thinnest one will usually work well, but sometimes will cause some hiccups.) Don't connect a video system to your audio system. Bi-wire if your speakers will allow it.

Good luck,
Charles Hansen

Thanks Charles. Appreciate your input (as always). Will add additionally a ModWright LS 36.5 to my system to get the full tube flavour. The Cardas wood blocks are already in use as well as Stillpoints universal resonance dampers. Do you still recommend the Cardas Golden Reference to be used in conjunction with your gear ?
Rgds.,
Frank

The Cardas Golden Reference cables are great cables. And for the past few years we have also been making our own interconnects (manufactured by Cardas to our specifications), that are especially designed to work well with our equipment.

But as always, you should listen for yourself before purchasing. There is probably more disagreement concerning cables than any other component.

The other thing to remember is that both the Ayre and Cardas cables are extremely sensitive to break-in. When they are new, they require at least 100 to 200 hours of play to get sounding good. At first they sound pretty good, but a little bit "tight". Then they will go through a murky phase and then a bright phase, and finally start to sound the way they are supposed to. And if they have been physically moved, they will take another 10 to 20 hours of play to get back to normal again.