Attn: Ayre v-5xe owners



Hello,

There's been a lot of Ayre v-5xe amplifiers (two-channel 150 watts per channel) for sale on Audiogon over the past 3-6 months. Wanted to ask previous and current v-5xe owners what your opinion is of this amp. It seems that one recurring complaint is that the bass region is a little light.

Both reviewers and owners alike agree that the MXR monoblocks are expceptional, but most of us will only be able to afford the mid-priced Ayre amps such as the v-5xe. Wanted to ask if the v-5xe is a viable mid-level alternative or we should keep our fingers crossed that the MXR technology will trickle down to the lower-priced Ayre amps at some point in the near future.

Thanks in advance for your valuable opinions. As usual, the community is very helpful.

Matt
mminor
Can anyone comment on the V6 multi channel amp? How does it compare to the V1 and the V5?
I have an XP-10 coming in for a demo next week. I also hope to demo side by side ARC LS-17se. Stay tuned.....
The bass is light in comparision to my old threshold amp. I was told by Ayre that the bass is a little different due to the no feedback design, which could be true.

What would be interesting is whether the bass was corrected in the V-1xe. The V-1xe has slightly more power but is considerably more $.

Stingreen's comment that the amp needs to run balanced has been supported by others.
More time in the saddle needed, but initial impressions of the XP-10 and V-5xe pairing are excellent for overall tonal balance, tall/deep/wide soundstage and transparency.