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
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.
With significant listening time now.....I have no reservations recommending the Ayre V-5xe as part of a rig in the $10-15K retail range. IMHO, it offers sufficient low end weight, transparency, balance and control. Further, system matching must always be factored in and therefore YMMV.