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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
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fredericklarson
34 posts
 
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.
fohara
5 posts
 
I am curious as to why so many V-5xe amps have been for sale, at least 10 this year. I thought they are very good and would be rare in the used market. Any ideas?
rufipennis
118 posts
 
>>>I am curious as to why so many V-5xe amps have been for sale . . .

Maybe some of these sellers are moving to the new VX-5?
bjesien
1,283 posts
 
It only takes a couple of shady dealers in the network selling at 20-40 percent off the retail price. It's the dark secret that happens all the time. It's not popularized but it only takes a couple of dealers that move lots of product at a great discount. The dealer makes money and there is no risk for the buyer to "try" it. If caught the dealer will usually lose the product line. Maybe, unless it's mutually beneficial.
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
Bjesien ... a tad curious. To what extent is a manufacturer allowed to control retail pricing? For some reason, way back when, I thought that price fixing was against the law. For some reason, I thought a manufacturer could assign dealer territories, but not much else. I'm a tax attorney, not an anti-trust geek. I haven't seen this issue since I was in law school, almost 30 years ago. So I'm just askin'
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