RMAF 2010

Audioquest and Ayre

Jason Victor Serinus  |  Oct 17, 2010

Audioquest's Joe Harley showed off a system using Ayre electronics and Vienna Acoustics speakers, whose lovely midrange and easy-on-the-ears presentation was made possible by Audioquest Sky interconnects, Meteor Flat Rock Series speaker cable, Energy 100 power cords, and the new top-of-the-line Diamond USB cable (the latter shown in the photo with Harley). All of these cables, including the USB, utilize Audioquest's DBS dielectric bias system to keep the cables at peak capability 24 hours a day. (A FireWire cable is in development).

COMMENTS
Claudius's picture
Submitted by Claudius (not verified) on October 17, 2010 - 8:42am

I am really interested in the USB Cable. Did you talk to Joe about it? Any idea what this cable brought to the equation? Did Ayre say anything about the usb cable?Greetings from Berlin

Jason Victor Serinus's picture
Submitted by Jason Victor Serinus (not verified) on October 17, 2010 - 1:09pm

Alas, the answers are no, no, and no. They may have wanted to give me a 15-minute rap on why their USB cable is better than every other USB cable, but I had 60 rooms to cover. Besides, everybody says their USB cable is better than every other. The four I've tried are Kimber, Cardas, Nordost, and the not-top-of-the-line (which is about to be introduced) Wireworld. Each has a different and distinct sound.

Jimmy's picture
Submitted by Jimmy (not verified) on October 17, 2010 - 4:51pm

Did Ayre Electronics release any new products at the RMAF show?

Claudius's picture
Submitted by Claudius (not verified) on October 18, 2010 - 3:04am

Thanks Jason

Jason Victor Serinus's picture
Submitted by Jason Victor Serinus (not verified) on October 18, 2010 - 6:41am

I'm afraid that I don't have an answer for you, Jimmy. This seems to have been Ayre's only room at the show. As soon as I entered, I was collared by Steve Silberman, formerly of Ayre, who wanted to talk about Audioquest. I never even had time to sit and listen. I'm sure Ayre will be happy to answer any questions you have if you contact them via their website.

Michael Wiedmaier's picture
Submitted by Michael Wiedmaier (not verified) on October 22, 2010 - 3:50pm

Ayre did not have any new products per se' but we were using the DX-5 universal A/V engine which has been shipping since June and were exhibiting its capability to play back 24/192k samples. Also on display was the DPS/Ayre turntable which has the newly engineered unipivot arm available. We could also be seen in the Joseph Audio room with a full system of Ayre QB-9 DAC, K-5xeMP preamp, and V-5xe amp. Avalon Acoustics' room was also using our C-5xeMP universal two channel disc player and QB-9 DAC as sources.

Eric Krauss's picture
Submitted by Eric Krauss (not verified) on October 28, 2010 - 5:25pm

Ayre has recently upgraded its QB-9 USB DAC to support 24/192 files. It is my understanding that the 24/192 boards are being retofitted as upgrades to existing customers QB-9's (for a very fair upgrade price of $250), but new production QB-9's do not yet come standard with the new board.Was the QB-9 with the upgraded board exhibited by Ayre?Also, seeing as the Oppo BDP-83 has been discontinued, how long will the Ayre DX-5 be in production? Hopefully, Ayre stockpiled enough BDP-83's before production ceased so that they can continue to produce the DX-5--and stock spare parts for it!

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