⌈ AYRE ACOUSTICS was founded in 1993 by CHARLES HANSEN, KATIE LEHR and PETER BOHACEK. Leading it in the ensuing years, Hansen was previously a speaker designer and founder of a major American brand, Avalon Acoustics. The first product was the V-3 power amplifier. We test one of its newest products, the CX-8 Compact Disc Player. ⌋

BROWSING THOROUGH THE MONOGRAPHY published by "The Absolute Sound" magazine, entitled Illustrated History of High-End Audio Volume Two: Electronics and edited by Robert Harley, I was surprised not to find an entry for AYRE ACOUSTICS. This is neither the first nor the last blank spot on the map of the audio world drawn by Americans, but a bit surprising one - after all, we're talking about one of the most interesting American companies.

A different approach to the subject was taken by Nelson Pass, responsible in the aforementioned publication for an article entitled A brief introduction to solid-state amplifier design. This legendary, one may dare to say so, designer among the most interesting products and technologies recalls in it the 1993 Ayre V-3 amplifier and comments on the solutions used by this company (p. 228). And there are indeed quite a few of them, for example Diamond Circuit, Equilock, AyreLock, Ayre Conditioner and others.

The company has remained faithful to electronics to this day. Today, its lineup is logically grouped into three series: the most expensive "R", the middle "5" and the entry level "8". It includes products still designed by Hansen, as well as newer ones. After the turmoil of the founder's death, this highly regarded brand is now headed by Jake Forsyth and Ariel Brown. They spearheaded the creation of the "8" series, which was introduced in 2018.

In an Audiophilestyle blog post, Forsyth takes a closer look at this difficult time for Ayre:

- At the end of 2017, Charles Hansen, founder of Ayre, died after 10 years of struggling with injuries sustained in an accident with a motorcyclist hitting his bicycle.
- At the time, longtime production manager and technician Ryan Berry confidently stepped into the role of general manager.
- In 2018, we moved to a much larger building in anticipation of the launch of our "8" series products.
- By 2019, we were facing serious challenges in our in-house machine shop that prevented us from launching a whole range of products.
- The year 2020 is a pandemic that came out of nowhere, causing a near-total collapse in the operations of some of our top vendors.
- Let's fast forward to May 2022, when I started working at Ayre, Brent Hefley had already left, and I had the opportunity to work with Ryan Berry for about 5-6 months before I discovered that he was planning to leave.
- After Ryan's departure, we had several choices about what we could do with the brand; none of these were in the best interest of the Hansen family or Ariel Brown, given his years of service to the company.
- After years of reviewing financial reports (P&L), I was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and developed a plan to get our company back on track, which has been well received and has already begun to bear fruit.

⸜ Thread: What the heck is happening at Ayre Acoustics?, → AUDIOPHILESTYLE.com, 26th May 2023, accessed 29th Jan 2024

God willing, so to speak, other companies would be able and willing to communicate with the world in an equally sincere and passionate manner.

▌ CX-8

A NEW CD PLAYER IN 2022? Just a few years ago it would have seemed unlikely. Today it is already known that this format is still alive (more about Compact Disc → HERE). I'm writing about 2022 because that's when, in January, Ayre introduced the CX-8, replacing the CX-7 in its catalog. This device joined four other products with an eight in the symbol: a line preamplifier, a power amplifier, an integrated amplifier and a DAC.

FUNCTIONALITY • CX-8 is nominally a Compact Disc player. It plays all types of audio CDs, including CD-R. It features a nice, clear display and a clever front-panel control system. It offers balanced and unbalanced analog outputs and three types of digital outputs.

Its value, however, is enhanced by additional options. ˻ 1 ˺ CX-8 can also be operated as a digital-to-analog converter, although its functionality will be limited to a single input - USB. This is an additional option, one has to pay an extra 4330 PLN. However, it can be done at any time - it's a board that plugs into the main one. You can then connect a computer or file transport with USB output to the player.

However, if you want to have everything under one "roof", so to speak, you can buy ˻ 2 ˺ a file player board, costing 5410 zlotys. You will then have to use an application from some third-party company. The device plays files from pen drives and NAS drives, you can also use Internet Radio and streaming services. The file player section can connect to a router via a cabled or wireless connection. It does not feature a permanently installed antenna or receiver, but we get a receiver of this type for the set, connected via a USB input.

THE LOOK • The CX-8's appearance is typical of Ayre, the company has developed its own style, including for the "8" series. The front panel is not flat, but has been divided into three horizontal strips. On the right side, they end nicely at the circular keypad. These are classic transport control buttons, but arranged in two circles. This layout takes some getting used to, but one, it looks nice, and two, it avoids "button" chaos".

On the left side there is an easy-to-read, good-looking OLED display, with a blue filter applied to it. It reads the time and number of tracks, that's normal, but also CD-Text. Hallelujah! This extension of the CD standard, developed by Philips and Sony, allows you to save album and track titles on a classic CD. It is absolutely incomprehensible to me that this is not a universally applicable standard. Interestingly, however, many discs do not have the presence of CD-Text indicated, yet the titles are displayed - in Poland, this includes the entire "Polish Jazz" series released in recent years, as well as a large portion of ECM label discs. CD-Text also offers a CD layer of hybrid SACD discs.

TECHNOLOGY • The all-aluminum chassis, made of bent sheet metal, houses TEAC's mechanics and proprietary D/A converter. The transport usus a classic plastic tray and spins the disc for some time even if you don't play it, ready for immediate operation. Which means that CD-ROM mechanics were at its core. The manufacturer says it was selected from a dozen other models, already for the CD-7 player, so the company has a lot of experience in its use and service. Unlike the CX-7, which used Burr-Brown chips, here you'll find a modern ES9028Q2M chip from ESS Technology. The analog section is fully balanced, hence the presence of XLR and RCA outputs on the rear panel.

There is no feedback loop in the analog stage. This is one of the advantages of the Equilock circuit, a proprietary development by Ayre. The manufacturer says it resembles tube circuits in that it operates two transistors in cascode as if they were triodes. It would seem that a simpler circuit is better, but - as it is in audio - this is not an iron rule. The second development we find here is the Diamond circuit. Developed in the 1960s by Prof. Richard Baker, it was called Gateable Bridge Network Having Power Gain. Originally these were bipolar transistors with current output, Ayre's version features JFET-type field-effect transistors. The advantage of the circuit is said to be significantly lower noise and distortion.

In the digital section, the designers opted for a digital filter of the minimal phase type, i.e. with the smallest possible phase shift. This circuit minimizes oscillations ("ringing") before the pulse and slightly magnifies it afterwards. Listening tests say that this is much easier for the human ear to accept than oscillations after and before the signal, as with classical filters. The manufacturer reports that the converter is clocked by an Ayre design clock.

OPTIONS • Manufacturer calls the CX-8 a "CD Player," which indicates its main function. However, this player can be equipped with two optional boards. One is a file transport, and the other adds a digital input - an asynchronous USB - to the three digital outputs (AES/EBU, RCA and Toslink).

The transport is an element purchased from a third-party supplier, so Ayre has not developed its own application for it. We have to make do with one of the third party applications for the UPnP protocol. The manufacturer recommends using the Mconnect Control, which we know, for example, from the first version of the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge player. But it will be much easier and more pleasant if you decide to purchase the Roon program. It will also allow you to decode MQA files, not decoded by CX-8.

The resulting file player will allow us to listen to music stored on a flash drive or NAS, and also gives us access to the Tidal, Qobuz and Spotify streaming services; unfortunately, it does not offer the Tidal Connect function. It will play back PCM files up to 24-bit, 192 kHz and DSD files up to DSD128 (x 2).

A second optional board provides USB digital signal input to the CX-8. This asynchronous circuit was developed in-house at Ayre. Through this input we will send a PCM signal up to 24 bits, 384 kHz and DSD up to DSD128 (DoP) and even DSD256 (native signal). Although it is possible to mount these two boards simultaneously, I would see their role this way: if your basic file transport is enough, the USB input will not be needed. But if you require something more, then you install the USB input and use an external transport - be it a standalone device or a computer.

With the device we also get something the company calls a "gift". These are wooden blocks we can place the player on, named Myrtle Blocks. Sold separately, they are modeled, as far as I understand, on similar solutions from Cardas. And, let me remind you that Acoustic Revive also offers similar components (HQ-4). Myrtle Blocks can also be purchased separately.

OPERATION • The player is controlled using a plastic remote control bearing the Ayre logo. This is one of the least user-friendly remotes I know of. The buttons for skipping forward and backward, as well as those for returning to the menu, are so tiny that you might even miss them.

Fortunately, there are control buttons on the front panel of the device, as well as two more - one to select an input, and the other to "mute" the output signal or activate "standby" mode. A two-color LED was placed next to them. It's worth mentioning that the player's menu offers access to several additional settings, such as dimming the display or activating individual inputs and outputs.

▌ SOUND

HOW WE LISTENED • The Ayre CX-8 player was tested in a HIGH FIDELITY reference system. It stood on the top carbon shelf of the Finite Elemente Pagode Edition Mk II rack on its feet. Its sound was compared to the AYON AUDIO CD-35 HF EDITION SACD player and the LUMIN T3 file player. I devoted a separate audition to the sound after placing Myrtle Blocks under the player.

The player was connected to the Ayon Audio Spheris III preamplifier with Crystal Cable Absolute Dream unbalanced cables. One of the features of Ayre equipment is a balanced signal path, and probably in your own system this is how you should connect them. The HIGH FIDELITY system, however, plays better connected with RCA cables, so I opted for this arrangement. Power for the CX-8 was supplied by a Harmonix X-DC350M2R Improved-Version cable.

The player was connected to network via my system, consisting of a SILENT ANGEL N16 LPS dual LAN switch, with its two modules in series, powered by a TIGLON TPL-2000A cable and via a TIGLON TPL-2000L LAN cable; more on this → HERE «PL»; the router was powered by a JCAT Optimo 3 Duo power supply.

⸜ RECORDINGS USED IN THE TEST ⸜ a selection

→ SACD/CD
⸜ BREAKOUT, Blues, Polskie Nagrania MUZA/Warner Music Poland 50541 9 78085 3 1, „Polskie Nagrania catalogue selections - Limited Edition SACD Hybrid”, SACD/CD (1971/2023).
⸜ LEONARD COHEN, Popular Problems, Columbia | Sony Music Labels SICP-4329, CD (2014).
⸜ DIANA KRALL, Wallflower, Verve Records /Universal Classic & Jazz UCCV-9577, Deluxe Edition, SHM-CD + DVD (2014/2015).
⸜ IYER VIJAY, Compassion, ECM Records ECM 2760, CD (2024).
⸜ THE MODERN JAZZ QUARTET, The European Concert. Volume One + Volume Two, Atlantic/East West Japan AMCY-1186-7, 2 x K2 CD (1960/2000).
⸜ TERUMASA HINO, Swing Journal Jazz Workshop 1 – Terumasa Hino Concert, Nippon Columbia COCY-80505, „CD On Demand”, CD-R (1969/1997).

→ PLIKI
⸜ JOHN COLTRANE, Bill Evans: Live In Copenhagen (1964) , Elemental Music/Tidal, FLAC 16/44,1 (2023).
⸜ WES MONTGOMERY, The Complete Full House Recording , Craft Recordings/Tidal, FLAC 24/192 (1962/2023).
⸜ LUCIANA ELIZONDO, Cantos De Amor Y De Ausencia, The Audiophile Society, DSD (Heapdhone Mix) + WAV 24/96 (Headphone Mix) (2022).
⸜ GHOST, 13 Commandments, Loma Vista/Tidal, FLAC MQA 16/44,1 (2023).
⸜ DIANA KRALL, This Dream of You, Verve Record/Tidal, FLAC 24/44,1 (2020).

»«

IT IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION if I say that the Ayre player has been tuned to fill and thicken the air in the room where we listen to music. Playing selected tracks from the first three discs, and they were, Blues by BREAKOUT, Astigmatic by KOMEDA QUINTET, both in Damian Lipinski's new remastering, and followed by Popular Problems by LEONARD COHEN, I immediately heard a stronger mid-bass emphasis.

This is a subtle influence, nothing "non-linear." I'm sure that on a frequency response graph the CX-8 would show a completely flat line. However, the sound energy of this player is composed in such a way that the whole gains in volume due to this slight emphasis. The bass guitar and double bass from the aforementioned discs had a powerful slam and, above all, a dense fill. The selectivity of this range was fine, but it's at its expense that we get what I'm talking about.

The player shows sound sources close to us, in a tangible way. We can perfectly "feel" their weight, "see" their size. This happens, however, without cutting them out of the background or pressing them against us - they are simply quite close and have a full "body". This was the case with both Cohen's voice, and this is how I heard it with DIANA KRALL from the Wallflower album. The choruses accompanying her in the album's opening ˻ 1 ˺ California Dreaming are shown with warm acoustics, almost "directly."

Bringing the presentation closer to the listener, that I’m talking about, is extremely pleasant. Both Cohen's and Krall's vocals were recorded with closely positioned microphones, and there is a lot of compression on them. They "slip up" those slightly emphasized elements of sound, which we identify as "throat". It's not unpleasant, these are ultimately professional productions, but it also changes the character of the voice, or rather, gives it an extra one, adds to its energy.

The Ayre player showcased them in a smooth and seamless way, taking both of these features further than with the reference player. The result of this is that we can listen to such recorded music for a long time and in comfort. We can hear it that the upper midrange is pulled back here - not by much, but still. It doesn't affect the clarity of the image, but it's clear enough to make possible what I was talking about, that is, to smooth out bumps, to polish out roughness, if of course there are any in the signal.

So we have a big volume, a strong, palpable sound and a smooth upper midrange. This type of sound "reads" as a warm sound. And that's probably what can be said about this device. The usual saying "less digital in digital" is invoked here, and if that suits you, you can think of the CX-8 that way.

Only that this device has such a refined sound that when listening to music with it, we don't think of listening to digital recording, but simply to music. And this is due to the very way the signal is decoded.

What I'm talking about is something more, and that's why this sound jumps to a whole new category, where we don't fight "digitality", because that only occurs in failed digital products, but we add something "extra" to the sound. And this "extra" manifests itself precisely in saturation, in filling, in "swelling", if I may say so. It works on vocals, and to those I've already mentioned, I would add Michael Bublé, accompanying Krall on the ˻ 4 ˺ Alone Again (Naturally), like candy on children, this is spicing it up.

TO VERIFY WHAT I was talking about earlier, which is how treble is presented, I reached for one of the latest releases from ECM Records, the IYER VIJAY piano trio CD referenced above, entitled Compassion. Recorded by Ryan Streber at Octaven Audio studios (Mount Vernon, New York), it is, as I said, significantly different from the label's albums of, yet, a decade ago. It's dark, it's low, it's dense. There is no "sparking" of the metal cymbals here, as it these are placed deep back on the stage. Ayre, very interestingly, showed the drums quite strongly, at least for the conditions imposed on them by this album.

The American player "turned up" this sound, turned it towards the opening of the treble. And, let's remember, the upper midrange is rather quiet in the CX-8. it resulted in an extremely interesting mix. The presentation grew, as it was brought closer, it also got a dose of energy thanks to the stronger presence of the treble. But it did not lighten it. After all, the Ayre player is an absolutely "non-bright" device, so to speak. That's why it's such a cool combination of different qualities - on the one hand, smooth, warm treble and midrange, and on the other hand, high energy of both these ranges.

Remastered for the 50th anniversary of Atlantic Records, the album THE MODERN JAZZ QUARTET The European Concert wonderfully demonstrated what this "peculiarity" of the player under test is all about. For this is dynamic, broadband playing, in which the sonority of the vibraphone and drums are its "bones." The CX-8 showed the brass really sonically, strongly, "forward". Similarly as Milt Jackson's instrument. The album was remastered using 20-bit K2 technology at JVC studios and sounds like that in itself. But the device emphasized it, even more strongly pushing the whole thing towards sweetness, fullness, but also sonority at the same time.

At first glance, the player calms the dynamics. And so, to a certain extent, it does. However, it does so not by flattening it, but by smoothing the edges of the sounds. For when we listen to the trumpet that opens the TERUMASA HINO Swing Journal Jazz Workshop 1 - Terumasa Hino Concert, when we listen to its reflections from the walls, when we let ourselves be carried away by it, we realize that the dynamics here are excellent, that the differences between pp and p and beyond are legible and clear. It's just that when listening to music, we don't pay as much attention to this as we do with clearly dynamic equipment, whether it's the dCS Vivaldi system or the top-of-the-line Accuphase set, not to mention the Ayon player, which is my reference point.

FILE PLAYER • While my attitude towards the Ayre CD Player was very positive from the start, the file transport module, which together with the device's D/A converter forms a complete file player, I approached with distrust. That’s because it was sourced from a third party, and because it's not fully functional (it doesn't play files above 192 kHz and doesn't decode MQA), and because of everything else.

I was wrong. The CX-8 plays files in a very cool, pleasant way. What draws attention is its timbre, very similar to what I've heard with CDs. The center of gravity is placed a bit higher, and the punch is harder, no longer so velvety soft. But the differences are not as big as I thought, and after a while I stopped paying attention to them. This system plays music, no matter how it was encoded, in a natural, dense way. You can hear that the dynamics are lower than from a CD, yet it's not obvious. And this is because the higher bass is strong and saturated, and the treble is sonorous.

The biggest problem with this module is the resolution. It's a problem for files in general, but modules of this type in particular. Ayre has gotten around this problem by saturating the sound, thickening it to the point where you sink into it and everything else stops mattering. And you can go a bit further by using Myrtle Blocks under the player. Please try them out, it costs nothing. And you will hear a slightly better focused sound with a deeper stage. If I hadn't heard it many times before, if I hadn't reached for the Myrtle Blocks, I wouldn't have believed it either.

▌ Summary

The AYRE CX-8 PLAYER is a deeply thought-out device. Both on the technical and sonic side. Its sound is dense, warm, low. But also open and dynamic. The presentation is brought closer to us and saturated, so that everything that opens up in the window between the speakers has its "weight". In the sense that everything counts here, there are no "loose ends" and random sounds that we don't know what to do with.

The selectivity of this presentation is not high, but it was probably not the point. Strong mid-bass gives everything a distinctive color and draws our attention. And this is what is usually lacking in music. So the CX-8 will play any album with commitment and culture. The low bass, perhaps without some ultimate control at the very bottom, but with beautiful timbre, will take us on a real journey. And that's how I read this device, as a time machine, taking us from "here and now" to "there and then", wherever and whenever that may be. A very natural and immersive sound.

▌ DESIGN

FRONT & REAR • The CX-8 IS A MEDIUM SIZE, 440 x 330 x 115 mm, device weighing 6 kg. This is not much, but it is nevertheless a nicely designed product. The housing of the device is made of non-magnetic material - aluminum. The front is divided into two parts, changing the depth of the cutter in the middle, where all the keypads, the display and the transport tray are placed.

The connectors on the back are arranged horizontally, which reflects the layout of the circuit boards inside the unit. In the middle is the largest one, with RCA and XLR analog outputs and digital outputs. On the right are the AyreLink system communication jacks and a USB port which serves as an access point for software updates. Further to the right, on the other hand, there is a USB type B socket and an IEC power socket with a mechanical switch. At the left edge, on the other hand, you can see an Ethernet jack and two USB Type B sockets. The XLR sockets are solid, being gold-plated Neutrik components, while the RCAs are quite common - (only the ground is gold-plated) and soldered to the board.

INSIDE • The inside was divided into two zones. At the front panel was TEAC's complete CD-ROM transport and power transformer, and at the back were the electronics boards, including the power supply.

The transport is shielded and bolted to the bottom of the case by two angle brackets. This is the CD-5010B model, dating back to 2014. It was, and still is, a popular choice among audio companies; you can also find it, for example, in players from Analogue Audio. They usually explain their use of it by the fact that, although it was designed for PCs including, this particular model was intended to serve as a high-end audio drive.

From the transport with a wide computer tape we get to the main board. It has been divided into two parts - digital and analog. They have been coupled with optoelectric circuits isolating them galvanically and minimizing noise. On the digital part you can see two large DSP circuits. One is assigned to the AyreLink chip, which controls the complete system, and the other is a large Xylinx Spartan 6 chip, where Ayre's programming engineers wrote the digital filters. Let’s add that the XLR and RCA digital outputs are also galvanically separated.

The actual DAC is on the other side of the "barrier". At its input you can see a tiny converter chip - it's the ESS Technology ES9028Q2M. The manufacturer says about it: "Audio D/A Converter ICs Sabre 32 Reference Stereo low power audiophile DAC”. It is a 32-bit stereo chip with good noise properties with HyperStream circuitry and jitter reduction, belonging to the manufacturer's reference series; its limits are 32-bit, 384 kHz and DSD 22.6 MHz. The analog signal amplification section is the company's version of the Diamond chip and the Equilock chip. Its output uses JFET transistors.

Right next to the circuits you will find power supplies. They are extensive and have been based on both transistors and integrated circuits. Several supply voltages come out of a large transformer with classic EI sheets, separately for the digital and analog parts. In addition, protection from power supply noise is taken care of by capacitors at the IEC socket.

The USB input and file transport boards are plugged into the main one on its two sides. The basis of the former is an XMOS chip, programmed by Ayre. The transport, on the other hand, is based on a Nexell microprocessor with a third-party software. ●

▌ Technical data (according to the manufacturer)

Nominal output voltage:
- XLR - 4.5 V (pin 2 = hot) | RCA - 2.25 V
USB input:
- PCM - 16, 20, 24 bits | 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384 kHz
- DSD - DSD64, DSD128 (DoP) and up to DSD 256 (DSD-Raw).
File Transport:
- PCM - 16, 20, 24 bits | 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 kHz
- DSD - DSD64, DSD128 (DoP).
Power consumption: 60 W (max)
Dimensions: 440 x x 330 x 115 mm (W x H x D)
Weight: 6 kg

THIS TEST HAS BEEN DESIGNED ACCORDING TO THE GUIDELINES adopted by the Association of International Audiophile Publications, an international audio press association concerned with ethical and professional standards in our industry, of which HIGH FIDELITY is a founding member. More about the association and its constituent titles → HERE.

→ www.AIAP-online.org