In Reply to: RE: Ayre QB9?? posted by JeffH on June 30, 2012 at 11:35:35:
I have the bel canto 2.5 for $1,995 retail, and it's virtually identical little brother, the 1.5, is $1,395. Only difference is an upgraded power supply (which you can do later for the 1.5 anyway), analog input and a display that shows more information at the same time. Otherwise they are identical and both sound great. Both have a nice headphone amp built in, can serve as preamp (digital only for 1.5), and have multiple digital inputs.
I have not heard the Ayre. I understand it's stellar. What I can say about the 2.5 is that it's clear as a bell and gutsy at the same time, with awesome bass extension and control, and offers lots of functionality for the money.
Some things that might drive "purists" away:
1. Adaptive USB implementation, that only accepts 96kh sampling
2. Switching power supply.
3. Upsamples to 24/192, which is not defeatable.
But man does it sound good. I think it proves that, when done right, all three of the above are just fine.
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Follow Ups
- Well then let me pitch my DAC too! :-) - JoshT 21:40:58 06/30/12 (0)