Amp/Preamp Asylum: REVIEW: Ayre Acoustics MX-R Amplifier (SS) by Pinkus

Model:	MX-R
Category:	Amplifier (SS)
Suggested Retail Price:	$16,500
Description:	Monoblocks
Manufacturer URL:	Ayre Acoustics

Review by Pinkus on March 24, 2010 at 18:24:26
IP Address: 72.64.192.193 Add Your Review
for the MX-R

This is a seriously good amplifier. I have had new any shiny components before (KX-R, Guarneri Memento's, Nagra VPA's, Dartzeel nhb-108), but none have compelled me to write a review.

Voices are reproduced with vigor, body and presence, not unlike the sound produced by a good tube amplifier. The resolution of this amplifier is stunning. It reminds me of my first experience with HD television after watching standard definition programming for two decades. Because of the incredible resolution, instruments and voices emerge from what was previously noise. And emerge they do with body and substance.

It is almost obligatory for me to say this, but this resolution is delivered without any grain, etch, or stridency. I know when I read that an amplifier has incredible resolution, I involuntarily picture myself covering my ears, but that is most decidedly not the case here.

This is an intensely visual amplifier. It bests my Nagra VPA, a tube amplifier, in sound-staging by a healthy margin. I had no idea that two speakers could produce such a deep and 3 dimensional soundstage ! And the interesting thing is that instruments in the far reaches of the soundstage still have substantial body, though diminished in scale, obviously. I have never experienced this before.

The wall to wall sound created by these amplifiers is shocking in its density. I do not use the term "shocking" as a verbal flourish. That term speaks to my reaction on hearing the meaty and substantial panorama of sound created by the two little Guarneri Memento's tethered to the MX-Rs.

I could go on and on with my audiophile logorrhea (and I fear I have) but that would serve no purpose. If my writing skills were better, I could attempt to capture all the nuances of sound with language, but I still would not be able to convey the scale of improvement over other amplifiers -- my idea of the scale of improvement is entirely dependent on my prior experiences, and you the reader would interpret the scale based on your experiences.

I should have hit the knee of the diminishing returns curve with the Nagra, or the Dart, but that is not the case. This amplifier, in my system (caveat1, caveat2, caveat2, etc. etc), stands head and shoulders above all other amplifiers I have tried … Nagra VPA, Nagra MPA, Dartzeel NHB-108, Linn Klimax Twin Chakra (terrible compared to the others). I wonder if I am the point of diminishing returns now.

In the end you have to experience what this amplifier can do, and in a system that you are innately familiar with. If you have any preconceived notions about high powered SS amplifiers, prepare to be amazed. Right now I am listening to music through an all Ayre stack with nary a tube in sight, and I am luxuriating in the warm, natural sound.

Product Weakness:	I am sure there are better amplifiers out there. And then there is the sound of live music.
Product Strengths:	see above

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: Ayre MX-R
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Ayre KX-R
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Ayre C-5xe
Speakers: Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento
Cables/Interconnects: prefer not to say
Music Used (Genre/Selections): all sorts
Room Size (LxWxH): 16 x 9 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments: carpeting
Time Period/Length of Audition: Product owner for less than a week :-)
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): none
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition): NA

Amplifier:	Ayre MX-R
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Ayre KX-R
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Ayre C-5xe
Speakers:	Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento
Cables/Interconnects:	prefer not to say
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	all sorts
Room Size (LxWxH):	16 x 9 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments:	carpeting
Time Period/Length of Audition:	Product owner for less than a week :-)
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	none
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition):	NA