I heard it. The upshot is it was one of the best systems I have ever heard, speaker and headphone both. I know the DAC was a big factor because I compared what I heard through the speakers with the on board headphone amplifier and a lot of the same attributes were there.
Here is my post from Audio Afficiando from the June 18, 2016 demo:
Today I had the pleasure of hearing the new Ayre QX-5 Twenty "digital hub" at Audio Consultants in Evanston, Illinois. Alex Brinkman, Ayre's North American Sales Manager was on hand to demonstrate the unit and explain its unique feature set. What a feature set it is!
First, the associated equipment. The digital front end was a unit called the "Melco" and athough I am not sure precisely which model was used, it was a very well made purpose built device for the storage and delivery of digital music files. The source material was a mix of 192KHz and redbook CD material, along with some Tidal based material. I provided much of my own 192KHz material. The material was played from the Meclo and fed into the QX-5 Twenty via Ethernet connection. Due to a glitch we could not get the Melco to feed the QX-5 Twenty by asynchronous USB connection, which I understand would have been the
best way to connect, so we stuck with the network based connection. The results were still fabulous. From the QX-5 Twenty the signal was sent via some extremely high end Transparent interconnect to an Ayre AX-5 Twenty integrated amplifier, and then via Transparent Opus speaker cable into, at my request, a pair of B&W 803 D3 speakers. There were better speaker options available, but I requested the 803 D3 because I was interested in hearing that particular model. Power conditioning was also provided by Transparent Audio.
In addition, I brought my own Grado PS1000 headphones which, during the course of the demo, I had the store convert to balanced operation and mated to a Transparent Audio adapter converting the stereo XLR on the headphone to the type of dual mini pin balanced output found on the Pono, Codex, and now the QX-5 Twenty. First, I practically lept into the "Ayre" to discover a feature that I hoped would make it into the product that had in fact been implemented. Alex was a little surprised I found this so important but I was ecstatic. Not only does the AX-5 Twenty allow you switch from the headphone output to the rear outputs with a push of a button on the unit itself, you can also do this
by remote control via the remote that comes with the unit. That means you can leave you headphones plugged in, set them aside, grab the remote, press a button on the remote and fire up your speakers from your favorite listening chair. The transition from headphone amplifier to DAC/preamplifier is absolutely seemless. Volume settings for the respective modes are separate and the unit remembers them so you do not have to retweak to get the right level when you switch.
I have heard a lot of equipment in this room over the years and I have a good feel for the room and its acoustic properties. Once my files were accessible I grabbed the ipad controller and fired up a few tried and true 192KHz files and settled into the sweet spot. I can say what I heard was probably about as good if not better than anything I have heard. The horns on the 192KHz versions of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" were incredibly detailed and nuanced and even at VERY high volume levels there was not so much as a hint of noise, grain or anything fatiguing. This system was simultaneously detailed and smooth, which is something in my experience is not easily obtainable. The soundstage was MASSIVELY WIDE, with instruments occupying their own space in an almost startling way, coming from locations no where near the speaker drivers. They did not seem to emanate from the speakers, but rather from other parts of the room itself, out of thin air. Bass was tight, powerful and well defined. There was plenty of slam and punch. There was no aspect of the performance that was lacking in any way. I was pretty impressed. It was the best I have heard an 800 D3 series speaker sound so far and there is absolutely no doubt in mind that the QX-5 Twenty is ready for a first rate system. I am told the async usb connection from the Melco would have been even better, but this was pretty terrific as is.
Switching over to headphones, I was pleased to find that the performance of the headphone amplifier was every bit as good as with the AX-5 Twenty. Again, not a hint of grain or unpleasantness to be found. It was an order of magnitude less fatiguing than my Bryston BHA-1, which can be a bit hard on the ears. Shockingly, switching to the Grado, I found the experience just as engaging as with the speaker setup. It was like the performance I had just heard had just been shrunk down for my own little session. There did not seem to be any compromise. The remote digital volume control was a joy. The characteristics described above with respect to the speakers were every bit as present with the headphone amplifier, which easily drove my the PS1000s with volume to spare. Again, the level of detail was uncanny considering how smooth the performance was. The transition to headphones is seamless with the unit remembering the appropriate volume level depending on whether you are using cans or speakers. I can't possibly describe all of what I experienced and heard but if you are in the market for a DAC in this range, this unit has performance in spades. There is also a lot more functionality that I haven't even gotten to. I am absolutely thrilled with the level of functionality this unit brings to the table and the performance I heard was as good as anything I have ever heard.
I will have mine by August I hope! Kudos to Ayre and Audio Consultants for a great demo!!
