Ayre EX-8 2.0 integrated amplifier & CX-8 CD player
The Ayre EX-8 2.0 and CX-8 are innocuous looking components, they do not inhabit heavy, machined aluminium cases and nor do they have much in the way of ornamentation, in black they look very restrained indeed. Yet beneath the plain exterior are electronics that ensure all the interest and excitement comes out of the loudspeakers, they forego fancy looks but produce fancy sounds. You can have the most shiny and immaculately carved metalwork on a piece of electronics but if it doesn’t offer performance to match it’s a waste of time and money.
The EX-8 2.0 and CX-8 are Ayre’s entry level components, the company follows Canon and others by giving its best products the smallest numbers. The EX-8 2.0 is ostensibly an integrated amplifier, it has three analogue inputs, a 100 Watt specified output and two flavours of headphone socket. The option exists to turn it into a digital hub by adding a module that brings digital inputs and streaming capability to the package, and this is the version that distributor Decent Audio is offering in the UK. You can get the analogue only EX-8 2.0 but unless you aren’t interested in digital sources that really doesn’t make sense, the onboard streamer means that all you need to add are some speakers and you have very listenable one box audio solution.
The CX-8 CD spinner can also be had with the same digital hub onboard and if you already own a decent amplifier then that is an interesting option, as tested it performed the sole task of reading the pits and lands of my CDs, discs that don’t get that much use in the streaming age but which are capable of respectable results if this Ayre is any indication.
Connected
The EX-8 2.0 amplifier offers two single ended and one balanced pair of analogue inputs while the digital module brings all the inputs required to connect digital sources with USB and ethernet being the most up to date among them. Inputs can be named and even set to pass through and ignore the volume control for a combined home theatre/stereo set up. Gain can also be changed on the digital inputs in order to avoid big changes in volume when switching between sources. The amplifier itself is a zero feedback, fully balanced design with a linear power supply and an output stage that is biased into Class A up to 4 or 5 Watts according to Ayre. The transition from original to 2.0 versions involved a doubling of both capacitors in the power supply and transistors in the output stage, both were done not to increase power significantly but to make a smoother sounding amplifier that could cope with more demanding loudspeaker loads.
The DAC module runs Ayre’s minimum phase digital filter and oversamples incoming signals 16x, it can deal with up to 24/384 PCM and DSD128 (DoP) via the USB input and a bit less through the network connection. The Ayre CX-8 contains what appears to be the same DAC albeit this time it solely has to deal with the 16-bit/44.1kHz PCM stream from CDs, so the 16x oversampling and minimum phase filter are both in force. The analogue circuit is likewise fully balanced and has no feedback. Output is via balanced and single ended connections as well as SPDIF and AES digital options, blanked off apertures exist for the digital module.
Listening to Ayre
Auditioning commenced with the EX-8 2.0 driving a pair of Oephi Transcendance 2 stand mount speakers that will be seeing the light of review soon. Suffice to say that they are lightning fast and take no prisoners when it comes to laying bare the quality of recordings and ancillary components. With the AX-8 2.0’s DAC connected to a Lumin U2 mini streamer via USB the results were impressively vital and open but also refined, it soon became clear that this Ayre manages to do transparency and finesse in impressively equal measure. Imaging was very strong and timing even more so. The latter is largely a reflection of the loudspeaker but was not the case with all the amps I tried, this one laid out Michael Chapman’s Aviator to tremendous effect with pinpoint placement of voice and instrumentation yet without any glare or forwardness in the balance.
Next up was a pair of Dali Epikore 11s, this is a large and revealing loudspeaker but not one that requires a lot of power, it worked a treat with the EX-8 2.0. But first I contrasted my Border Patrol DAC SE with the onboard converter in the amplifier, the tube rectification in the Border Patrol made the Ayre sound smaller and tighter, which is a typical tube to transistor result but it has to be said that lyrics became easier to understand, and once the tonal balance had become familiar listening continued via the Ayre DAC.
At this stage I added the CX-8 to the equation and discovered that CD can produce strong imaging and decent timing with a player of this calibre, the shimmering cymbals and juicy sax tone of Herbie Hancock’s Ain’t Necessarily So produced a sublime vibe in the context of a well balanced sound that gave notes attack but avoided the grain found with many disc spinners. It’s a remarkably natural sound in fact and when I found Christine McVie’s demo of Songbird on the three disc Rumours re-release from 2013, the presence of the singer in the room was palpable and very beautiful. Along the way I discovered that the numbers on the remote not only accessed specific tracks with ease but also different inputs on the amp, you have to press function buttons to choose between amp and CD player but that isn’t too taxing.
I wondered whether CD would sound better if a digital signal were sent to the EX-8 2.0 rather than using the player’s the analogue, so contrasted the balanced analogue output with an AES signal on a balanced connector. I should say at this point that I used the same Townshend Fractal cable for both jobs and this is ostensibly an analogue cable, which made it more surprising that the digital output proved the better sounding of the two. It sounds more open and relaxed, not as pacey perhaps but there is a sense of lower noise via the digital connection that means you can play at higher levels without the sound hardening up.
By this point it was becoming clear that the Ayre EX-8 2.0 is a very capable amplifier, one that produces almost holographic imaging, excellent timing and silky tone. Compared to many Class AB amps it’s as if the mids and highs are sweetened, presumably a result of the Class A bias in the amplifier. It does run pretty hot for an AB too so don’t put it in a cupboard.
Setting the streaming up proved very straightforward once a network connection had been made and the Mconnect app was up and running, here the result was pretty compelling, not as resolute as the outboard streamer but pretty damn serviceable. I played a few tunes from my Melco library and noted the same smooth highs and engaging timing found with other sources. Out of interest I also played some vinyl through one of the single ended line inputs and that proved pretty peachy, reflecting the superior timing of the format and resolving oodles of fine detail in a highly coherent manner.
Ayre conclusion
The Ayre CX-8 is a very enjoyable and revealing CD spinner, I don’t use the format a great deal because streaming from a local library generally sounds better, but this machine gave me pause to think. This player can deliver a quality of image and presence that few can, it does both subtlety and dynamics with ease and had me seeking out discs that had long thought their useful existence was over.
The Ayre EX-8 2.0 is a charming and refined amplifier that has more functionality than many at its price point. Features are typically stronger on less expensive alternatives and there are many streaming amps on the market at less than half the price asked here. What the Ayre has that they don’t is a combination of superb imaging, excellent timing and delicious tone, the fact that it doesn’t look flashy is very much in its favour. You know that you aren’t paying for a fancy box, you are paying for advanced engineering and technology.