[fado]

Could not find a Circle that really fits - I would appreciate hearing from members who have experience with Ayon products, specifically their current or recently discontinued CD Players. I'm not sure why, but I think my birth era predates our species acquisition of digital competence DNA, so, although I have a digital player, I find it so simple and rewarding to now and then just pick up a CD disc and play the physical media.

I have been looking at the Ayon CD-07s, CD-07, and CD-1sx. I am also considering the discontinued Bryston BCD-1, the BMC BDCD1.1 Belt Drive, the MSB Data CD IV, and Luxman D 05 or D 03. In most cases I would be looking at used units. I have never owned an Ayon component but have always been intrigued by their products. Perhaps I have been influenced by all the Ayon "flashing-neon-sign-multi-award-winner" posts on Audiogon.

Any comments, insights, and especially comparisons will really help.

Thank You

[nickd]

I owned an Ayon integrated amp for a year or so. Regret selling it. Amazing piece of gear. Build quality is as good or better than anything in the industry. Sounded like it too. A buddy of mine had on of there crazy expensive CD players. said it was the best digital he had ever heard at the time. Not sure about service on those though. Imports are tough. It all depends on the quality of  service the Importer / Distributor provide and of course parts availability. I don't know anything about the distributors service reputation. The product is excellent though.

[minimus]

Well, my experience was different than Nickd's...

About 4 years ago, I bought an Ayon CD-2 based on all the positive buzz on Audiogon and the solid reviews, thinking it might replace my PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC & Transport.  Fortunately, I bought the Ayon used.  I couldn't get rid of it fast enough.  I tried it in both my speaker rig and in my headphone rig.  In both, it sounded very forward and fatiguing.  I far preferred the Perfect Wave setup.  Even my wife, who has very little interest in this hobby, commented that the Ayon sounded lousy in comparison to the PS Audio gear.

You might send a PM to Steve Nugent at Empirical Audio to get his opinion.  His own DAC is highly regarded but expensive enough that he is willing to recommend other less expensive DACs.  He also seems to recommend the Perfect Wave DAC, as well as the Wyred 4 Sound DAC2.

[golfugh]

Just want to point out to whomever is monitoring/facilitating this thread.  Ayon is a tube company not solid state!

[TRADERXFAN]

eh, I am not going to worry about it if there is no contentious debate about it. It's a cd player has to have some solid state in it. 

[fado]

Thank you for the input so far. It helped me pause and think things through a litte more before purchase. Audiogon forum comments were similarly divided. What surprised me were comments on both Audiocircle and Audiogon describing the Ayon CD players as overly bright and forward which is opposite to all the formal reviews I have read. Although it is nice to have a complete player, The DAC is secondary for me, I mainly want a very good top loading transport. The BMC player looks very nice but too expensive for the amount I expect to play CD's. As always, Audiocircle contributions are very helpful.

[Wig]

My experience with the CD2 is spot on with Minimus, very forward sounding and aggressively bright.  At the time my system consisted of:

Herron M1 Mono
Herron VTSP-3A Tube Pre
Ayon CD2
Avalon Ascendant
Clarity Cable Organic IC
Clarity Cable Organic SC

Wig

[fado]

Thank you for sharing your experiences with Ayon. I heeded the comment by minimus that he was glad he bought his Ayon CD player used but decided to go ahead and try one in my system to quench my own curiosity. I did buy a lightly used Ayon CD-07s at a decent enough price that my experiment should not be too costly. The Ayon CD-07s is the most current model of their entry level CD players.