My answer will not be on the Ayre amp, which I don't have, but on your plan to move on to tube amp later
I own a Decware Torii IV and a small Decware SE84UFO. I use the small one with SUPER 3 DESKTOP at work and the big one with the now discontinued SUPER 7XRS. I like both amps a lot.
HOWEVER, I've removed the Torii IV and replaced it with a vintage Eico HF81 that was refurbished by vintagevacuumaudio. The sound identity is quite different: less bright, a wee bit less detailed, a lot more bass, and for me, far more pleasing. I never could get rid of a very faint hum on my Torii and it was driving me nuts, even though I couldnt hear it when I played, even at low levels. The Eico is silent and, as I said, gave me more pleasure.
HOWEVER, I have just recently been able to buy a second hand Swissonor AM6441 for a fraction the price when new and think I've found the perfect balance between the Eico and the Decware. I had discovered that company in Switzerland at Schopper (the world's largest reseller of Thorens turntables) and was able to play my own production on their amp and had been "wowed".
Now having shared my experience, I certainly do not mean to say this or that model is an absolute better proposition for your listening needs.
Here are links to the companies or models mentioned in this post
http://www.decware.com/newsite/homepage.htmlhttp://swissonor.ch/pdf/AMSys_e.pdfhttp://www.vintagevacuumaudio.com/photo-gallery/#prettyPhoto[1199]/2/