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Ayre K-XR Pre and M-XR Monoblocks -- Who's heard them?


Voltron

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Don't you have to be a virgin to successfully handle a unicorn? Perhaps that's the snag here.

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So it's one of those once in a lifetime things, eh?

Hope things are resolved in a timely manner. One would think there would be tests done to make sure the buttons worked before shipping on such a big item.

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Sorry to read about your frustration with the Charles Hansen gear, andfor a minute there I thought I was the only one on HC that bought shit that didn't work. I know that once everything is working properly this will indeed be one sweet sounding system.

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I dropped it off at the audio shop today and they will check it out and send to Ayre if necessary. They said Ayre is "just as surprised as you are..." I'm quite sure they will take care of it and it will end well, but it sure has hell hasn't started well. :palm:

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Since this is their flagship product I would expect that not only would it be their top priority, but they would be bending over backwards to make things right. Good luck Al, I'm sure the wait, while frustrating will be rewarded with awesome sound.

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I'd like to see the QA info on this as well, but I don't think they are likely to provide it. I still have my boxes with the serial no. on them because the shop is shipping it in their boxes. Plus, I still have the warranty card that has the serial no. pre-marked. The firmware was FW Rev. D. The shop said that if the unit is replaced then Ayre will void the serial no.

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Since this is their flagship product I would expect that not only would it be their top priority, but they would be bending over backwards to make things right. Good luck Al, I'm sure the wait, while frustrating will be rewarded with awesome sound.

I am sure it will get resolved quickly. It already sounded good--it just didn't function properly. The guy at the shop says they notoriously take 500 hours to burn in before they sound good. Even as someone who believes in burn-in to some extent, that sounded lame, but I didn't bother to discuss/debate it.

most likely they'll just flash the thing... heck, that thing's so beautiful I'd flash it just to see if I had a chance with it.

It is actually even more gorgeous than I remembered. The volume and selector wheels alone will bring hours of fascination and satisfaction. n_maher-albums-smileys-picture1407-icon-pray.gif

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Uncrossed my fingers and pushed the button on the K-XR and all is well. :) The right button was replaced as "faulty" and works a treat. The unit was returned with the same serial no. but I still need to check the FW rev.

I am back in business with the Ayre C-5xe and Amarra 4 as sources. I am not able to spend the time needed to really assess the sound and the dealer and online sources insist that it will need some break-in time. Not planning on running it straight for 500 hours, but maybe I will reserve judgment for awhile. The sound now is quite nice and as black as black can be when muted or in between tracks, etc. Not a hum or a buzz to be heard. When I cranked it up -- only to 44 out of 99 so far -- it was loud and powerful but not distorted. All good so far. :cool:

Here are the iPhone pics from original unpacking.

The remote is shrink-wrapped into its own box:

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Typical double boxes with a nice custom foam insert system:

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Then the plastic bag over the unit (sounds nasty):

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Then the branded micro-fibre cloth bag over the unit:

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Some better shots of it today will follow shortly. :D

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Here's the temporary setup, although the third rack with headphone gear is off to the left side and so disorderly that I am leaving it out of the pics. :palm: I also have received 9 new shelves from Core Audio to replace the existing shelves. Arnold who runs Core was bummed that I have had some cracking in the wood on the shelves and told me that they had come from a batch that was cured improperly by his supplier. Even though they were way out of warranty he replaced them all for free and delivered them to my house himself. Anyway, I have to re-build the shelves and will re-organize the system at that point.

For now, this is the best pron I can offer.

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