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Ayre Acoustics EX-8 2.0

Ayre Acoustics EX-8 2.0_front

Over the last decade, the boundary between an ‘integrated amp’ and ‘all in one system’ has broken down to the point where there is little more than a preference on the part of the builder to call their product one thing or the other. As you move up the pricing structure, it becomes more common to find devices that need nothing other than a pair of speakers to function that are described as ‘integrated amps’, perhaps because there’s still a little reticence to consider an all-in-one at these elevated price points. 

In the case of the Ayre Acoustics EX-8 2.0, though, the decision to describe it as an integrated amplifier is reasonable because it is possible to order one in the state that warrants the term. It’s also possible to order it in a specification that makes it a true all-in-one, making the EX-8 2.0 an interesting case of ‘Schrodinger’s amplifier’ but one that is unusually flexible in terms of how it works in the context of a modern system.

Fundamental underpinning

The fundamental underpinning of the EX-8 2.0 is a class A/B stage that delivers 100 watts into 8 ohms and 170 into 4. It’s the most affordable way of experiencing an Ayre amplifier, but you still get all the bespoke engineering that the company goes in for. This includes the ‘Double Diamond’ output stage, an evolution of Ayre’s longstanding design practice of using two pairs of bipolar transistors connected via their emitters and bases by adding a new buffer stage to them. The result is an exciting alternative to a more conventional push-pull output but now runs cooler and more efficiently. This is combined with the ‘Equilock’ gain stage, which combines two transistors in a manner that allows them to work as a single unit. 

In all cases, the volume control of the EX-8 2.0 operates in the analogue domain (although this doesn’t prevent it from being something you can control in Roon), and it’s relatively unusual today in that it has a start and finish point. In addition to controlling the volume via the speaker terminals, it also controls a very flexible headphone stage that offers balanced and unbalanced connections and has its own ‘Double Diamond’ output. One final part of the Ayre EX-8 2.0’s specification that many will find helpful is the inclusion of a balanced and unbalanced pre-out.

Ayre Acoustics EX-8 2.0_back

 

The basic EX-8 2.0 makes this amplifier available to a single XLR and a pair of RCA inputs to make a traditional integrated. The version tested here adds a digital board that significantly boosts the connectivity. Six extra inputs (Ethernet, USB, AES/EBU, S/PDIF, and two Toslink) are added, and the ethernet connection means that the Ayre can be used to access UPnP content directly, either via apps like MConnect or as a Roon Endpoint. This digital board is built around an ESS ES9038Q2M DAC and incorporates Ayre’s custom clock and minimum phase digital filter. Sample rate handling is solid rather than state-of-the-art, but the Ayre will handle most real-world libraries without issue. 

To hub or not to hub…

In the UK, distributor Decent Audio brings the EX-8 2.0 in as a straight analogue integrated and in full digital hub specification. If you choose the former, it can also be upgraded to the latter later. In a market where people might have been enjoying using an all-in-one at the three to four-thousand-pound point, the Ayre Acoustics EX-8 2.0 looks like a compelling upgrade path. A few hypothetical customers might only miss an HDMI ARC input, and the reasonably bare-bones UPnP operation for non-Roon users might be a small step back. Otherwise, the Ayre is impressively flexible. 

It’s also pleasant to interact with. In the black, the casework is subtle, almost to the point of anonymity, but it’s well-made and attractive. Some parts of the EX-8 2.0’s design are a little idiosyncratic; the widely spaced inputs and spade-only speaker terminals could well require a bit of a rethink to your existing cabling, and the remote control brings to mind the ones used to control hotel TVs in the 1990s. However, it works well enough, and for people using the Ethernet port, it is not going to be used that much. 

My First Ayre

The EX-8 2.0 represented my first experience with an Ayre product (as I suspect will be the case for many), so I started using it via the XLR input. I used my resident Chord Hugo Mscaler and TT2 pairing to separate what the analogue and digital sections contribute to overall performance. It quickly became clear that the core amplifier version of the EX-8 2.0 is a very enticing proposition in part because it delivers a sonic balance that is uncannily and consistently well judged. 

Listening to Paint the Roses, a live performance by duo Larkin Poe and the Nu Deco Ensemble [Tricki Woo] is a genuinely exciting experience. There are dynamics and muscle on offer here that belies that relatively terrestrial power output and the Ayre is impressively fleet of foot for an amp that hits as hard as it does. At the same time, though, the sweetness it brings to the Lovell sisters’ harmonies and how it handles the supporting string section of the Nu Deco Ensemble is profoundly satisfying. This amp allows you to potter through an evening of music and never once feel the urge to nudge the volume down. You’ll likely finish the night at a somewhat higher level than you started. 

With such a strong foundation, the digital board has much to live up to, but it doesn’t let the side down. Compared to the Chord duo (which cost very nearly the same as the total price of the Ayre), there is a reduction in the overall soundstage that leaves the live performance of ‘Hammers’ on Nils Frahm’s Spaces [Erased Tapes] sounding spacious rather than utterly vast. Still, that incredible ability of the Ayre Acoustics EX-8 2.0 to deliver an invigorating punch with lovely tonal richness is unaffected. Frahm’s piano is a tangible presence in the recording, and it invites the suspension of disbelief in a way that simply doesn’t come naturally to some rivals. 

Hold up

Something I’ve found interesting while the Ayre has been on test is how consistently this presentation holds up across partnering the EX-8 2.0 with different speakers. The bulk of testing took place with a pair of Kudos Titan 505s that have virtues that complement the Ayre very closely, and the results have- perhaps unsurprisingly- been very enjoyable. Switching over to a pair of Focal Kanta No1s – a speaker intolerant of less than stellar mastering – the Ayre still extracts a sweetness from the Focal I don’t generally experience. What’s maddeningly hard to convey when I state this is that the Ayre isn’t steamrollering the character from the speakers you connect it to. Instead, it simply ensures that their virtues are something you can keep experiencing when rival electronics might be getting their hackles up a little. 

A final ribbon to an already gratifying bow is the headphone output. Some testing with the Focal Clear MG very quickly demonstrated that this is a more complex convenience feature. The same hard-hitting sweetness that is so enjoyable via the speaker outputs is no less apparent here, and it lends Amadou & Mariam’s La Confusion [Because Music] a flowing, head-nodding momentum that manages the single most crucial trick a headphone setup can do, and that’s to forget you’re listening buttoned up. Something I find especially interesting about the performance is that it is achieved without any post-processing options. The Ayre pushes the material in front of you via engineering nous rather than digital cleverness. 

This nous is evident at every stage of the Ayre’s specification and performance, and it’s hard not to be won over by it. The core amplifier is good enough that the basic integrated version is appealing, but the full specification version of the EX-8 2.0 appeals the most. It offers every point of convenience that all-in-one systems do while delivering a level of performance that gives you a hefty taste of what the more premium Ayre offerings promise. This might be Schrodinger’s amplifier on paper, but in reality, the Ayre Acoustics EX-8 2.0 knows precisely what it needs to do and does it sensationally well. 

Technical specifications

  • Audio Inputs
    • USB: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384 kHz, PCM 16, 20, 24 bits, DSD64 and DSD128 (as DoP)
    • Optical/SPDIF/AESEBU: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 kHz, PCM 16, 20, 24 bits, DSD64 (as DoP)
    • Network: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 kHz, PCM 16, 20, 24 bits, DSD64 (as DoP)
  • Analogue: 1 Balanced XLR, 2 Single-ended RCA
  • Outputs: Speaker Terminals (spade lugs and bare wire only)
  • 100 watts per channel continuous into 8 ohms
  • 170 watts per channel continuous into 4 ohms
  • Line Output: 4.5 Vrms balanced, 2.25 Vrms single-ended
  • Headphone Output: 4.0 Vrms balanced, 2.0 Vrms single-ended
  • Dimensions 44cm x 33cm x 11.5cm 
  • Weight 11 kg
  • Finishes Black and Silver 
  • Price: £ 5,950/$8,000 (analogue only), £7,950/$9,300 (digital hub version)

Manufacturer

Ayre Acoustics Inc.

www.ayre.com

UK distributor

Decent Audio

www.decentaudio.co.uk

+44(0)1642 267012 

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Tags: AYRE ACOUSTICS EX-8 2.0 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

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