I just received back my Ayre CX-7 and AX-7, that have been fixed (skipping CD player, buzzing transformer in the amplifier) and upgraded with the so-called evolution version. Reports from Ayre, but also from Stereophile (see their AX-7 and CX-7 review) report significant improvements. So I gave it a try.

The price reported by Ayre is US$300 for the CD player, and US$250 for the amplifier (including labour costs). Because the upgrade needs to take place at the Dutch distributor Audiac, shipment costs and taxes are added (550 euros), but subsequently additional labour costs are accounted for. I understand that each party wants to earn some money, people have to make a living out of this, but each party asking for the full-range price brings the total to about 1000 euros (or 1250 dollars), which is more than twice as expensive!!! Luckily the dealer, Remkes, who was the intermediate for shipment didn't charge me anything additionally, besides some marginal shipping costs of 18 euros (good service)! I think Ayre should consider to offer the upgrade for a similar price in Europe, the difference with the US is just too high.

From a technical point of view, Charles Hansen (the founder of Ayre) says the following on the Audio Asylum forum: "The main change is a new power supply technology we call Dynamic Power that includes newly developed circuitry to increase instantaneous current delivery, reduce mains-born RF interference, and eliminate residual switching noise from the rectifiers themselves." In the same forum, Charles describes the improvements as: "In audiophile terms: increased resolution, lowered apparent "noise" level (blacker background), improved high frequency extension and "sweetness", more articulate low frequencies. In musical enjoyment: more realistic, more compelling, more involving".

My own observations are in line with Charles' description. There is indeed quite more involvement. It is difficult to pin-point exactly where this involvement originates from, but many things seem to have changed. Sound sources are better separated, the spatial image is more holographic, treble is a bit more silky (though certainly not soft), bass is more punchy and direct, and there is a better sense of texture. The sound comes closer to what I appreciate from a good tube amplifier. It seems to share a significant amount of involvement, drama, speed, and transparency, combined with a big sense of authority. It is capable of communicating the introvert character of music very well, by means of something I often call "silence between the notes". A tone normally has a decay to full silence, there should be no stress that eliminates the floor of silence underneath the musical performance. I guess this is what Charles calls a "blacker background".

Normally, this phenomenon is only apparent with good tube amplifiers. These tube amplifiers are capable of combining a black background without sacrificing transparency and texture, something I rarely hear with solid-state based amplifiers, and thumbs up for Ayre in this case. One point where a good tube amplifier seems to outperform the Ayre is texture. With treble intensive material, the Ayre has a slight veil of treble with for instance voices, making the sound a bit "zizzy", affecting the texture or small-scale dynamics. But this is a phenomenon that all solid-state amplifiers seem to suffer from, and here the Ayre is on the positive side of the edge. Concluding, this is the first amp that combines the airy sound of tubes with the speed and push of solid state. It has my clear preference, and direct comparison with a 300B SE showed superior performance of the Ayre.

I'm very satisfied with the quality of the upgrade! I very much appreciate that Ayre offers their upgrades to their existing customer base. In my opinion, the upgrade needs some price compensation for European customers though. Nevertheless, strongly recommended! This is a killer product, with an incredible value/price ratio!