Specifications

IN THE SIMPLEST VIEW,
THE AYRE AX-5 IS AN
AMALGAMATION OF
THE AX-7 AND THE
KX-R. YET IN ANOTHER
WAY, THE AX-5 IS
THE MOST RADICAL
INTEGRATED
AMPLIFIER EVER
DESIGNED.
Words by
Charles Hansen
55 years of preamplier
history out the window
Remember in the Ayre KX-R, we threw 55 years of
preamplier history out the window and created a new
topology never seen before. In 99.9% of preampliers,
the signal comes in at a slightly lower level than the
power amplier requires. There is a gain circuit to boost
the signal, so that it is large enough to drive any power
amp with any set of speakers. But to keep it from being
too loud, there is also a signal attenuator (volume
control) in front of the signal booster (gain circuitry). It
doesn't take too much of a brilliant mind to gure out
that there must be a better approach than to take the
incoming signal, reduce its volume to the right level with
the volume control, and then increase the volume by a
xed amount with the gain circuit.
Variable Gain Transconductance
And that is what was so radical about the Ayre KX-R.
Instead of using a xed gain circuit , the gain of the circuit
was variable (by changing its transconductance), hence
the name VGT for "Variable Gain Transconductance".
There are many advantages of this approach:
a) The signal is never attenuated, which would always lead
to a loss in S/N ratio and also dynamics.
b) With a conventional preamplier, the noise of the
gain circuitry is xed. This means that you only reach the
maximum S/N ratio when the volume control is at the
Ayre AX-5 Introduction
Featuring Ayre's new Diamond output stage, their
exclusive EquiLock circuitry, and a Shallco solid-silver
contact switch for gain control, this fully-discrete, fully-
balanced, zero-feedback integrated amplier provides a
complete solution for your modern music system.
The key to perfecting the AX-5 was to incorporate the
Variable Gain Technology (VGT) of the award-winning Ayre
KX-R preamplier into the power amplier section. The
addition of ultra-transparent FET input selector switches
completed the transformation of a basic power amplier
into a compact one-box solution which will become the
heart of your high-performance audio system.
TYPE: Reference class integrated amplier
OUTPUT POWER: 125 wpc 8 ohms / 250 wpc 4 ohms
DIMENSIONS: w 44cm x d 48cm x h 12cm
WEIGHT: 22 kg
MANUFACTURER: Ayre Acoustics
WEB SITE: www.ayre.com
UK PRICE: Silver £7,895* (*add £195 for black chassis)
t: 01727 865488 e: [e-mail] w: www.symmetry-systems.co.uk
Symmetry, Suite 5, 17 Holywell Hill, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL1 1DT
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