Specifications

©DAGOGO 2010 – special reprint by permission. Page 3
It’s now 2010, I’m back on the Screamin’ Eagle, and no one’s glasses are going to get knocked
off. But my hands are in the air, and I’m going, “Woooooooooooo,” as I listen to the Ayon CD-
5, “Now THIS is a Redbook ride!”
I have had the pleasure of reporting on Ayon Audio, a company and components which are
among the best designs to emerge in high-end two-channel audio in the latter half of the 1990’s.
In particular, I’ve had the privilege of working with four players by the talented Gerhard Hirt, a
man whom I sense, based on his designing prowess, has the potential to become an Icon in the
audio industry. I am now at the peak, the summit, the crest of the wave, the top of the Screamin’
Eagle – Look out World! The Ayon CD-5 is here! Yah–hooooooooo!
Ok, so that’s a bit overdone for a reviewer who’s supposed to be objective. Fine; let’s go with the
alternative opening…
As the landscape for media is changing rapidly, so is the nature of audio equipment. Who
thought ten years ago that integrated amps would make a big splash in America at the turn of the
millennium? Who would have dreamed that vinyl would have arrested its fall and turned upward
in numbers of users and albums being produced? Who would have thought that the standalone
preamp would be challenged by Redbook CD players?
Yes, you read right, preamp…challenged by… CD player. Before we proceed, allow me to
reassure that your preamp is likely not obsolete, that is, unless you own an Ayon CD-5. In that
case, if you are like me you will find yourself streamlining your audio system to a degree not
thought practicable only several years ago. You will be running your sources into your CD
player, your CD player straight into your amps, and it will never have sounded better! In fact, as
long as the Ayon CD-5 is in my room, it will be my explicit goal to see if, when building any
system, I can avoida preamp and work solely with the CD-5 and amps. Surely, I jest, right?
Wrong; I’m dead serious about building the best systems possible, and I’m dead serious about
the CD-5 and amp combo.
As of this product’s entry into the marketplace your preamp is not completelyobsolete, just
mostly obsolete. If you have a hankering for top-notch Redbook, or to play steaming audio via
digital coax or USB, then your preamp is obsolete if you obtain a CD-5. Why do I keep saying
“obsolete”? Whereas most CD players contain no preamp function, or at best a functional but
unimpressive level control, the CD-5 has an audiophile tube preamplifier function built in. It is
impressive in quality such that only the very finest preamps will improve upon it. Gerhard points
out that the Ayon Polaris II and Spheris, two-chassis dedicated preamps, are of higher caliber
than that inside the CD-5. However, consider that when I was using the Ayon CD-2 I was
already experiencing such good sound from the player direct to amp(s), through the elimination
of a component and set of cables, the only preamp I had used which did not harm the sound
simply by being in the chain was the VAC Renaissance Signature Preamplifier MkII, a $14K
component! I have been spending a fair bit of time in the past two years working to perfect my
rig as dual mode, operating either with a pre or without one, but at all times running at the
highest fidelity. Using the CD-5, you can obtain results which will match or best most high
fidelity systems using a dedicated preamp.