All
Ayre Acoustics
Website:https://ayre.com/
Est. year: 1993
Ayre Acoustics is an American electronics company founded in Boulder, Colorado in January 1993 by Charles Hansen together with Katie Lehr and Peter Bohacek. It builds only electronics, never loudspeakers, and since 1993 has kept to fully balanced, zero-feedback circuits with heavy attention to the power supply. The team is small, with 18 staff counted in 2014, and a second manager, Jake Forsyth, came on board in 2022 with a background in professional sound and audio retail.
Range & what it's known for
The range is split into the R, 5, 8 and 9 series, covering preamplifiers, power amplifiers, digital units and headphone amplifiers. The current 8 series includes the EX-8 2.0 integrated amplifier, the KX-8 preamplifier, the VX-8 power amplifier, the PX-8 phono stage, the CX-8 CD player and the QX-8 digital hub, priced from USD 6,500 to USD 13,500. Three in-house circuits run through it, the Equilock gain stage, the Variable Gain Transconductance volume control and the Diamond output stage. Ayre also designed the analog output circuit of the PonoPlayer portable music player.
Who owns it and where it's made
Ayre is a private company. Charles Hansen led it until his death in November 2017. Ariel Brown, who joined in 1996 while still in college and became lead designer, became chief technical officer and vice president in 2017 and has carried the title Ayrehead-In-Chief since 2023. Every product is built and hand-assembled at the company's own facility in Boulder, using American suppliers where possible.
The lineup in this catalog
Sixteen amplifiers and DACs are listed. Prices begin around USD 5,000 for entry electronics and pass USD 30,000 for the top separates.
Who it's for
Ayre is the choice for a system built on balanced electronics designed and assembled in one American workshop. The EX-8 2.0 integrated is the simplest way in, since it already holds the amplifier and volume circuits of the series in one box, and a later split into the KX-8 and VX-8 pair, with the QX-8 or CX-8 as source and the PX-8 for vinyl, keeps the system inside one series.
Range & what it's known for
The range is split into the R, 5, 8 and 9 series, covering preamplifiers, power amplifiers, digital units and headphone amplifiers. The current 8 series includes the EX-8 2.0 integrated amplifier, the KX-8 preamplifier, the VX-8 power amplifier, the PX-8 phono stage, the CX-8 CD player and the QX-8 digital hub, priced from USD 6,500 to USD 13,500. Three in-house circuits run through it, the Equilock gain stage, the Variable Gain Transconductance volume control and the Diamond output stage. Ayre also designed the analog output circuit of the PonoPlayer portable music player.
Who owns it and where it's made
Ayre is a private company. Charles Hansen led it until his death in November 2017. Ariel Brown, who joined in 1996 while still in college and became lead designer, became chief technical officer and vice president in 2017 and has carried the title Ayrehead-In-Chief since 2023. Every product is built and hand-assembled at the company's own facility in Boulder, using American suppliers where possible.
The lineup in this catalog
Sixteen amplifiers and DACs are listed. Prices begin around USD 5,000 for entry electronics and pass USD 30,000 for the top separates.
Who it's for
Ayre is the choice for a system built on balanced electronics designed and assembled in one American workshop. The EX-8 2.0 integrated is the simplest way in, since it already holds the amplifier and volume circuits of the series in one box, and a later split into the KX-8 and VX-8 pair, with the QX-8 or CX-8 as source and the PX-8 for vinyl, keeps the system inside one series.
- All
- Power amplifiers stereo
- Integrated amplifiers
- Power amplifiers mono
- Phonostages
- Preamplifiers
- DACs
- CD / SACD players and transports
