CD/SACD-проигрыватели и транспорты — Ayre Acoustics CX-8 CD Player

The CX-8 is a CD player from Ayre Acoustics, the company founded in Boulder, Colorado, by Charles Hansen, who designed loudspeakers for Avalon before starting Ayre. Launched in 2022 at USD 5,450 as a basic CD player, it succeeds the CX-7 and is now Ayre's only CD player. It plays Red Book CDs and HDCD, and its modular design allows digital inputs to be added.

Key specs that matter

An ESS ES9038Q2M chip handles conversion. Outputs are 4.5 Vrms balanced and 2.25 Vrms single-ended. Optional digital inputs are asynchronous USB and Ethernet, both accepting PCM up to 384 kHz. DSD64 to DSD512 arrives in raw form on the USB2 version, while the Net2 version takes DSD64 and DSD128 as DoP. Versions are Digital Base with S/PDIF only, USB, Net and Full. Power consumption is 60 W at most. The player measures 44 x 33 x 11.5 cm wide, deep and tall, at 6 kg.

Engineering and use context

The digital filter is Ayre's own Minimum Phase design, applied in a single pass at 16x oversampling. A minimum-phase filter places all its ringing after a transient rather than before and after it, as a linear-phase filter does. The analogue circuitry is fully balanced, discrete and zero feedback, built on Ayre's Diamond output stage and its Equilock gain stage. The Diamond circuit uses complementary pairs of transistors in a configuration that keeps the stage linear without global feedback, and Equilock stabilises the gain devices' bias point. A custom digital clock with discrete low-jitter oscillators sets the timing, and ultra-low-noise regulators feed the circuits. A linear supply feeds everything, on fast-substrate boards. The USB2 option adds jitter-reduction reclocking and improved galvanic isolation. AyreLink connects the player to other Ayre components for system control. The CX-8 is designed, built and tested in Colorado, with most parts sourced in the USA, and its modular design allows firmware, software and hardware upgrades. Ayre's product range has three tiers, R, 5 and 8, and the CX-8 belongs to the 8 series. Its UK selling price was GBP 5,950. The first Ayre disc players over twenty years ago included models with DVD and SACD capability, while the CX-8 focuses on CD alone.

Pairing

The CX-8 pairs with Ayre's EX-8 integrated amplifier through balanced connections and AyreLink. Its XLR outputs also suit any other balanced preamplifier.

Alternatives

Ayre currently offers no second CD player, so the CX-8 has no sibling in its catalogue.