Ayon CD1 tube player

brgman

All the info is here with a review.
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/ayon/cd1.html
Original box and manual.
$2000

NotaSuv

Ayon apparently uses the same enclosure as that of the Canadian Raysonic Audio CD-168, my highly prized unit. The two players look virtually identical save for the location of control and power buttons and digital display. Otherwise, they both employ the same top-loading, aluminum stabilizer arrangement. Even the acrylic top plate is similar if not indistinguishable. The companies' CD remotes match as well. Even the specs pan out similarly but with some slight/major differences (depending on your viewpoint and concern for specs): both use Solen and Mundorf caps, weigh in at 11kg, use ceramic sockets and C-core transformers and run class A outputs single-ended and balanced. The CD-168 uses a Phillips VAM 1202 transport, produces an output level of 2.3 volts to the Ayon's five volts and maintains an impedance of 110/330 to Ayon's 30/170 (RCA/XLR). The CD-168 uses two Burr Brown PCM 1792 chips while Ayon relies on the Crystal CS 4398 chip. The rub? The CD-1 sells for $4,299 while my trusty Raysonic CD-168 sells for an ever cooler $2,500.

Enough of the love fest, how does the CD-1 compare to its lookalike, my very own Raysonic CD-168? The players use different tube and chip sets so you already know that while they may look the same, they are going to sound different. Returning to the Rimsky-Korsakov, the Raysonic portrayed the CD's large hall acoustics with similar soundstage characteristics. Ditto for its bass treatment though it was a mite cloudier in that respect. The Raysonic's midrange was more closed-in and less expressive however and when required to reproduce complex passages at higher volumes, it could turn strident by comparison to the Ayon. The Raysonic created more of a 5th-row perspective compared to the Ayon's front-row center perspective. Though its tonality was generally of a similar mien, what the Raysonic really lacked compared to the almost twice as expensive Ayon was that machine's sense of pure, unadulterated emotionalism. The Ayon drinks of the Raysonic's basic ingredients yet produces superior results of creamy liquid goodness. The Raysonic benefits from tube rolling and proper cabling (Shindo interconnects work warm wonders) and within its price range, it's unbeatable but the Ayon gives a more powerful, heart-pounding take on the same music.


And so, for its sheer musicality, versatility in recreating all forms of music, fleetness of tonality and colors, profound emotionalism and consistently earth-shaking dynamics and extension, I award the Ayon Audio CD-1 my second-ever Blue Moon Award. For $4,299, the Ayon CD-1 is a superb musical CD machine. Fans of both blood and guts showmanship and gentle audio epiphanies avoid this extraordinary player at their own peril.

danz1906

NotaSuv wrote: »

Ayon apparently uses the same enclosure as that of the Canadian Raysonic Audio CD-168, my highly prized unit. The two players look virtually identical save for the location of control and power buttons and digital display. Otherwise, they both employ the same top-loading, aluminum stabilizer arrangement. Even the acrylic top plate is similar if not indistinguishable. The companies' CD remotes match as well. Even the specs pan out similarly but with some slight/major differences (depending on your viewpoint and concern for specs): both use Solen and Mundorf caps, weigh in at 11kg, use ceramic sockets and C-core transformers and run class A outputs single-ended and balanced. The CD-168 uses a Phillips VAM 1202 transport, produces an output level of 2.3 volts to the Ayon's five volts and maintains an impedance of 110/330 to Ayon's 30/170 (RCA/XLR). The CD-168 uses two Burr Brown PCM 1792 chips while Ayon relies on the Crystal CS 4398 chip. The rub? The CD-1 sells for $4,299 while my trusty Raysonic CD-168 sells for an ever cooler $2,500.

Enough of the love fest, how does the CD-1 compare to its lookalike, my very own Raysonic CD-168? The players use different tube and chip sets so you already know that while they may look the same, they are going to sound different. Returning to the Rimsky-Korsakov, the Raysonic portrayed the CD's large hall acoustics with similar soundstage characteristics. Ditto for its bass treatment though it was a mite cloudier in that respect. The Raysonic's midrange was more closed-in and less expressive however and when required to reproduce complex passages at higher volumes, it could turn strident by comparison to the Ayon. The Raysonic created more of a 5th-row perspective compared to the Ayon's front-row center perspective. Though its tonality was generally of a similar mien, what the Raysonic really lacked compared to the almost twice as expensive Ayon was that machine's sense of pure, unadulterated emotionalism. The Ayon drinks of the Raysonic's basic ingredients yet produces superior results of creamy liquid goodness. The Raysonic benefits from tube rolling and proper cabling (Shindo interconnects work warm wonders) and within its price range, it's unbeatable but the Ayon gives a more powerful, heart-pounding take on the same music.


And so, for its sheer musicality, versatility in recreating all forms of music, fleetness of tonality and colors, profound emotionalism and consistently earth-shaking dynamics and extension, I award the Ayon Audio CD-1 my second-ever Blue Moon Award. For $4,299, the Ayon CD-1 is a superb musical CD machine. Fans of both blood and guts showmanship and gentle audio epiphanies avoid this extraordinary player at their own peril.

Looks like two very good Cd players!

michael1947

Very Cooool.

SteveFord

Still available?

michael1947

Anything that pretty must sound amazing.