Ayre K-XR Pre and M-XR Monoblocks -- Who's heard them?

[guzziguy]

I'd say call if you need back up Al, but I'd imagine once you invoke "lawyer Al" all will be taken care of promptly and with much bowing and supplication.

I agree. Resolving the problem and bringing several cases of Supplication will fix everything.

[Sherwood]

Oh, Al, what a shame. I've no doubt this will be made right.

Also, it's weird to relive the thread where you got hazed into HC.

[mypasswordis]

Don't you have to be a virgin to successfully handle a unicorn? Perhaps that's the snag here.

So it's one of those once in a lifetime things, eh?

Hope things are resolved in a timely manner. One would think there would be tests done to make sure the buttons worked before shipping on such a big item.

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, because once you go unicorn, you never go back.

[atothex]

GL with the Ayres! As soon as this is resolved, though, you will have about the sickest system amongst the regulars. Pics and impression required shortly thereafter.

[Augsburger]

Sorry to read about your frustration with the Charles Hansen gear, andfor a minute there I thought I was the only one on HC that bought shit that didn't work. I know that once everything is working properly this will indeed be one sweet sounding system.

[Voltron]

I dropped it off at the audio shop today and they will check it out and send to Ayre if necessary. They said Ayre is "just as surprised as you are..." I'm quite sure they will take care of it and it will end well, but it sure has hell hasn't started well.

[Sherwood]

Man, for KX-R they should be at your house. You shouldn't be boxing it up and swinging 'round the shop to have it looked at. This is ridiculous, Al.

[Voltron]

K-XR is on its way back to Ayre. Shop says they think it will be one of Ayre's top priorities. I think I should get a QB-9 as a consolation prize.

[Grahame]

It would be interesting to see the QA/Test logs for this. Did you Photograph / write down the Serial # ? (Any way of getting / noting firmware # / revision )

[morphsci]

Since this is their flagship product I would expect that not only would it be their top priority, but they would be bending over backwards to make things right. Good luck Al, I'm sure the wait, while frustrating will be rewarded with awesome sound.

[luvdunhill]

most likely they'll just flash the thing... heck, that thing's so beautiful I'd flash it just to see if I had a chance with it.

[Voltron]

I'd like to see the QA info on this as well, but I don't think they are likely to provide it. I still have my boxes with the serial no. on them because the shop is shipping it in their boxes. Plus, I still have the warranty card that has the serial no. pre-marked. The firmware was FW Rev. D. The shop said that if the unit is replaced then Ayre will void the serial no.

[Voltron]

Since this is their flagship product I would expect that not only would it be their top priority, but they would be bending over backwards to make things right. Good luck Al, I'm sure the wait, while frustrating will be rewarded with awesome sound.

I am sure it will get resolved quickly. It already sounded good--it just didn't function properly. The guy at the shop says they notoriously take 500 hours to burn in before they sound good. Even as someone who believes in burn-in to some extent, that sounded lame, but I didn't bother to discuss/debate it.

most likely they'll just flash the thing... heck, that thing's so beautiful I'd flash it just to see if I had a chance with it.

It is actually even more gorgeous than I remembered. The volume and selector wheels alone will bring hours of fascination and satisfaction.

[Dusty Chalk]

Did you at least roll your eyes?

[Voltron]

Yes, but it was over the phone, and I wasn't using Facetime because I don't have an iPhone 4.

[morphsci]

If you had an iPhone 4 the call would have been dropped anyway.

[Nebby]

maybe they take 500 hours of burn in to function properly, too.

Perhaps a cryo treatment followed by 500 hrs of burn in?

[Voltron]

Faulty button replaced and the unit will be returned to me tomorrow. *crosses fingers*

[morphsci]

Make sure to uncross them before you press the button.

[Grahame]

Edited July 29, 2010 by The Monkey

[Voltron]

Uncrossed my fingers and pushed the button on the K-XR and all is well. The right button was replaced as "faulty" and works a treat. The unit was returned with the same serial no. but I still need to check the FW rev.

I am back in business with the Ayre C-5xe and Amarra 4 as sources. I am not able to spend the time needed to really assess the sound and the dealer and online sources insist that it will need some break-in time. Not planning on running it straight for 500 hours, but maybe I will reserve judgment for awhile. The sound now is quite nice and as black as black can be when muted or in between tracks, etc. Not a hum or a buzz to be heard. When I cranked it up -- only to 44 out of 99 so far -- it was loud and powerful but not distorted. All good so far.

Here are the iPhone pics from original unpacking.

The remote is shrink-wrapped into its own box:

Typical double boxes with a nice custom foam insert system:

Then the plastic bag over the unit (sounds nasty):

Then the branded micro-fibre cloth bag over the unit:

Some better shots of it today will follow shortly.

[Voltron]

Here's the temporary setup, although the third rack with headphone gear is off to the left side and so disorderly that I am leaving it out of the pics. I also have received 9 new shelves from Core Audio to replace the existing shelves. Arnold who runs Core was bummed that I have had some cracking in the wood on the shelves and told me that they had come from a batch that was cured improperly by his supplier. Even though they were way out of warranty he replaced them all for free and delivered them to my house himself. Anyway, I have to re-build the shelves and will re-organize the system at that point.

For now, this is the best pron I can offer.

[morphsci]

Sweet setup Al. The Ayre gear just exudes quality.

[Grahame]

Somewhere, some aluminium swarf is thinking what it could have been, if only things had turned out differently.