One-man-band
Ayon CD-3sx Tube CD Player / DAC / Preamplifier All-in-one. Do-it-all. This much hyphenated concept is often met with disdain in our field. Not always, though. Integrated, full featured single boxes these days can really kick — see Devialet for evidence. But most of the time, we accept trade-offs in return for extra features and easier setup. And if we’re the cranky audiophile type, trade-offs are for suckers. Well here’s one device I found that actually does it all with as few trade-offs as I’ve ever witnessed, the Ayon CD-3sx. If you’re like me and consider CDs a reference in this streaming age, something like this can revolutionize your life. Because as great as CDs are, they are never going to be the only source nowadays. I’m trying to think about what caused me to open the notepad here and start typing. The reason in my mind has to be the output stage, which Ayon clearly slaved over. Before you even get into features like the “direct amp” setting which sees a short...