Ayon Audio is a company that specialises in expensive and very expensive audio components: amplifiers, digital sources and speakers. Already on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of "High Fidelity", they prepared a special version of the SACD CD-35 player, while now the CD-35 II HF Edition model was created on the occasion of the 200th edition of our magazine.

Identical twins

The CD-35 HF Edition and the CD-35 II HF Edition are almost completely identical, practically indistinguishable for someone who doesn't know their way around. If we look at the two players, we can swear that they are representatives of the same model. The unspoken "almost", however, points to differences that can be detected by a trained eye: a sticker on the rear panel with the inscription CD-35 II HF Edition, where HF Edition stands for HIGH FIDELITY EDITION, and the CD clamp integrated into the lid on the new version. On the 2017 model, the clamp had to be put on before the lid was closed. The basic difference, however, is that the Mk I was a Super Audio CD player, i.e. one designed for SACDs and CDs as well as CD-R/RWs, while the Mk II is "only" a compact disc player for audio CDs and CD-R/RWs. I have the impression that the possibility of playing SACDs in the earlier model was a kind of experiment - one whose results apparently did not satisfy Gerhard Hirt, the owner of Ayon Audio.

The thing is that playing CDs is different from playing SACDs and requires different software. The experience of the Ayon Audio company was that when one “tells” a StreamUnlimited transport to play Compact Discs only, it performs the task better than when it has to deal with two different disk types. Gerhard has never been a special SACD fan, as he is more into DSD files, but he is an analog person in the first place. Thus, while preparing the new CD-35 version, he again chose a format that is older, but at the same time represented by hundreds of millions, if not billions, of discs in home collections worldwide.

The CD-35 II HIGH FIDELITY EDITION, or the “HF Edition” for short, is the second “special” product in Ayon Audio history. The first one was the Super Audio CD CD-35 HF Edition player that we came up with together with Gerhard Hirt for two reasons – a “qualitative” and a “prestige-related” one, I would say. As for the former, the basic CD-35 version proved to be one of the best of such devices in its price range and showed the potential to become much more than that. The latter reason linked the Ayon Audio company to our magazine – it was supposed to be a model that would add splendor to the 15th anniversary of High Fidelity – some kind of a “seal” that would confirm our long-lasting friendship.

While we worked on the design of the special version, almost all the hard work was done by Gerhard and his engineers, and friends with whom he tests his new products with. My role was limited to pointing out the elements that I wanted to be improved and suggesting a few solutions, e.g. anti-vibration feet made by a Polish manufacturer. It was also known from the very beginning that only 50 units of this version of the player would be created, numbered and signed by the Ayon Audio owner. The end result was a device that changed not only my, but also other people’s view on what a digital source can sound like.

The new player was prepared by Gerhard on his own. However, it is based on the previous model, just like the basic CD-35 II version is based on the CD-35. The features that distinguish the new version, as pointed out by the owner of Ayon Audio, are the optimized Sanyo-Stream Unlimited CD mechanism, an improved servomechanism section, only with respect to CD playback, an integrated clamping system, an optimized low-pass filter, an altered PCM-DSD converter and new capacitor values for the tube output stage.

The HF EDITION version has been designed very similarly to the basic CD-35 II player that we have already written about. Those of you who are interested in the topic can familiarize themselves with that test. So as not to repeat myself, let me only give you the most basic information on the device below: The CD-35 II HF Edition is a top-loading Compact Disc player with an analog tube class A zero-feedback output stage and a dedicated tube power supply unit. Two tubes - double 6H30 + 5687 triodes – have been used in it. The former was manufactured by Electro-Harmonix, while the latter was made by General Electric and obtained from army supplies (JAN 5687WB). The PSU features two R-core transformers and the Soviet GZ30 rectifier tube for the analog section.

The CD-35 II HF Edition is not only a CD player, but also a versatile DAC. It offers a variety of digital inputs: apart from classic 75 Ω S/PDIF (RCA + BNC), 110 Ω AES/EBU and USB inputs, it also features an I2S (RJ45 socket -based) input for PCM signal and a professional 3 x BNC input for DSD signal not used in home devices. Digital-to-analog signal conversion is performed by two AKM 4497EQ DAC chips, one per channel, which accept PCM signal up to 768 kHz/32 bit and DSD signal up to DSD256. The “Signature” version of the device is equipped with a D/D converter which allows us to convert PCM to DSD (DSD128 or DSD256). Before the signal reaches the AKMs, we can use the “secret ingredient” of the Ayon Audio company, i.e. its own digital D/D converter. This is an optional feature that has to be additionally paid for, but the CD-35 II will be a little disadvantaged without it. It is already included in the Signature and HF versions. The choice is between DSD128 and DSD256. I always use the latter, as it is characterized by much less high-frequency noise (outside the bandwidth) within signal than classic DSD conversion. However, one can also upsample DSD signal, e.g. from the USB input; the 3xBNC inputs will not make use of it.

Another option is the preamp section. In the CD-35 II, signal is amplified in a balanced circuit, so beside two analog RCA inputs we also have an XLR input. Volume control is performed by an integrated resistor ladder from the PGA series. It is managed either using buttons on the upper panel, or an aluminum remote control that also gives us access to upsampling and lets us choose one of two digital filters – I use filter No. 1. The information is displayed on the front of the device, next to the track number, time and volume level.

The differences between the basic version of the tested player and the one prepared on the occasion of the 200th issue of “High Fidelity” are mainly hidden inside. They are also visible on the outside, but we will only notice them if we know the basic version. The most obvious change is the new feet, the Ceramic Disc Classic from the Polish company Franc Audio Accessories, with a finish specially designed for Ayon Audio. Our attention will also be caught by black (not silver) anodized grilles covering the cooling openings, buttons and the handle of the disc closing the CD chamber. There is no indication on the front of the device whether it is the Mk-II version or the HF edition. This information is located on the back of the unit. We are informed about the special version by a sticker with the signature of Gerhard Hirt, the owner of Ayon Audio. The sticker also contains the information about which device it is, as there will only be 35 of them on the market.

More changes can be found inside. They were made in the power supply and output sections, as the transport and the digital section are the same in both versions. The changes are:

• 20 x 2-Watt tantalum resistors in the signal path,
• 4 x VCap TFTF capacitors, 4 x Mundorf Supreme SGO capacitors and 4 x “special” (as Gerhard calls them) capacitors bypassing the larger electrolytic capacitors,
• WBT nextGen output analog connectors,
• the tube output has been “optimized” to match new components,
• all of the most important components have been manually selected and are characterized by tolerance below 1%,
• additional, manual adjustment of the low-pass filter,
• ultra-precisely selected tubes, measured in the player’s supports.

The listening session

The player was listened to in the High Fidelity reference system. It was compared to two SACD players – our editorial staff’s reference player, i.e. the Ayon Audio CD-35 HF EDITION and the simultaneously tested Esoteri K-01XD player. The tested player was placed on the upper shelf of the Finite Elemente Master Reference Pagode Edition (Mk I) rack, without an additional anti-vibration platform. When it played by itself, power was supplied by the Siltech Triple Crown cable, while signal was sent through the RCA Siltech Triple Crown interconnect. For direct comparisons, power was supplied to both players – the tested and the reference one – by the Acoustic Revive Absolute Power cable, while signal was sent via the Acoustic Revive Absolute RCA-1.0 interconnects.

While listening to the two HF EDITION players one right after another, in different combinations, it is easy to come to the conclusion that these are very similar devices, i.e. that they are more different from other digital players available on the market than from each other. Their sound has developed on the basis of the same foundations and aesthetics, which makes them appear to be the same to a random person – perhaps not identical, but similar enough for the listener to regard the differences between them as irrelevant. However, I assume that High Fidelity readers are no random listeners, but people who know what they want and are well-prepared for the challenge. Therefore, the differences between the models may prove to be the key to getting to the place where they would like to be sonically. As far as they are concerned, the shifts in emphasis, a slight change of perspective and apparently slight differences will prove bigger than one may assume based on reading the previous paragraph. For those listeners these may be “to be or not to be” differences.

It is because these are not “the same” players. Obviously, they sound alike and use a similar approach to building sound, but, paradoxically in the context of the first paragraph, the differences between them would make it easier for me to compare either of them to another manufacturer’s top-of-the-range player, e.g. the fantastic Gryphon Ethos, or Esoteric K-01XD, and to talk about the similarities between them, rather than compare the CD-35 HF Edition and CD-35 II HF Edition.

Some of the characteristics, however, are clearly different, e.g. perspective. The new player builds it in a completely different way. While the Mk I shows events fairly close, saturates them in order to make their 3D images large and tangible, the Mk II presents the foreground in a larger distance from us, though not too much, ca. one meter further away. My player attempts to saturate the musical message with emotions through quite a close presentation and to ensure the best energy transfer possible – the closer we sit to a sound source, the more tangible and direct it is, right?

Well – yes and no – while listening to the CD-35 II HF Edition, we will notice that tangibility and energy transfer can be “dealt with” in a different way. By moving the foreground further away from us, the device makes it focused and enlarged. That is right, we get a more condensed image with it, placed further away from the line connecting the loudspeakers, but also one that is larger. “Condensing the image” most often entails making it smaller, since if the same information has got to be clearer, it also has to be condensed. And this is what usually happens, but not here – not with the MkII.

The new Ayon player makes sound focused and simultaneously enlarges it. Let me add that it also saturates it by transferring more information. Both of the players are spectacular in this respect, but the MkII does it better. Audiophile jargon includes the term „unveil”, also referred to as “removing the blanket” – i.e. after we start using a better audio product, sound becomes clearer. And perhaps it is not about such a change in this case, as it would be more appropriate to talk about removing a layer of muslin here, but this is the impression we get after replacing the MkI with Mk II.

Rather than enhancing detail, the new player reveals more. Its sound is more dense and clearer at the same time, and sound sources are clearer and stronger, but they have more “air” around them, and their micro-acoustics is less ambiguous. This leads us directly to Gerhard’s point of reference, i.e. the sound of an analog master tape. Not the sound of other digital players, not even his beloved LP, but tape.

Similarly as in the case of this medium, the sound of the MkII makes it impossible to delineate 3D images clearly and to precisely define the spot where the musicians are standing. It is because they are combined with reverberation, added at the studio or natural, which prevents us from instantly locating the sound source in real life as well. It was clearly audible with purist recordings made using two microphones onto a Nagra tape recorder, placed on 2xHD company samplers entitled Audiophile Analog Collection Vol. 1 + Vol. 2. One could clearly observe what I am talking about with them, i.e. the fact that the tested player moves the foreground further away and shows clearer phantom images that are larger and more saturated at the same time, as well as darker, which is totally surprising.

The first version of the device was unique in this respect, as it was so similar to what we get with tape. It is not “the same sound”, but it is “of the same kind” – in the end, these are two different formats and recording methods. However, each version of the CD-35 player is closer to the sound of an analog tape recorder than to an LP and to a much larger extent than I have heard with any other digital disc player, not to mention files. And the new version is even closer, also through the darkness it introduces.

I know that not everyone likes the Ayon Audio player that I use. It is good, as audio is the art of selection and compromise. Anyway, the main arguments that I have heard against it, held by its opponents, were that it includes “too little detail” and is “too dark”. And this is true, as it is not a device that would emphasize details and it is also one that sounds dark. However, from my point of view, it is an excellent choice which yields fantastic results. And when I heard how the MkII played the discs produced by René Laflamme, what recordings by the Three Blind Mice record label, e.g. Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio Midnight Sugar from the gold HDCD, sounded like and, finally, what the sound of John Scofield’s album entitled Swallow Tales was, I was surprised by the fact that one can go even further in this direction, achieving yet more.

It is because we not only get great sound stage and a full bodied sound here, but also excellent dynamics. You know what a percussion heard from a distance of two meters sounds like, don’t you? It may kind of kill you with a sudden, instantly extinguished strike. This cannot be reproduced in a recording, as it is simply impossible, but it can be nicely suggested – and the MkII suggests it in a really meaningful manner. The sound of percussion elements from the Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio album, recorded using closely placed microphones, was so suggestive and natural that we can rarely find anything like it anywhere else. The MkII softened and rounded it a little. Its sound was a little more pleasant, and also less real, but the impression of being in front of a real instrument was unusually strong.

Finally, we can talk about bass. Not only can it be found here, but it is also strong and deep in the new version. Its medium range seems to be clearer, perhaps even more than in the MkI version. The whole range sounds similar with both devices, through its softness and fullness, as well as good beat, even though it is not hardened too much. It has better focus with the new player, but it still remains on the pleasant, real side of sound.

The older version of the player provides us with a softer and more velvety musical message, which can be heard with every recording. However, it is partly because of the slightly more blurred sound attack. Compared to other top-of-the-range devices, sound attack and decay are formulated equally precisely here, though the Gryphon Ethos and dCS Vivaldi, for example, do it in a different way, emphasizing the front of the attack more. The Ayon CD-35 HF Edition, i.e. the first version of the tested player, does not “enter” sound that hard, hiding the “rigidity” of the attack behind its fullness. These are two equal approaches to sound, but, let us repeat it, different ones.

The new version of the Ayon player moves a step closer to the abovementioned players, though it is still closer to the MkI and to emm Labs or MSB devices. Perhaps this is why its bass seems to be more condensed than in the old version, even though it is not so. I raised my eyebrow only while listening to albums characterized by higher compression and with a strong, electric, or even electronic bass, e.g. Aquavoice's Nocturne on the Master CD-R burnt for me by its mastering specialist, Marcin Bociński.

The thing is that, when compared to the MkI, the new player features a small, but yet audible “exaggeration” of this range, a little bit similar to what we get with turntables. The best turntables play bass in an excellent manner and it is hard to accuse them of overemphasizing, but after listening to the same material from tape, it is clear that it is a little “made up” on the LP. It was similar with the CD-35 II HF Edition playing strong, electric music. People will like it, as this is what we call “drive” and “motor”. However, it was also clear to me that the older version does it in a more subtle manner.

Compact Disc vs. Super Audio CD

The CD listening session demonstrated that the new version of the top-of-the-range Ayon Audio player is better than the old one in a few respects. For laymen, the differences may not seem that big, but for anyone who has listened to a lot of CDs and spent many years with live music, it will be clear that these are important differences, sometimes even basic ones. It is because the MkII is simply a device that, while playing CDs, differentiates sound better, both when it comes to tone color and dynamics, as well as space. It shows more information, thanks to which it can build a yet more credible musical message.

The situation takes on a little different color when we start thinking about the CD-35 HF Edition not as a COMPACT DISC player, but a SUPER AUDIO CD and Compact Disc player. It is because in audio something is always sacrificed for something else. Gerhard Hirt did not included the SACD option in his new device on purpose, in order to improve the sound from CDs. And that worked out. But SACDs prove to be something so different and attractive enough, that comparing the same recordings played from CDs or from the CD layer of hybrid SACDs on the new player, and SACDs on its older version, showed both in a slightly different light.

My “old” player shows this world in a unique manner. The sound with SACDs is deeper, more dense, and more real in the first place. The differences between the MkI playing a SACD and the MkII with a CD (CD with the same material or a CD layer on a hybrid SACD) are substantial, at least in the context of high-end where we are situated. I would say it is a similar distance, such as the one between the new and older player playing CDs – this time, however, to the advantage of the CD-35 HF Edition, i.e. the SACD player.

Even though all the advantages of the new player were constant and predictable, i.e. homogenous with CDs, the difference in the obtained results was much greater in the case of SACDs. The biggest differences to the advantage of SACDs and my player could be found with relation to the transfer from analog tapes straight onto DSD files. The amount of information that we get here is simply hard (if not impossible) to reproduce using a CD player, even such a unique one as the CD-35 II HF Edition.

However, if the source were PCM files converted at a studio to DSD, the situation during the listening session was not that clear anymore. Yes, I still preferred the SACD versions, but while listening to their counterparts on CDs from the new player, I would quickly forget that it was “only” a Compact Disc player, as the benefits in the form of greater focus, enhanced depth and much better stereophony, also in the spatial domain, resulted in something unique. Anyway, the differences between the SACD player from the reference system and the new CD player with the “High Fidelity” logo come down to “presence” in this case, i.e. the feeling that we are witnessing a real event. The presence is more emphasized in the case of most SACDs. It is them that everything is more credible and pleasant with, and resembles the sound that I have in mind more.