As an owner of the AX5/Twenty and now an almost broken in QX5/Twenty I have the same conclusions. I am coming from an Empirical Audio DAC fully updated and loaded. The Ayre is something special. Very few products are as musical. I'm hearing bass that I didnt' think my Treo's had! Coherency is another word that keeps popping up. Listening to Dire Straights Private Investigators Album right now. It's amazing, but int the beginning it can sound sharp as heck. This is the very first digital device that can play this without making my ears bleed a bit. It still keeps the pitch and brightness that it's supposed to have. I am noticing the micro and macro details in songs that I've not heard on my digital or others. I find this unit more musical than the dCS Rossini/external clock. I know that's blasphemy, but it's my system and my ears and the dCS sounded leaner in my system and not as much fun to listen to.
As you have said, this is a fun to turn on and listen to component. I'm listening for more hours daily than I ever have. I'm even using the wifi to stream Tidal still as I need to hook up in the room.
I never really care about someone telling me I made a good choice in a component, but it's also nice to know that others hear what you hear. From speaking with many who own the QX5 or who have auditioned it, the Ayre electronics in general just sound great with nearly anyone's high end speakers. That's just so rare in audio.
Thanks as always for the review and the AWESOME musical recommendations you sneak in with your reviews!!! Pete