Additional HIFi beyond a top-end AV reciever?

[deant22]

Hi,

I currently play my music from a MAC Mini, through an optical link to
my pioneer receiver (LX81), mostly lossless files (I also play movies etc.,). In addition I use a Pioneer blu ray for the full cinema experience). This then goes
through some lovely B&W XT series speakers. I have been happy with
the system, but was in a HI FI store yesterday & they told me if i
also had a dedicated music amp (Naim was mentioned), the musical
experience would be much better. Apparently, there is too much ''shine'
when playing through a cinema receiver.

I am keen to see what you guys on the forums reckon. Also if it is going to be that much better, how would i set-up the system?

Cheers,

 

[Anonymous]

Firm believer in "horses for courses" here. I think most would agree that keeping your music and AV separate is best, except, of course, using the music speakers as the "fronts" for your AV, simply to avoid having two pairs of speakers by the TV.

I use a Cyrus Av Master-8 to run my surround sound, and it isn't the best for watching movies, but my emphasis was on music, with AV surround sound as a bonus.

 

[deant22]

Thanks for the reply....massively appreciate it.

So i have the floor standing B&W XT4's for the fronts (XTC center) the SC-LX81 is the reciever, but would running the music (as opposed to the 350mb tv shows etc) make a huge difference. As a note i have admired the Cyrus equipment, is the cyrus 8xpd worth investing in for the music portion? To be honest, i am a bit of a novice here, but know that the music sound from the pioneer does not quite cut it.

Really appreciate picking your brains further.

D

 

[Anonymous]

WHF gave the 8XPD a five-star rating, but at 1500 quid, I'd be certain I "needed" the upgrade before parting with the cash. FWIW I contacted Cyrus and they confirmed their DAX-XP plus mono-X power amps remains their flagship lineup.

 

[deant22]

Just bought the Cyrus 8xpd - getting it installed with my kit tomorrow. cant wait.

Cheers for the help.

 

[Anonymous]

deant22:

Just bought the Cyrus 8xpd - getting it installed with my kit tomorrow. cant wait.

Cheers for the help.

Let us know how you get on, and especially how you hook up the AV receiver and audio amp / speakers. presumably you'll be taking the front outs (not the speaker outs) from the AV receiver, and feeding them into the Cyrus amp. Either that or taking a digital feed (co-ax is best, most say, by the way) off the receiver or Bluray and feeding that into the amp, letting the amp decode the front left and right components. Not sure which one will work best, or not at all, so let us know how you get on.

Next on your shopping list will be a Cyrus CD player, no doubt. The "new" 2010 spec.Cyrus CD8-SE would be your match. A CD-XTSE would probably be over-the-top for the DAC in your amp, but at 1500 Quid compared to 1300 quid for the CD-8SE might be worth considering anyway, especially if you eventually head towards a full on Cyrus X-series system.

Watch out though - those little Cyrus boxes breed I tell ya, so watch out - linkey to my brood to prove my point:

http://community.whathifi.com/forums/t/351843.aspx