Criticise your own brand/s

drummerman

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Ok, I am a long term cyrus user. I obviously like the brand otherwise I wouldn't have been using it for so long but there are things that are not ideal;

The two things I don't like are the closeness of the sockets and the rear access headphone socket. The former is unavoidable short of having less inputs, the latter a bit of a pain.

You get used to it but still ... .

The one superficial thing I don't like are the small feet. They don't enhance the design and I've replaced them with round Fisual Isolation Pads on all units. Much better.

I quite like the displays but I guess a 'reverse' to green (or white) on black background may look better?

Anything you don't like about your chosen brand?
 

NSA_watch_my_toilet

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Completely overpriced piece of gear. For the few transistors in a shiny case, it's completely crazy. And you can add to that the despicable price policy of Accuphase for non-japanese customers.
 

NSA_watch_my_toilet

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This thing is just killing me. Counterweight needs ages to be balanced properly. You need to be engeneer in Nasa technologies for taking it apart and service it. The platter rocks, specially with the version that don't have a Papst engine, you can clearly see it rocking when you have a tonearm with a counterweight fixed by nylon strings. Some details are f_cked up too... for example, the cover plate for the elctronic, is fixed by velcro strap. The same you use for your shoes, it falls off all the time during transport, some of the screws are hugly woodscrews and the transit screws located on the base of the unit have no head. Seriously dudes, what were you drinking when you had those brillant ideas ?
 

ChrisIRL

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That the Naim Nait 5si doesn't ground the signal path. Buzzing speakers unless the source connected has a signal ground which many modern dacs etc don't.
 

ChrisIRL

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That the Unitiqute 2 wifi reception is spotty at best and that Naims customer support suggestion was to use a wired ethernet connection or an Apple airport express. Damn, they do sound good though!
 

MajorFubar

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Like DM I'm a Cyrus lover, especially of their older products, but they weren't without fault. The upward-facing socket-plate at the back is a dust-trap for any sockets you might not be using, which is a ticking timebomb for trouble. The only speaker outlets are banana sockets, which are also too close together to use safely with uninsulated banana plugs. In terms of build you get two options: early plastic-case models where the paint flakes off the rotary knobs, or later magnesium-case models where the nextel paint flakes/peels off the casework. (Late run-out models like mine were at least painted with proper black paint). Later models got a toggle-switch for the mains to replace the earlier push-button, but these are prone to failure. The contacts in the Alps source and record selector switches weren't electroplated and were prone to tarnishing, giving rise to eratic behavour where one or both channels drop out. No headphone socket on the later models, but because it didn't mute the speakers, and seeing there wasn't a separate on/off switch which did, on models so equipped it was of questionable use anyway.
 

Andrewjvt

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MajorFubar said:
Like DM I'm a Cyrus lover, especially of their older products, but they weren't without fault. The upward-facing socket-plate at the back is a dust-trap for any sockets you might not be using, which is a ticking timebomb for trouble. The only speaker outlets are banana sockets, which are also too close together to use safely with uninsulated banana plugs. In terms of build you get two options: early plastic-case models where the paint flakes off the rotary knobs, or later magnesium-case models where the nextel paint flakes/peels off the casework. (Late run-out models like mine were at least painted with proper black paint). Later models got a toggle-switch for the mains to replace the earlier push-button, but these are prone to failure. The contacts in the Alps source and record selector switches weren't electroplated and were prone to tarnishing, giving rise to eratic behavour where one or both channels drop out. No headphone socket on the later models, but because it didn't mute the speakers, and seeing there wasn't a separate on/off switch which did, on models so equipped it was of questionable use anyway.

The sound quality must be very very good to put up with all that
 

steve_1979

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The Sennheiser HD700 were the best sounding and the most comfortable headphones that I tried when I auditioned a few. But I do find them to be a bit bass light until you add a bit of EQ which IMO they do need to sound balanced.
 
The sporadic hum from my naim nait xs is slightly annoying at times but the overall Sq and build more than makes up for it.oh and headphone amps with no remote for volume is very irritating.I sit a few metres from the system when I've got the cans on and have to get up off my lazy a## to adjust the volume.
 

MajorFubar

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Dare I criticise a Nakamichi cassette deck? Yes I dare. No controls to set the recording sensitivity to match loud or quiet tapes, no built-in tone generators to set the bias (nor obviously the recording sensitivity), which previous hi-end Naks had been equipped with since the dawn of time. The lack of tone generators was only an inconvenience, but the inability to set the recording sensitivity was IMO a major drawback on a premium-priced deck aimed at home recordists, rendering the dolby circuits useless on insensitive tapes, such as the BASF CR-EII. (The 'Cassette Deck' range were also similarly bereft, but then they would be, seeing the DR models were essentially just a facelift of Cassette Deck 2, 1.5 and 1).
 

lpv

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cables clutter on the back of ATC and Yamaha speakers, headphone socket at the back of the preamp - that one really annoys me.. not the best looking speaker grills and I have to use them as my 8 months son is around.
 

ID.

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Cable clutter with my actives.

id prefer if my Genelecs had dials for adjusting bass and treble rather than just the 5 or so switches to be turned on/off depending on the placement.
 

knaithrover

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I really love my Nad C320Bee but the volume control via the remote is so so bad. The remote on my Nad 3020 D is so bad generally (and cheap looking) I don't use it.... Also, Nad cd players sound great but their components are made of Belgian chocolate.
 

paulkebab

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on the Vincent amp, for the money it's ridiculous, volume control too sensitive (cured with switchable attenuators). Heat level is so high I'm thinking of installing one or two PC type fans at the rear before the unit top above decides to ignite.

AKG 550 headphones need quite a bit of bass lift to make them sound sweet.

Oppo PM1 headphones can get a bit heavy and the clamp pressure a bit too much during a long session (or maybe it's my head!).
 

Gray

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drummerman said:
Ok, I am a long term cyrus user. I obviously like the brand otherwise I wouldn't have been using it for so long but there are things that are not ideal;

The two things I don't like are the closeness of the sockets and the rear access headphone socket. The former is unavoidable short of having less inputs, the latter a bit of a pain.

You get used to it but still ... .

The one superficial thing I don't like are the small feet. They don't enhance the design and I've replaced them with round Fisual Isolation Pads on all units. Much better.

I quite like the displays but I guess a 'reverse' to green (or white) on black background may look better?

Anything you don't like about your chosen brand?
Mine's the Cyrus 8 amp and you're right about the closeness of the sockets especially when you've got them all plugged up - not easy to get to middle ones.

I never fancied the idea of the rear mounted headphone socket which is why I've always had an extension, chassis mounted socket permanently plugged in. (Handy that the rear socket's front panel switchable, so the rear plug can be left in)

As for the feet, I've got it on Foculpods (which certainly stops it slipping around)

On the plus side, everything else is fantastic not least the sound of course and the electronic volume control, maintaining perfect (or as good as it gets) channel balance at all volume levels - and never any need of anti-crackle contact cleaner.
 

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