Cyrus 40 ST

[What Hi-Fi?]

The 40 series streamer is a next-gen Cyrus product that delivers an exceptional performance, but currently has a few specification gaps.

Cyrus 40 ST : Read more

 

[Mrmason62]

It's beyond me how this product can get a perfect 5 star rating.
I've been into cyrus for almost 30 years. I bi-amp with cyrus, have Psxr2 and their cd players.
But this product is so lacking in connectivity and has limited codec support.
Yes I know it's the best sounding in class and beyond. But that's not enough when paying this kind of money.
I use a lumin network bridge with chord qutest DAC. I'll take chord over cyrus DACS every time. I I play via roon which is sublime
I've got full connectivity and codec support.
Such things are of paramount importance when streaming.
Given this cyrus streamers inherent limitations surely the most this reviewer should give is 4 stars.
Perfect rating should be for a perfect product.
We see way too many perfect scores now when in reality there's no such thing

 

[malrdaw]

Was just about to write almost exactly the same comments.

 

[Steve B]

I agree with the all the above. I felt pretty abandoned by Cyrus over a lack of upgrades to the Lyric. It sounded nice - but streaming is all about convenience. Without Bluetooth or Chromecast how would I play Apple Music via Android on my phone?
£3000 is ridiculous with so much missing.
I now have the Ruark R410 so I can enjoy my music in a number of rooms. It is superb. £3000 would buy the R810. That boasts all levels of connectivity and if it sounds as good as the 410, it would be money well spent.

 

[Jasonovich]

Is it me, my male menopause kicking in but why does this Cyrus look so dated and seems half cooked or am I just being pedantic?
If you want to encourage people to buy your brand and not the cheaper 'better' WiiM ultra, you need to come up with something special.
No aces here, it will only attract people who have brand loyalty. Shame, it's an own goal.

 

[Jasonovich]

It's beyond me how this product can get a perfect 5 star rating.
I've been into cyrus for almost 30 years. I bi-amp with cyrus, have Psxr2 and their cd players.
But this product is so lacking in connectivity and has limited codec support.
Yes I know it's the best sounding in class and beyond. But that's not enough when paying this kind of money.
I use a lumin network bridge with chord qutest DAC. I'll take chord over cyrus DACS every time. I I play via roon which is sublime
I've got full connectivity and codec support.
Such things are of paramount importance when streaming.
Given this cyrus streamers inherent limitations surely the most this reviewer should give is 4 stars.
Perfect rating should be for a perfect product.
We see way too many perfect scores now when in reality there's no such thing

Meh I never give credence to WHF reviews, their addiction to certain brands is admirable but it makes things opaque.

FiiO has introduced their first streamer, not a product WHF is likely to review in the near future.

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/p4OKmR2bwf4?si=m7-WKgx_eToxXQoM

 

[Neiljbp]

It's beyond me how this product can get a perfect 5 star rating.
I've been into cyrus for almost 30 years. I bi-amp with cyrus, have Psxr2 and their cd players.
But this product is so lacking in connectivity and has limited codec support.
Yes I know it's the best sounding in class and beyond. But that's not enough when paying this kind of money.
I use a lumin network bridge with chord qutest DAC. I'll take chord over cyrus DACS every time. I I play via roon which is sublime
I've got full connectivity and codec support.
Such things are of paramount importance when streaming.
Given this cyrus streamers inherent limitations surely the most this reviewer should give is 4 stars.
Perfect rating should be for a perfect product.
We see way too many perfect scores now when in reality there's no such thing

Hi-Fi mags come in all shapes and sizes.
Some are for all (i suppose)
Some are for the more able of mind
And some are for the serious of thought or intellectual.
Bearing in mind your concerns, especially the final one, you now have to consider
the points I have laid out and decide what you need to do.
I won't spell it out but you may need to upgrade.

 

[TimMel]

It's beyond me how this product can get a perfect 5 star rating.
I've been into cyrus for almost 30 years. I bi-amp with cyrus, have Psxr2 and their cd players.
But this product is so lacking in connectivity and has limited codec support.
Yes I know it's the best sounding in class and beyond. But that's not enough when paying this kind of money.
I use a lumin network bridge with chord qutest DAC. I'll take chord over cyrus DACS every time. I I play via roon which is sublime
I've got full connectivity and codec support.
Such things are of paramount importance when streaming.
Given this cyrus streamers inherent limitations surely the most this reviewer should give is 4 stars.
Perfect rating should be for a perfect product.
We see way too many perfect scores now when in reality there's no such thing

I've been with Cyrus for nearly 25 years and I come at this from a different angle. I have recently bought the Stream-XR to complement my i9-XR - which it does incredibly well - and I read the WHF review of the 40 ST with bemusement. I quote:

'there is little else that Cyrus has produced over much of the last decade that has truly excited us. Even the recently introduced premium XR range seems more like a reheat of past efforts than a determined effort to take a step forward.'

Unless I missed something, WHF hasn't properly reviewed a single component of the XR line-up so how they make that judgment is beyond me. The technical specification of the 40ST is almost identical inside to the Stream-XR bar a tweak to the DAC: this might revolutionise its output but I doubt it. I personally think that the look of the 40 series is great - redesigned shoebox, colour screen, smaller zapper - but not to me worth twice the price I have just paid for the Stream-XR, which has dramatically widened and deepened the soundstage compared to my previous Musical Fidelity streamer, and improved every aspect of digital playback (Tidal) while allowing me to use the BluOS software (same as 40ST of course, with its same hi-res constraints).

If you can afford serious external DACs like those made by Chord Electronics together with high-end streamers like Lumin AND want/need to play files bigger 192khz, then go in that direction: you lucky swine. But most of us will never want/ need to play files bigger than 192khz and until you listen to Stream-XR or 40ST you'll never know what an amazing combination they are with i9-XR or the new 40 integrated amp: I can only suggest you get down to your local Cyrus dealer for a listen so that you can make an informed choice.

 

[Mrmason62]

I've been with Cyrus for nearly 25 years and I come at this from a different angle. I have recently bought the Stream-XR to complement my i9-XR - which it does incredibly well - and I read the WHF review of the 40 ST with bemusement. I quote:

'there is little else that Cyrus has produced over much of the last decade that has truly excited us. Even the recently introduced premium XR range seems more like a reheat of past efforts than a determined effort to take a step forward.'

Unless I missed something, WHF hasn't properly reviewed a single component of the XR line-up so how they make that judgment is beyond me. The technical specification of the 40ST is almost identical inside to the Stream-XR bar a tweak to the DAC: this might revolutionise its output but I doubt it. I personally think that the look of the 40 series is great - redesigned shoebox, colour screen, smaller zapper - but not to me worth twice the price I have just paid for the Stream-XR, which has dramatically widened and deepened the soundstage compared to my previous Musical Fidelity streamer, and improved every aspect of digital playback (Tidal) while allowing me to use the BluOS software (same as 40ST of course, with its same hi-res constraints).

If you can afford serious external DACs like those made by Chord Electronics together with high-end streamers like Lumin AND want/need to play files bigger 192khz, then go in that direction: you lucky swine. But most of us will never want/ need to play files bigger than 192khz and until you listen to Stream-XR or 40ST you'll never know what an amazing combination they are with i9-XR or the new 40 integrated amp: I can only suggest you get down to your local Cyrus dealer for a listen so that you can make an informed choice.

If you've got roon and your dac and bridge can take it then you can take your files up to dsd512. I go to dsd256.
This does make a difference. Native dsd256 files are silly sizes.
I also don't use any streaming platforms like tidal as they aren't really good quality.
All my cds are ripped and vinyl is ripped too.
Native files are better than tidal etc
I can still tell the difference between a digital and analogue source on my hifi.
I started age 17 with hifi and it's taken decades to build up my hifi and upgrade. That's the beauty of hifi addiction isn't it.
Young people wouldn't normally afford high end kit. It's something you slowly build up to. It's an aspiration.
Unfortunately we live in the age where quality is secondary to convenience. People now think phones are hifi. They aren't
Just about every independent hifi store I've used over the years have closed down now. Decent hifi stores are hard to find nowadays.
A brilliant store around 20 miles from me went out of business recently after 40 years.
Fingers crossed the industry can survive