Cyrus 8 system best upgrade for up to £1000

MP1968

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I have a Cyrus system, and am looking for the best way to improve it within a budget of £1000 absolute maximum. Any advice would be appreciated.

It's a CD8x CD player (I still play CDs), an 8vs2 integrated amp, and Leema Xero speakers (I also have some ATC SCM 11s, but I think I prefer the Leemas). I also play an iPod (lossless files) through the amp, docked to an Onkyo NDS1 and through an Arcam rDac.

The interconnets are all good quality, and the speaker cable is Atlas Hyper. The speakers sit on Partington Dreadnoughts.

I listen to lots of different styles of music, except classical.

I'm wondering what the best upgrade is next. Cyrus can upgrade the 8vs2 amp to the current 8a model for £900, so maybe that would be the best move? Or perhaps replace the Leemas?

I suppose what I'm looking for (if this makes any sense) is more grip and attack, and something which really makes vocals stand out.

Thanks

Mark
 

david_hardeman

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I'm not sure the upgrade is worth £900, but what I do think is worth looking into is getting a cyrus power amp so you can bi-amp your speakers.

I did something similar, bi-amping my Cyrus 8xpd with an x-power and it certainly gave me more 'grip and attack' so I think it would work well for you. You should be able to pick up a second hand or refurbished x-power for 500-800, or a new 8 power for well under a £1000. Definitely worth further investigation.
 

MP1968

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Thanks for the advice, I hadn't thought of that. Apologies if this is a really dumb question, but you're proposing that I buy just one power amp which will drive one speaker, and the integrated amp (8vs2) will drive the other speaker? Is that correct?

Presumably using two power amps (one per speaker, with the 8vs2 providing the pre-amp) would be even better? Though obviously more expensive.
 

david_hardeman

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What I meant was using your current integrated amp to drive either the hf or lf of the speakers. Then you can run from a pre-out on the 8vs2 to a single power amp (8, x-power or older ones etc.) which drive either the hf or lf whichever is needed. So, bi-amping the speakers. That's what I did. Does that make sense? There's a section on the cyrus website that might be worth a look.
 

George55

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david_hardeman said:
I'm not sure the upgrade is worth £900, but what I do think is worth looking into is getting a cyrus power amp so you can bi-amp your speakers.

I did something similar, bi-amping my Cyrus 8xpd with an x-power and it certainly gave me more 'grip and attack' so I think it would work well for you. You should be able to pick up a second hand or refurbished x-power for 500-800, or a new 8 power for well under a £1000. Definitely worth further investigation.

Any suggestions for which interconnects work well with the cyrus amp and 8 power?
 

Crossie

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I would look at improving your speakers, although biamping withe an 8 or X power is worthy of consideration. Perhaps some 2nd hand Spendor A5's would be a good investment. I would not consider cables and interconnects at this stage as any improvement would be marginal compared to improving speakers or electronics.
 

MP1968

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Thanks for the feedback. At the moment I think bi amping with an 8 power amp might be the way to go. One final question, though. A hi fi shop has a Krell integrated amp, the KAV 300il, which is in the right price range. All I know about Krell is that they make ultra high end gear, and according to reviews on the net their sound is on the neutral / clinical side. Though apparently with plenty of bass and attack,which would suit me. Anyone know this amp and whether it might work in my set up? Thanks.
 

Overdose

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MP1968 said:
Thanks for the feedback. At the moment I think bi amping with an 8 power amp might be the way to go. One final question, though. A hi fi shop has a Krell integrated amp, the KAV 300il, which is in the right price range. All I know about Krell is that they make ultra high end gear, and according to reviews on the net their sound is on the neutral / clinical side. Though apparently with plenty of bass and attack,which would suit me. Anyone know this amp and whether it might work in my set up? Thanks.

For an improvement, you probably need to look at your speakers unless the amp is doing a poor job of driving them.

At least one person on this forum moved from a Cyrus system to ADM speakers, the 40's I believe. I think he sold everything, bought the 40's and banked the rest.Both of the ADMs have an exceptional midrange.
 

WinterRacer

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Overdose said:
For an improvement, you probably need to look at your speakers unless the amp is doing a poor job of driving them.

At least one person on this forum moved from a Cyrus system to ADM speakers, the 40's I believe. I think he sold everything, bought the 40's and banked the rest.Both of the ADMs have an exceptional midrange.

Overdose, you might be thinking of atticus. He's got ADM40s and his search was documented here : http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/am-i-going-wrong-somewhere-your-advice-and-views-please

I also had some Cyrus X stuff and ended up with ADM40s.
 

FennerMachine

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Adding a power amp for bi-amping or even adding a power amp to drive the speakers on its own and using the 8vs2 as a pre will probably improve the overall sound. A dedicated power amp is designed for just that, powering or driving speakers. Whether its worth £1000.00 of improvement is another thing.

As others are mentioning alternatives maybe I can add one?

Try a separate pre/power combo and trade in/sell your 8vs2.

Try a Cyrus combo that falls into budget (£1000.00 plus whatever you can get for the 8vs2) and compare to some other makes (Quad, Nad, Rotel...). Maybe even consider second hand ones that can be easily/cheaply serviced. That's what I ended up doing. Pre/power combo cost me a total of about £625.00 including servicing both.

On a quest to find a new sound I ended up replacing everything from the CD player to the speakers!

Not suggesting doing that but tweaking at the edges may not give you what you want and for £1000.00 you really should be getting a noticeable, worthwhile improvement that will last many moons.
 

MP1968

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Thanks for your thoughts. Do you have views on pre and power combinations which I should look out for secondhand? I think a brand new Cyrus pre / power combination will be out of budget, even if I sell my 8vs2. I suppose there may be Cyrus ones on eBay, I'll have to have a look.
 

FennerMachine

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I had a Cyrus Pre/Power combo but felt a complete change was needed.

There is plenty of Cyrus kit available second hand though if you like their sound.

Cyrus can service most of there kit if ever needed for a fixed fee. They have a price list on their website.

I personally went with Quad as the older stuff is cheap and they service their kit for reasonable cost.

If you like to play loud I would look at the Quad 405-2 as the oldest power amp to try.

Their older pre amps have 5-pin DIN inputs with maybe one RCA input so new cables may be needed also.

Other than that I don't have much experience of other pre-power combo's taking into account the possible need for servicing.

Remember, anything you don't like you can always sell on without losing too much money.
 

bluebrazil

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if it was me i would look into getting a second hand psxr first to try on both the amp and the cd player,(see which one improves the most). i used an 8vs2 and really liked the change to the sound that a psxr gave. i think it works on the pre amp stage btw so if you wanted to add a power amp later you would still be getting the benefits.
 

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