Cyrus 8 vs Fatman itube - upgrade or downgrade?!

[admin_exported]

i've got a dilemma and my brain is hurting!

For the purposes of my decision i'll only mention the important kit

I currently have a Cyrus 8 amp, and B&W 602 S3 speakers on Partington dreadnaught speaker stands.

I want to run all my music through an ipod and as such I am entertaining the idea of getting a Fatman itube Carbon II amp and new speakers like the Dali Lektor 2's and getting rid of the Cyrus and the B&W's.

THE DILEMMA!!!! Do i go Fatman or should I run this new ipod only approach through my Cyrus amp....that i've always loved?? with the B&W's (will the Fatman amp drive them ok?).

I've got it in my head that a completely fresh approach is the best option, new fatman tube amp and smaller speakers....but i fear it may be a massive step-down from what i have.

So i'm leaning toward a whole new (and smaller) setup but fear getting rid of my beloved Cyrus 8 is bordering on madness....especially as, by keeping the cyrus, i'll have the option of working it into any future incarnations of my hi-fi setup.

Any advice from ANYONE?! Please help my brain is melting!

 

[Anonymous]

erm... clearly madness! You clearly love what you have now so just get a cheap ipod dock, you can always change other stuff later.

 

[chebby]

Get a 3.5mm jack --> 2 RCA Phono lead and plug the iPod into your Cyrus 8 in a spare input.

If you have an iPod then it can be assumed you have a PC (or Mac) with all the music already on iTunes.

If possible, plug this into your Cyrus instead. (Preferably via a DAC.) It will sound better and also enable you to play internet radio, BBC iPlayer, Last FM, Spotify, youtube etc etc through the hifi too.

I have owned a Fatman iTube with Monitor Audio BR1 speakers (on Atacama Nexus stands) and it was a decent little system for an office or den with television and iPod but with 15 watts per channel on tap (even through the efficient little BR1's) not enough for a larger space....

(My old Fatman)

This was never more than a stop-gap system though.

I sold off an old Rega/Kef/Yamaha/NAD system that was occupying a huge ugly black rack (sold the rack too) and using big ugly black speakers. It lurked in the corner for years and I was beginning to hate it.

Like you, I felt like a clear-out and a change so sold the lot and got the Fatman & BR1's. I connected it to the output from the DVD/HDD recorder for Freeview radio and TV sound (and played CDs on the same). As you can see, I used the iPod dock too - but not often - so put that part away in the box. (The iTube dock was a seperate unit.)

It was a refreshing change. Not madness in my case because it was only meant to be a temporary (and compact) measure before deciding on something better. I lived with it for about 11 months and it was suprisingly capable when not pushed too hard.

I you want to commit to valves though, remember the Fatman is a MOSFET/Valve hybrid and not a true valve design.

Proper all-valve designs don't start until about £500 like this one.