Has anyone returned their amp to Cyrus for a service and what were the benefits? My Cyrus One amp was bought in the late 1980s and still gives sterling daily service. I have experienced the two common problems being the Input (Listen) selector cutting out one channel solved by a squirt of switch cleaner. The other may need specialist attention. Where the phono plugs are pushed into their sockets it takes wiggling to hear both channels. Cyrus brings it back to spec and changes failing components but is it value for money?
Cyrus service
- Thread starter Edbo2
- Start date
Why not? You'll possibly get another 20 plus years of use after the service. If you saw a never used perfect Cyrus one for sale for the price of the service would you buy it? This is arguably the same thing I'd imagine.
chris_bates1974
Well-known member
- Feb 28, 2013
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I emailed Cyrus two days ago to ask the options for my amp. They've told me they no longer offer upgrades for equipment over 10 yrs old.... Not sure if it's the same for servicing, but an email in would probably be a good idea first.
Value for money?
Probably not for a cyrus one but if you like the amplifier cyrus will, according to their website, service the amplifier and replace any parts that don't come up to spec as you quite rightly said. They will soak test for a day, clean and re-pack.
Only you can decide if the amplifier is worth the £250 or so quid a service costs. Doubtful you'll ever get it back but there are plenty of users of older amplifiers, cyrus or not, who have no intention to change.
As has been said, it should then go on for years to come.
Probably not for a cyrus one but if you like the amplifier cyrus will, according to their website, service the amplifier and replace any parts that don't come up to spec as you quite rightly said. They will soak test for a day, clean and re-pack.
Only you can decide if the amplifier is worth the £250 or so quid a service costs. Doubtful you'll ever get it back but there are plenty of users of older amplifiers, cyrus or not, who have no intention to change.
As has been said, it should then go on for years to come.
Edbo2 said:
I'm a happy Cyrus amp owner and once had a visit to their factory and demo room. A very impressive company. However if I was in your position I'd be giving those phono sockets some attention myself - worst case you'll have a cracked print that would just need bridging (and possibly reinforcing against future mechanical stresses?) see how it goes, you could always get it 'serviced' in the future if you want to spend some money.
If you're near Essex, I'll fix the intermittent socket(s) for you (at no more than 20 quid!)
Yes, I will spray the phonos with switch cleaner and whip the top off to see if the track is cracked. Incidently, I live in Hertfordshire
ARS specialise in servicing these amps. I had my own Cyrus 2 serviced by them and they are first class, with a range of prices depending on what exactly you want done. For a million and one reasons* if I were you I wouldn't go in there and start messing unless you have the knowledge and confidence to know what to look for and what not to touch. For a start, the big reservoir caps hold a lot of charge and will happily blow you across the room if they haven't been discharged.
*not least of which being the tool in 2009 who threatened to sue WHF when he blew up his new Pioneer plasma TV after someone posted a thread about cleaning the inside of old amps with an air-can.
*not least of which being the tool in 2009 who threatened to sue WHF when he blew up his new Pioneer plasma TV after someone posted a thread about cleaning the inside of old amps with an air-can.
Edbo2 said:
It's a fairly common fault with amplifiers usually caused by dry joints on the sockets when they are soldered directly on to the printed circuit board. Simple enough to resolder them once you manage to get to them, although you may have to fit a short wire link if the print is broken.
mightyquin
Well-known member
- Jan 7, 2014
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As a new Cyrus 1 owner (bought one on ebay just to see what it was like) I'd probably go for the service. It's a great amp and they fetch decent prices on ebay in typically average but working order condition so it wouldn't be money down the drain (if you did want to upgrade later) but as someoe has already said, what would you replace it with?
I'm interested to hear if you get a quote from Cyrus.
I'm interested to hear if you get a quote from Cyrus.
mightyquin
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- Jan 7, 2014
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I looked on the Cyrus website out of interest. Seems they'll service any legacy product but 'upgrades' are only possible for some.
Interestingly they don't take products in directly but refer to retailers including Richer Sounds, who don't stock Cyrus. I wonder if they are in fact just outsourcing the repair work to other companies service centres?
Interestingly they don't take products in directly but refer to retailers including Richer Sounds, who don't stock Cyrus. I wonder if they are in fact just outsourcing the repair work to other companies service centres?
Each to their own, and with the caveat that anyone's free to take my advice or lump it, even if Cyrus still offered servicing I think you're better off choosing a model specialist like ARS (I'm sure there are others) who know these amps inside out. The current Cyrus isn't really the same company that made the Cyrus 1 and 2, other than in name, and the knowledge isn't there any more.
To prove the point, I emailed them two weeks ago to ask them if they could help me make a power cable to connect my PSX to my PCM II, all I needed to know was if the cable is straight-through or if the +18V and -18V lines cross. The short and to-the-point reply I received was along the lines of "Sorry we don't hold any schematic or servicing info for vintage products made in the Mission-Cyrus era". Now that's fair enough and is one step up from being ignored, but consequently I wouldn't send any of my 'vintage products' to them for repair or servicing, in the hope that someone with a multimeter and a soldering iron can somehow wing it.
To prove the point, I emailed them two weeks ago to ask them if they could help me make a power cable to connect my PSX to my PCM II, all I needed to know was if the cable is straight-through or if the +18V and -18V lines cross. The short and to-the-point reply I received was along the lines of "Sorry we don't hold any schematic or servicing info for vintage products made in the Mission-Cyrus era". Now that's fair enough and is one step up from being ignored, but consequently I wouldn't send any of my 'vintage products' to them for repair or servicing, in the hope that someone with a multimeter and a soldering iron can somehow wing it.
chrisr1718
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- Sep 18, 2009
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I can only endorse The Major's comments regarding ARS. Excellent service and great results with costs ranging from £125 up to £285 depending on which options you choose, and that includes return postage.
Just google 'ars amplifier repair', they are specialists in Cyrus1 & 2 as well as a couple of Arcam, Musical Fidelity, NAD & Quad.
Just google 'ars amplifier repair', they are specialists in Cyrus1 & 2 as well as a couple of Arcam, Musical Fidelity, NAD & Quad.
chrisr1718
Well-known member
- Sep 18, 2009
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Just to be fair, I'm not particularly singling-out Cyrus, times move on, the people who ate and slept these products 30 years ago have died or at least retired, and with them goes the experience and knowledge. It's really no different to how you wouldn't take an old classic car back to its dealership in 2016 and expect general 'non enthusiast' mechanics with an average age of 28 to know how to rebuild the carb and set the point gaps correctly on its distributor.
mightyquin
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MajorFubar said:
If Cyrus are subbing their work to Richer Sounds I'd avoid anyway! (bad experience a few years ago).
I will 'bookmark' ARS in case I need any work down the line on my Cyrus but touch wood, it's been fine apart from some channel fade on the phono input which a good wiggle of the knob (ooh err) seems to have cured!
I like the Cyrus One and have not found an amp to replace it with. I graduated from a Technics Class AA with twice the power. I had on loan a Kenwood MOSFET amp with three times the power but preferred the little Cyrus. It was made when Cyrus made Mission loudspeakers before the parting of the ways. Last time I looked at the Cyrus website the cost was £220. I would need to return the amp to ATLabs in Enfield who forward it on to Cyrus.
Edbo2 said:
If you're happy with it, why replace it? Spend the money on getting it serviced and brought back to new or better-than-new specification. If you like the 'Cyrus house sound', you'll spend far more money buying a new amp which betters what you've got than having your current one serviced.
Edbo2 said:
It would seem the time I spent on the previous page, explaining why it is not really a good idea to send it to the current company called Cyrus, was time wasted, never to return.
I can't do any more than strongly advise if you want someone to service your amp who still knows it, knows what they're doing and has experience-based knowledge, you enlist the services of a dedicated specialist, such as ARS. Two of us here have used their services and both of us are delighted. What better advice do you want?
MajorFubar said:
Sure, just a bloke there 'with a multi-meter and soldering- iron' at cyrus ... 🙂
Afaik Cyrus have never supplied schematics or advise for DIY purpose. That is not a matter of 'not having the schematics'. I am pretty darn well sure they have all of those.
Think about the possible implications if something goes wrong. There are folks on here that can't change a fuse or terminate speaker cable.
I also wonder why you've contacted cyrus for the cable enquiry as your repair man is the bees knees when it comes to cyrus and you chose to spend your money with him?
drummerman said:
Fair enough I'll see if I can dig out the email from my recycle bin and tell him that he's obvously wrong, they do still have the schematics and servicing info because Drummerman on the WHF forum said so. I'll let you know how I get on. The phrasing of my original email left the door wide open for them to offer to sell me one if it was just a problem of not disclosing such info, but they didn't, instead they laid their cards plainly on the table and admitted the schematics had long since been skipped. Seems a fair honest reply to me, which I didn't think to question.
drummerman said:
He services and repairs amps not CD players, I wouldn't expect him to know anything about the schematics for the PCM II, nor does he proclaim to do so. I mentioned it only because as a result of my enquiry Cyrus told me they no longer hold servicing info and schematics for products of this age, which I can readily believe, all things considered.
I've been away without access to my 'old' emails, I'm back now, this is what I received from Cyrus:
Fubi, I didn't doubt that you had a reply but I found it difficult to believe they don't have technical details on file 🙂
I stand corrected and hang my head in shame whilst at the same time being disappointed with cyrus to leave me in such a compromising position (and to deflect the awkardness upon them).
Baad boyz and girlz.
I stand corrected and hang my head in shame whilst at the same time being disappointed with cyrus to leave me in such a compromising position (and to deflect the awkardness upon them).
Baad boyz and girlz.
drummerman said:
Yeah I know that, just figured it was worthwhile posting it up for benefit of others before I empty it from my recycle bin.
drummerman said:
Lol! To be honest if I were [the current company called] Cyrus I would probably have skipped them a long time ago as well, even if I had them to start with, which is questionable, considering the circumstances.
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