CYRUS system advice

[robreid]

Hi, I have a hifi that is currently a Cyrus 6se2, 8XPd, psx-r and Spendor SA1.

I have £1000 to spend, I was thinking of buying either a DAC X+, or i can buy a second hand DAC XP (not +) then i have a 8 power in a second system i could swap with the 8XPd. Or buy a 8 DAC QX and sell the 8XPd?

Any ideas what would hive me the greatest sound benefits? I'm guessing the DAC XP and 8 power with the psx on the power to give 70watts output rather than the rated 60.

Any advice appreciated. Cheers, rob

 

[ngibbs]

I can't speak for the 8 DAC QX, nor the 8XPd, as I haven't heard them but the DAC XP is very good, though perhaps no longer great. I got mine second hand (not the + version, mind) and have been very pleased with it, but in purely DAC terms it's now seems to have been overtaken by the competition. This is why I now use another DAC, the wonderful Metrum Acoustics Octave (see below), but still take advantage of the DAC XP's very fine pre-amp section. As a result I'd advise against the DAC X+. Adding an 8 Power to any Cyrus combination would make a lot of sense, an X Power even more so.

Hope that helps.

 

[Anonymous]

I have an 8xpd qx and love it.

 

[Golly640]

I would plan a project to upgrade to the 8 DAC QX and get your 6se2 upgraded at some stage to either of the CDT's the music quality is superb. That should certainly give you a very good sound system and the amp through the USB port works well with Mac and Windows. The big step moving to Dac + but then I would really advise you to consider the Mono x 300's for the long term, the detail is astounding.

 

[gregvet]

Untill recently I was running my Spendor SA1's from my 8xpd qx, so very similar system. I have upgraded in stages to the current system, Dac XP+ and X power.

I would say the biggest jump came from the x power, and I was really surprised how much more the SA1's had to give when driven properly. IMO the 8xpd just doesnt do them justice, not that it sounded bad. The speakers are not the easiest load and the x power just drives them better.

Having said that, the Dac XP is miles better than the dac in the 8xpd qx, so I would imagine it is streets ahead of the standard 8xpd.

If I were you, i would get a second hand x power (fanthorpes hifi do them for £500), and a second hand Dac XP (you can pick them up for about £800) and then sell the 8xpd. Overall cost should be about £700 and you system will be in a different class.

Do it, your speakers will thank you

 

[robreid]

Thanks for the replies.

Its maybe a bit contraversial but I'm convinced the only difference between the x power and 8 is the size of the transformer ( the one in the 8 is tiny). If you look at the specs they are identical apart from the power output 60 watts to 70. When you add a psx to the 8 power then its the same 70 watts same as the x power.

http://www.martinshifi.co.uk/product/1912/cyrus-pre-xp--8-power-amp/

http://www.rdhworld.myzen.co.uk/smfcu/index.php?topic=1536.0

Looking at the circuit boards they are identical

So will the 8 power with a psx be as good as an x power without a psx? I feel it must be close

I checked fanthorpes and it's £725 for a reprocessed x power

I do feel my 8xpd struggles to drive the spendor sa1's a bit and as they are single wired it's harder to upgrade.

at least the dac xp gives the option to to upgrade further. Extra 8 power, x power or monos

 

[gregvet]

If you contact them they have second hand x powers (and other cyrus items) that are often not on the website. They had four when I bought mine a few months ago.

I'm not sure that's the only difference between the 8 and the x, but either will be better than the integrated. Pre power is the way to go IMO

 

[Crossie]

I think you will find that the X power is a much better amp than the 8 power with or without the PSXR, which you can always add to the X power. Just because the power ratings are the same does not imply that they are the same - different circuits, quality of components etc.

I would get an X power...(actually I have a thing for the Mono X's) and use the 8XPd as a pre.

 

[Anonymous]

Could you buy one x power, feed it with the pre out from the xpd and use the power section of the xpd to drive one speaker and the x power to drive the other, or is that a big no no?

 

[Crossie]

A big no no :shame:

 

[Anonymous]

Can you explain why

 

[Crossie]

8Xpd is a stereo amp therefore you would only be using one channel, say the left . The right pre out would go to to the Xpower. Either you run the X power in stereo and use just one channel in which case you have the same power 70W from each channel but as the X power is superior to the 8 XPd you would have very lopsided sound. If you run the X power in mono you will have 140W from the X power as opposed to only 70W from the 8XPd.

If the spendors were bi ampable then you could use the X power in stereo for the high frequencies left and right channel and the 8 XPd for the low frequencies left and right but unfortunately they are not. (I think?)

If you get an X power ther are several possible upgrade routes:

1. replace the 8 XPd with Dac XP

2. Get another X power and run them in mono with 8 XPd as the pre, eventually moving to the Dac XP

Oooh, just had another thought for about £1000 you can get a pair of second hand pair of Mono X's and use 8XPd as the pre until you can afford the upgrade to the Dac XP.

The world is your oyster... :dance:

You do realise that this upgrading will just go on and on and on and on............

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, very clear.

 

[gregvet]

Do have a listen tho before buying (alhough I can say confidently that the X power will be a big step up from what you have). One of my Cyrus mates much prefers the sound of the x power to mono x's. Personally I like both, but they do sound more different that you might expect! Nice thing with buying second hand is you can get rid for similar money. Nice thing with x power is you can upgrade in steps.

Let us know how you get on tho!

 

[Golly640]

8Xpd is a stereo amp therefore you would only be using one channel, say the left . The right pre out would go to to the Xpower. Either you run the X power in stereo and use just one channel in which case you have the same power 70W from each channel but as the X power is superior to the 8 XPd you would have very lopsided sound. If you run the X power in mono you will have 140W from the X power as opposed to only 70W from the 8XPd.

If the spendors were bi ampable then you could use the X power in stereo for the high frequencies left and right channel and the 8 XPd for the low frequencies left and right but unfortunately they are not. (I think?)

If you get an X power ther are several possible upgrade routes:

1. replace the 8 XPd with Dac XP

2. Get another X power and run them in mono with 8 XPd as the pre, eventually moving to the Dac XP

Oooh, just had another thought for about £1000 you can get a pair of second hand pair of Mono X's and use 8XPd as the pre until you can afford the upgrade to the Dac XP.

The world is your oyster... :dance:

You do realise that this upgrading will just go on and on and on and on............

I like Crossie's suggestion. Mono X's are the way to go for top quality sound and detail so do it in stages and find a good second hand pair of Mono X's as starter.

 

[gregvet]

Do you plan to keep the spendors long term or is the intention to upgrade those further down the line too?

If you plan to keep them I think mono x's will be overkill. If you plan to change/upgrade the speakers further down the line then they would make more sense IMO

 

[robreid]

Bought the DAC XP, I'm amazed how different it sounds hooked up with the 8 power compared to the the 8 XPd. The sound quality is so much better, seems like so much more top and bottom end detail. Am going to enquire about an x power somewhere, I think the mono x's are a bit more than my spendors need.

 

[gregvet]

Glad you like the DAC XP, its a great bit of kit. I think you will enjoy the x power if/when you go for it too.

Enjoy!

 

[robreid]

Does your DAC XP+ run really warm? My DAC XP must be around 40+degrees to the touch on standby.

 

[gregvet]

It gets warm in use, and in standby is 'not cold' rather than 'warm' I would say.

May be something wrong with it? You could always email cyrus, they have always been very helpful when I have asked them questions.

 

[daytona600]

mytec stereo 192 dsd or metrum octave , for that budget

 

[robreid]

Thanks for all the advice. i just bought a second hand 8 power so going to mono them both with psx-rs, it was £250 cheaper than modding my 8 power to an x power through Cyrus. Hopefully it will give a better sound with the SA1's too as a 100w+ amp is recommended for them. Only problem now is 1 too many boxes for my tri arbour.

 

[robreid]

Also I wanted to mention how brilliant Cyrus' customer service is, I have had fantastic customer service from them. It's quite refreshing as so many companies don't have the time to reply and just ignor you or reply contact who you bought it from.