Cyrus

[Hifiman]

I had a ONE HD, and it was definitely one of the better amps I've owned. Plenty of current, happy to drive pretty much any speaker I through at it. Cyrus are missing a trick by no longer having an 'entry' option.

I suppose the Mission 778X amp is the spiritual successor to the historic Cyrus Ones and Twos.

 

[Al ears]

I suppose the Mission 778X amp is the spiritual successor to the historic Cyrus Ones and Twos.

Perhaps it is but hopefully the power supply side of things is an improvement

 

[RoA]

Based on the Vena 2. Nice looking amplifier, they really got it spot on ... as IAG usually do.

 

[gotnoname]

I had a ONE HD, and it was definitely one of the better amps I've owned. Plenty of current, happy to drive pretty much any speaker I through at it. Cyrus are missing a trick by no longer having an 'entry' option.

I have a Cyrus one Cast. Cost £650 new. I think it’s excellent. There new stuff at £3k and upwards seems overpriced to me. I agree, no entry option is an odd strategy. The xr7 and 9 can be found cheaper nowadays and I sometimes get tempted by the thought!

 

[nopiano]

Based on the Vena 2. Nice looking amplifier, they really got it spot on ... as IAG usually do.

Yes, at £549 it looks like a decent bet. £489 in quite a few places too!

Re Cyrus, I had to smile when their new streamer and the cheap Bluesound - both reviewed by WHF in last couple of days - have an identical DAC chip, despite the price difference.

I know there’s far more to it than just the chip, but the Cyrus is ten times the price!

 

[Rodolfo]

FWIW, my original 25wpc ONE still sounds very nice at 40, and ever without a PSU.

Ditto for the Mission 700s I bought with it.

 

[TimMel]

Yes, at £549 it looks like a decent bet. £489 in quite a few places too!

Re Cyrus, I had to smile when their new streamer and the cheap Bluesound - both reviewed by WHF in last couple of days - have an identical DAC chip, despite the price difference.

I know there’s far more to it than just the chip, but the Cyrus is ten times the price!

Bought a Bluesound N130 less than two years ago. Recently bought the Stream-XR (no external power supply). Night and day; no, South Downs chalk to finest Roquefort; better still, earth to Neptune. The difference (soundstage, clarity, separation etc.) is very, very far from subtle. Both streamers connected to my i9-XR > PMC Twenty5 22i speakers.

I was given the same advice as Hifiman: use the Stream-XR’s DAC into the analogue stage in the i9. Works a treat, but the multiplicity of DACs is a problem with the XR kit (dropped, I assume, due to the arrival of Nick Clarke?) with one exception - the CD Transport. Will they offer something similar in 40 guise?

 

[Gray]

I was given the same advice as Hifiman: use the Stream-XR’s DAC into the analogue stage in the i9.

Have you actually compared that with how it sounds when using the DAC in the i9?
I ask because, as confirmed by Ed Selley in his AV Forums review:
'The Stream XR’s decoding is entirely an in house effort, built around an ESS ES9038Q2M DAC in what Cyrus calls the QXR board and that is also fitted to the matching integrated amplifiers'.

(I use an XR-i7 into PMC twenty21 by the way, so can imagine how good your sound is - well up to hearing source differences).

 

[TimMel]

Have you actually compared that with how it sounds when using the DAC in the i9?
I ask because, as confirmed by Ed Selley in his AV Forums review:
'The Stream XR’s decoding is entirely an in house effort, built around an ESS ES9038Q2M DAC in what Cyrus calls the QXR board and that is also fitted to the matching integrated amplifiers'.

(I use an XR-i7 into PMC twenty21 by the way, so can imagine how good your sound is - well up to hearing source differences).

Hi @Gray as I understand it, the DAC in the i9-XR and the Stream-XR are identical. I did try connecting the Stream-XR via digital RCA Coaxial (Chord Clearway) connector into the i9-XR DAC but to my ears at least, connecting the Stream-XR via RCA into the analogue stage of the i9-XR was more ‘analogue’, warmer with a wider / deeper soundstage.

Now, you might argue that I wasn’t comparing apples and apples as my RCA analogue connectors are Chord EpicX cables, a significant step up from Clearway, so for a real comparison I would need a comparable digital coax cable. But the difference was marked, confirming the conclusion of someone who has done much more comparative listening than I have. That’s a nice system you’ve got, and where I would have been if I hadn’t been offered a very good price on i9!