Help: Cyrus sounding too light

[simonsj]

System: Cyrus CD6S & 6VS amp, Pro-ject Debut & Pro-ject phono stage, Arcam miniblink, Monitor Audi Silver RS5 speakers, Chord Cobra 3 interconnects, Audioquest FLX SLiP 14/4 speaker cable.

Since I moved house a few years back, I've been finding my music sounds a bit thin and light in the lower midrange and base through the CD6S. I'm pretty sure this is because my new lounge is quite a bit bigger (17' x 19'). There's a similar lack of base weight through the miniblink, whereas the Pro-Ject still sounds really well-rounded and punchy.

On advice from Richer Sounds, I swapped my old Silver Anniversary Biwire cable for the Audioquest, which brought a small improvement, but not enough. I'm not sure whether the CD6S, the amp or the speakers are the weakest link.

I'm considering replacing one of my components (budget £600-700) and have no idea which will make the most difference or what I should audition to get a better all-round sound.

 

[CnoEvil]

IMO. Cyrus + MA could have this effect.

For your budget, you could try an Arcam A19 or a Creek 50A.

 

[Vladimir]

Sounds like its time to try a nice new active subwoofer.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

Curious....

You TT still sounds fine but your CD sounds thin.

Check your connections - if you can produce q similar sound to what you use to get in your old home there is no reason you should not get that across the board.

The Cyrus is a pretty low powered amp though @40watt p/c but check it's line inputs are set correctly.

 

[simonsj]

I'd love to add a sub, but I don't think I'll be able to persuade my wife we need two subs in the room - I already have a separate 5.1 AV setup, which is unfortunately situated on the other side of the room from the hifi.

The Monitor Audio speakers are compact floorstanders with rear ports, maybe a larger (front ported) set of speakers with a warmer presentation are worth a try?

 

[simonsj]

Thanks CnoEvil

I've seen some good reviews of both those amps, I'll definitely try to set up a demo with these against my 6VS.

 

[chris_bates1974]

Maybe it is the speakers that are the issue... I'd certainly not descibe the sound form my set-up as thin... I've had the KEFs a little over a year now, and they're very impressive (the amp and cd player are much, much older and I was previously using Mission speakers)...

It's a good excuse to get out and listen to lots of new kit!!! Enjoy!!!

 

[bluedroog]

I don’t know your speakers well but I’m surprised you’re finding floor standers thin which makes me think it is more down to the presentation of the Cyrus. I think the key would be to experiment, if you can borrow some kit to try in your room you’ll learn more than you possibly could on here or in a store.

One suggestion I would make would be to try valves, you don’t have to go all out with huge and expensive valve power amps but you could try a valve preamp such as one from Pro-Ject to match your phono which has very positive reviews or a Croft like I have, can your Cyrus act as a power amp to try?

I should add, if you can try experimenting with speakers positions, perhaps move closer to boundary walls which can reinforce bass. You may find it degrades the sound, it is really trial and error.

 

[BigH]

I have heard thia problem before with some MA speakers but many seem happy with Arcam with MA, so I would try to audition your speakers with Arcam A19, also try Creek 50A if you can. ALso the Croft integrated gets some great reviews, I think any of those would suit your speakers better than Cyrus.

 

[Vladimir]

It could be room modes canceling some of the lower frequencies (usually somewhere in 60Hz-120Hz). Or maybe the sound is now more accurate and you got used to the big mid bass hump from the previous room.

If you can't move your listening position forward or back by few feet, try moving the speakers closer or away from the walls.

 

[cheeseboy]

yeh, have a look at the room first, see if you can do anything with that, unless you just want an excuse to spend some monies? Given the only difference is you have moved, then it's pretty obvious that the issue is the room, so there's no guarantee lobbing money at new equipment is going to make it any better.

 

[drummerman]

In my experience cyrus amplifiers do not sound 'thin' ... quite the opposite. 'Visceral and fast' (within their power envelopes) are more adjectives I'd use. If anything, I find the 6 series amplifiers lack a touch of bass control. - The very transparent/controlled sound usually comes from the company's (later) cd players which obviously complement the amplifiers, to much perhaps on occasions for some people. -

 

[simonsj]

Thanks all, some excellent advice there for me to mull over.

I'm going to spend the next few weekends playing around with positioning and borrowing some different kit to try out and will hopefully find a solution to report back soon!

 

[CnoEvil]

Speakers that (imo) work with Cyrus would be Kef R Series and Vienna Acoustics.....though both would stretch your budget too much, which is why I suggested going the Amp route.