Pairing Amps

[admin_exported]

I have recently bought a Cyrus 6VS integrated amp, a Cyrus CD6 CD player together with KEF XQ10 speakers. I am delighted with the set up, but am interested in bi-amping. I have the chance to buy a Cyrus 'Smartpower' power amplifier at a decent price. Would I be able to bi-amp my integrated amp with the Smartpower, or would there be a balance problem because the power amp is slightly more powerful? (From what I have heard it would be better to use the power amp for the lower frequencies)

I'm using Chord Cobra inteconnects and QED 'silver anniversary' XT bi-wire

Fairly new to this, so be gentle please.

 

[JoelSim]

It should work perfectly as long as the gains are matched. You will of course have to ensure that your speaker cable has 16 plugs in total though.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks. Yes, I'm already bi-wired with banana plugs at the speaker end and RFB? plugs at the amp end - 16 in total.

Sorry to be thick, but can you explain what you mean by "It should work perfectly as long as the gains are matched."??

 

[drummerman]

I strongly advise you to sell the 6, dont bother with the power amp and put the money towards the 8. Rgds

 

[Anonymous]

Very nice speakers, congrats. I had a brief listen to them recently and was thoroughly impressed. What speakers did you compare them with, and what made you buy the XQ10's? I'm going to upgrade my speakers really soon, and the KEF's certainly caught my eye.

 

[Thaiman]

consistancy is your strong point, Drummer

The Cyrus power amp is a bit weak when compare to many power house out there but when you see the (much cheaper) price, it does make some sense.

 

[drummerman]

[quote user="Thaiman"]
The Cyrus power amp is a bit weak when compare to many power house out there but when you see the (much cheaper) price, it does make some sense.

[/quote]

No. Bi-amping through passive xovers is a compromise not worth the outlay. Start with the basics. A good integrated (8) and add a psx later if you really must have two boxes.

 

[Anonymous]

They're really nice. I'm ashamed to say that the choice was purely that of my other half. We have quite a small listening room (6 x 7 metres) and she was after me getting rid of my Tannoy Mercury floorstanders because of their size. She spotted the XQ10s on the net and fell in love with the piano black/shape. I was worried because there are no reviews on them yet and £700 was a bit of a gamble. I did demo them though with the Cyrus kit and was knocked out straight away. Funnily enough the demo pair were fully run in, but my brand new ones sounded even better when I got them home (psychological? -or was it the wine?) nearly half way run in now and sounding sweeter by the day. Diana Krall has never sounded so beautiful. I considered the Cyrus 8 and CD8, but didn't think I needed the extra oomph because of the size of the room.