power supply or power amp for cyrus upgrade ??

[admin_exported]

Hello Everyone , this is my first post so I'm expecting either to be ignored, insulted , or helped.

If it's help then thanks. If it's ignored then bowlarks to you too. If it's insulted then it's better than ignored, so long as it's funny !

To the crux ........ I am a vinyl fiend and play NO digital noise at whatsoever ( tried it , wasted my cash, don,t like it ) and I'm using a gyrodec , Sugden ' stage 2 ' phono amp and B&W CM7 speakers. My old Naim pre amp blew last year taking my KEF XQ1's with itand I decided to get some bass so I auditioned and bought a cyrus 8vs2 integ.

I'm delighted with it having payed £500 for a recently deleted model , but now I want to upgrade.

The choice , taking finances into consideration are simple, but I want the most sound fer pound improvement.

Do I buy a PSX-R power supply ?

Or do I savesome more and buy an 8 or X power amp and by amp using the integ for treble and the power for bass ?

I've heard the power supply is a big improvement but to be honest I'm a bit dubious as many peeps are about paying out for something thats supposed to be in the integrated amp anyway ????

Any advice ?.

 

[Anonymous]

Hello Ivoreng,

why to ignore your question or intentions. I was using a 8vs + PSXR and have upgraded to Pre XPD+XPower. This is a real upgrade but expensive. May be an 8 Power , so running the system in Bi-Wiring is a solution, too.The controverse opinions say Bi-Wiring is not favoured by some manufacturers, i.e. Naim. Anyway you should try this and listen because this solution is also not for free.

The Pre/Power solution was so much better then my 8VS/PSXR in every way. More grip to the bass,many more details, excellent soundstage.I would bet your turntable and speakers sound so much better in such a configuration.

regards

Edgar

 

[Anonymous]

The pre and power is a great way to improve the sound if you have the money, but if you do not have it, then a cheaper way to improve the 8vs2 is to add a psx-r onto it.

If your going down the pre and power route, then sell your integrated and get a pre vs2 or an older pre xs and either an 8 power of x power. If you are going on ebay then a smartpower + is exactly the same as an 8 power just pre RoHs legislations.

 

[Anonymous]

Thats interesting Edgar....and thanks potboy . Does the psx actually make a worthwhile difference or save up for the pre ?

I reckon if I did though I would forever be wondering ? So I think a maybe used PSX - R first then up the amp section .....sound reasonable to you two ?

 

[Anonymous]

The PSX-r on the integrated does make a good difference to the sound and smooths things out a bit as well.

Try cyrusunofficial forum as it is mainly cyrus there and lots of good ideas.

 

[Anonymous]

Then I think I will invest £300 or so in a power supply first, cos if i'm right it will improve any cyrus comps ?? Then go for the power amp first .... Then change the integ for a pre , ok ?
thanks boys your help is appreciated. I've demo'd speakers everday for two weeks and clocked about two thousand mls and it wears ya out, so cheers !

 

[Frank Harvey]

I would do it the other way round - go for a power amp first and drive the socks off the XQ1's, then change your integrated for a pre-amp. Then add the power supply last

 

[SHAXOS]

Agreed!

FrankHarveyHiFi:
I would do it the other way round - go for a power amp first and drive the socks off the XQ1's, then change your integrated for a pre-amp. Then add the power supply last

 

[Anonymous]

absolutely the best way. I can confirm to you the effect of a PSX-R to a 8VS is not very much. You are "wasting" funds which you better save to buy a power amp or a new set up pre/power.

Regards

Edgar

 

[Anonymous]

Edgar Eichmann:

absolutely the best way. I can confirm to you the effect of a PSX-R to a 8VS is not very much. You are "wasting" funds which you better save to buy a power amp or a new set up pre/power.

Regards

Edgar

Agree. I found the PSX-R added little or nothing to the 8VS.

 

[Anonymous]

Well . Quite a good forum guys , thanks for the response . To remind though, the speakers are now B&W cm7's . Methinks your advice will be the same though? There's more than one power amp in the cyrus stable though , which ones going to match considering the amps a 8vs2 which I really want to keep awhile , and not a dedicated pr amp ?

 

[Gusboll]

If you can afford it (shop around for an ex-demo maybe), go for an X Power as a minimum; you won't regret it.

 

[Anonymous]

And you speak from experience .
so the 8vs2 is good enough for an x power ?
how are you wiring the speakers dude ?

 

[Crossie]

A couple or three questions may help us to identify your needs:

How much do you want to spend on an upgrade? Can you biwire your speakers? Are you OK with x-demo or second hand kit?

Cheers

 

[Anonymous]

OK ,well I'm financing my daughters masters degree so thats about £12000 a year out of my fun fund at the mo so I will say about 500 is available now with arround the same each 6 months, ergo a grand for xmas .

I can by wire or amp the speakers.

Ex demo or used is absolutely fine but pbviously I would prefere to nuy from a dealer as I will get a guarantee .

I have really taken to cyrus , prefering it to the Naims I had so I'm gonna stick with them. They seem right for vinyl too. cheers , Ivor

 

[Gusboll]

ivoreng:And you speak from experience . so the 8vs2 is good enough for an x power ? how are you wiring the speakers dude ?

At the moment, the 8vs2 is acting purely as a pre with the speakers simply bi-wired to the x power. Next major upgrade will probably be another x power so I can bi-amp but not for a while yet; size of room won't justify it. The PSX-R divides opinion but I have mine on the CDP and 8vs2 and like what they give in terms of tonality and clout (with the CDP); I used to have one on the x power but took it off as I thought it actually inhibited the clout.

 

[bluebrazil]

i have an 8vs2 and when i added the psxr i felt it really filled out the sound, i suppose it depends if you are happy to wait and look for bargains then either of the above ways is fine but if you want some instant improvement with £500 i would say get the psxr first as you can always add the unit to a future pre/power combo

 

[Crossie]

You can get an X power on ebay for about £550 and use this to biamplify your speakers, you can add a PSX-R to this later for about £250 from ebay. Doing it this way will give the greatest improvement. Alternatively you can use the 8vs2 as a preamp and add another X Power later on and run them in Mono configuration.

Cheers

 

[Anonymous]

Ok crossie I fancy the 8vs2 and an X power in bi amp mode as you suggest . Just a couple more quessies then I'll leave you to it .
First , are the 8vs2 and the X not different output levels , so how do I bi amp . I mean what cable configurations ?
Surely I can't use one for bass and the other for treble?
secondly , if I get two X's is there single outputs to use one for each speaker or would I connect the left socket of one X to one and right of the other X to the other speaker ? Surely this wuld half the output of each X power?
Or am I just being a *** ??

 

[hifikrazy]

Asking this question for a friend who is using all Cyrus electronics driving B&W 805:

CD8SE with PSX-R
8XPd with PSX-R
2 units X Power in monoblock configuration

Would the 2 units of PSX-R best be left with their current duties or would they be better off serving the 2 units of X Power?

 

[Anonymous]

The best use of PSX-R is to separate the power supply of components that are combining two functions. For example CDP as both transport and DAC. integrated amp is both pre and power amp. Effect on power amps is more marginal.

I would sell the PSX-R on the 8XPd and the 8XPd and buy a dedicated Cyrus pre-amp such as pre Xpd

The 8XPd doesn't need a power supply if it is only acting as a pre-amp.

In fact if you can run to a DACXP (prices are more reasonable s/h) then you could remove the PSX-R from the CD8SE as you'll only be using it as a transport and put it on DACXP which acts as a DAC + pre-amp.

 

[Anonymous]

agreed. The PSX-R makes little or no difference to the 8VS 2.

 

[bluebrazil]

i totally disagree kevin

 

[Anonymous]

I may be of some help as I have just added a xpower to my 8vs2.

Firstly its a great improvement, I've tried a few configurations, Bi-amping with the 8vs2 on LF and xpower seemed better than xpower on LF. But using the 8vs2 as a pre was also vey good, can't quite make up my mind which is better. Using just the X was very smooth with nice detailed bass but I felt like the bi-amp config gave everything a little more space, sort of like having some more power in reserve. I'm yet to decided which is better but both offer more enjoyment.

 

[eternaloptimist]

I would recommend adding the X Power and bi-amping.

I started with the 8vs2. Nice amp. Added an X Power (to HF and 8vs2 to LF) - excellent improvement. System more detailed, and bass tighter. Then changed 8vs2 to Pre XPd - an improvement in soundstage and detail but not as big an improvement as adding the X Power. The Financial controller was impressed with the 1st upgrade but less convinced about the need for the second despite hearing the improvement!

Good luck!

D