Too Bright?

[admin_exported]

As some of you will recall, l'm looking for a Cd & amp to drive a pair of Monitor Audio RS1's. Looking to buy second hand, considering the likes of Musical Fidelity X-Ray, Linn Mimik/Majik & Cyrus CD6/amp

l was leaning toward Cyrus, as l like a forward up-front sound & the option is there to up-grade should l wish to. l can fully appreciate that others prefer a softer & adaptive sound that you tend to get with Arcam gear, each to their own. However, as l have Chord Odyssey 'speaker cable, which tends to be bright & the MA's, which again are on the bright side, l'm concerned that the addition a Cyrus CD/amp will make the sound harsh.

There is a big difference between a system being alive & detailed & being over bright & tinny.

What do others feel/Advice/experience?

 

[Thaiman]

I am sure we have the same thread running just the other day

Cyrus's house sound is on the lively side and that's why people can't get enough of them, the cd7 onward will not sound harsh like the earlier ones (still on the bright side though).

 

[drummerman]

[quote user="chesterfieldhouse"]l was leaning toward Cyrus, as l like a forward up-front sound & the option is there to up-grade should l wish to.[/quote]

If memory serves me well I think you find that although you can factory upgrade cyrus 6 components internally to 8 spec (by sending them back to cyrus), you can not add psx's to this entry level range. Best regards

 

[drummerman]

Your speakers are also what I'd call reticent with 'papery' mids and a soft bass. Not my favourites by any means but as you have 'em and I guess dont want to change you need, as you have quite rightly identified, an amplifier/cd combination with strong presence and drive. Bass needs to be well damped and punchy to make up for the lack of what your speakers can produce.

If you want to go second hand I'd discount the cyrus 6's. Nice stuff but not enough of everything. Musical Fidelity is worth a try but I find that anything short of their 150Watt plus stuff has a soft centred sound, again not ideal with your speakers. I'd look at AVI which should drive your MA's ok. AVI has a 'studio monitoring' sound. Good presence, power and resolution. You should find 2nd hand S2000 components fairly cheap now and there's always the option of pre/power amps.

If you can stretch your budget I'd strongly recommend you audition the new Cyrus 8 range. They'll give you what you're looking for at a fairly cheap price and are 'upgradeable' if you really feel the need to but I would'nt bother as there are again better choices when you take to cost of adding PSX's into account.

 

[Thaiman]

good post Drummer, agree on all account

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="drummerman"]Your speakers are also what I'd call reticent with 'papery' mids and a
soft bass. Not my favourites by any means but as you have 'em and I guess dont
want to change you need, as you have quite rightly identified, an amplifier/cd
combination with strong presence and drive. Bass needs to be well damped and
punchy to make up for the lack of what your speakers can produce[/quote]

dont know what Rs1's you have been listening to but thats not at all the way i would describe them.Reticent? you must be joking. I would not recommend cyrus with mon audio. Could end up far too bright. I also find cyrus a bit thin sounding.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the response.

l remember listening to an AVI integrated 3/4 years ago, through a pair of PMC "dinky box" 'speakers, l can't remember the Cd player, sounded very good though; is it 100w per channel?

Questions;-

1. Drummerman - what would be your Cd? The S2000 or still the Cyrus 8? (According to the Cyrus website, you can up-grade the CD6 to full 8 Se spec inc PSX - R & twin power supplies. The 6 amp also to 8vs 2) However, l don't really want to go down this route of constantly thinking of "what would it sound like" up-grade path.

2. Fraziel - what would you say as a source? l see you are an Arcam man.

 

[drummerman]

[quote user="Fraziel"]dont know what Rs1's you have been listening to but thats not at all the way i would describe them.Reticent? you must be joking. I would not recommend cyrus with mon audio. Could end up far too bright. I also find cyrus a bit thin sounding.[/quote]

How many times have I told you, dont let them hearing aid batteries run out ...

 

[drummerman]

[quote user="chesterfieldhouse"]
1. Drummerman - what would be your Cd? The S2000 or still the Cyrus 8? (According to the Cyrus website, you can up-grade the CD6 to full 8 Se spec inc PSX - R & twin power supplies. The 6 amp also to 8vs 2) However, l don't really want to go down this route of constantly thinking of "what would it sound like" up-grade path.

[/quote]Yes as a factory upgrade ie. you have to send them in and the upgrade aint cheap.

Its been a long time since I had my AVI system and whilst it was and I'm sure still is a good player its also an old one with all the problems such a buy might bring in the future. If you can afford it, buy new and the cyrus is not bad at all.

 

[drummerman]

[quote user="drummerman"]I also find cyrus a bit thin sounding.[/quote]

Mmmh ... I think you should listen to an 8. You might like it ...

 

[Anonymous]

Didn't really want to spend Cyrus 8 Cd (new) money. Any alternatives?

Please tell me more about the AVI S2000 Drummerman, how powerful?

Not that l want to play music loud, it's just the control that a powerful amp gives you but l don't want to go down the power amp route.

 

[drummerman]

I cant remember but around 100 - 150w/ch and its very good.

With regards to a cd player I would'nt worry to much. Yes the cyrus 8 is a great machine but as I've said before, these days and with far eastern manufacturing, there are very advanced models available cheaper. I personally think that the 8 is a significant step ahead of lesser players (and some more expensive ones) but I'd spend the cash on the amp especially with your speakers.

 

[Anonymous]

Drummerman, thanks for the response. So, what are you thinking of with the Cd? If l picked up an AVI S2000 amp, & as l say, l'm looking for something powerful & intergrated, what "far eastern" spec' for the CD?

 

[drummerman]

I love chicken with cashew nuts in yellow bean sauce

 

[Anonymous]

Me too, but in terms of a Cd player?

 

[drummerman]

A top loader. Its easier to eat out off.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh , be very careful with Monitor Audio with Cyrus, it will be very top heavy, bright and unatural. The MA sound is very forced, bright and I find it unatural, I would match it to a smoother amplifier or a valve amp, such as Primare for example, I was rather disappointed also when I heard Cyrus recently, very flat sound, unreal and only half the music, as in where has the bass gone. These type of systems can sound very impressive for 10 minutes, but can soon become tiring over extended listening once the wow factor has worn off.

If you like a brighter, but more natural sounding speaker I would look at Totem with Exposure amplifiers.

 

[drummerman]

[quote user="silly"] I would match it to a smoother amplifier or a valve amp, such as Primare [/quote]

Primare is not a valve amplifier

[quote user="silly"]I was rather disappointed also when I heard Cyrus recently, very flat sound, unreal and only half the music, as in where has the bass gone[/quote]

Dont be silly

 

[Anonymous]

Not looking to change the MA RS1's, just looking for the best sound possible from a Cd & amp. Don't want lots of boxes around, so the idea of a powerful intergrated amp sounds good. Anybody else with suggestions about Cd player source?

 

[drummerman]

Give AVI a call and ask if they could service the matching player if something goes wrong.

They do look and sound nice as a matched system and if you want to upgrade at a later date, its also easier to sell them as a pair.

You have many options with regards to players. Many use a lot of shared parts such as transports, converters etc. etc so can sound similar. Differences in many cases being the implementation of the bits rather than ground breaking new technology. Notable exceptions I believe are Cambridge Audio which in their more upmarket players use Anagram Technologies upsampling technology and perhaps Denon and Pioneer with (I think) AL24 and Legato Link derrivatives of the scheme respectively. In my humble experience Upsamplers sound more open and perhaps more detailed than multibit/oversampling players but on the other hand more 'together' and dynamic but again, they are not all the same. What I would say is, dont get to hung up about the source. Up to a certain level the differences are rather small.

 

[drummerman]

[quote user="drummerman"]but on the other hand more 'together' and dynamic [/quote]

... meant of course 'less' ... now I'm off for some live music down the pub

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for that. l will keep it in mind.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="drummerman"]
[quote user="silly"] I would match it to a smoother amplifier or a valve amp, such as Primare [/quote]

Primare is not a valve amplifier

[quote user="silly"]I was rather disappointed also when I heard Cyrus recently, very flat sound, unreal and only half the music, as in where has the bass gone[/quote]

Dont be silly
[/quote]

I didn't say it (Primare)was a valve amplifier, I said a smooth or valve amplifier.

I am not being silly thanks.

 

[drummerman]

[quote user="silly"] I am not being silly thanks.[/quote]

Funny. Of course you're not

. My apologies

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="chesterfieldhouse"]2. Fraziel - what would you say as a source? l see you are an Arcam man[/quote]

yes, but i only like their cd players. i hate their amps. Mushy sounding affairs with soft bass. I have not heard the linn stuff or the musical fidelity so i would not like to say. I have heard cyrus and i found them to be a bit bright and thin sounding for my taste. drummerman exaggerates slightly about the rs1 i think but you definitely need an amp with a good bit of punch in the bass to get the best out of them. i am considering switching to the new nad c355bee for that reason