Trying out some cyrus gear....advice needed!

[mattc76]

Hi there!

I've aquired some cyrus gear for a bit of a trial and to see if I like it - a Pre-VS2 and X-Power (about £900 all-in S/H). The plan was if i didn't like it to get rid of it on ebay with hopefully not too much loss.

I was using a NAD C352 with b&w CM1 speakers and a Dacmagic. The new cyrus kit sounds more detailed and I can definately hear the x-powers presence ie more low-end power grunt and dynamics which is great. Initially i thought it was amazing but now its all getting a bit fatiguing, a bit "in-yer-face" and slightly harsh. (After only a days listening). In fact its getting on my nerves now and have had to turn it off.

I think I'm missing the warmth of the NAD which I could listen to for hours. I am slightly bemused though because I wouldn't have described my b&w CM1's as harsh/fatiguing (more warm and full sounding). The other thing is that although the prevs2 was well used, the x-power was brand spanking new still in the cellophane etc - could it be that the xpower needs more time? (I am highly skeptical about this). I've also changed to copper speaker cable, and changed the chord cobra 3 to a gotham interconnect (and tried cambridge audio cheap interconnect) but to be honest there is no difference. Not only that but i've fiddled with the phase options on the dacmagic which to be honest I couldn't really tell the difference!?

So is this the CYRUS sound? or could it be the xpower needs time to run in?

I'm a bit gutted actually because at the moment I don't think i'll ever find a system I'm happy with!

Thanks
Matt

Incidently the reason I got the upgrade bug was that although I really liked the sound of the NAD I found that at times (particularly at low volumes) it was a bit flat and undynamic until you turned the volume up to a bit too high levels for me. The cyrus gear has definately sorted this out but at the expense of almost making my ears bleed (well not quite that much but you get the idea!).

 

[Anonymous]

Cyrus is to many on the brighter side of neutral but with the prevs2 and X power it shouldn't be that bad. From my own experience Cyrus sounds a lot fuller the further you go up their range.

I started out on my Cyrus journey with a CD8X and 8VS both with PSX-R's I was happy with this setup until I started demoing there pre/power amps. I tried the prevs2 + 8 power and found a better fuller sound but still wasn't happy, in the end I went straight to the DAC/XP + Mono X's with some Dynaudio speakers and haven't looked back since.

I must say though that even with this setup on some CD's the sound can still be a little thin sounding but put on a well recorded/produced album and the true speed, detail of the Cyrus sound really shines through without the slightest hint of harshness.

I would leave the system running for a good 72 hours and see if it changes. Don't expect huge changes though but it could be enough just to take the edge of things.

It could be that the Cyrus sound just isn't your cup of tea.

 

[mattc76]

Thanks for the reply! My grand plan has also included the potential of getting the dac XP (second hand) to replace my cambridge audio dac and pre-vs2 (obviously). This would be affordable if I sold my prevs2 and dacmagic plus a bit of tax rebate that I'm owed. I have heard that the pre amp on the dac xp is better than the prevs2? Is this correct? Also a better dac may help things as I've always thought that the dacmagic is possibly a bit bright?!

I'm listening to Seal (Soul) at the moment and some tracks sound superb but others sound a bit harsh and ragged round the (top) edges!?

What d'you reckon - will the Dac XP be better ie smoother/warmer, and less fatiguing?

 

[Gusboll]

There are some threads that mention avoiding B&W with Cyrus gear at all costs. Then there are others saying it is a match made in heaven!

What is fairly clear is that Cyrus requires careful speaker partnering; something I've been looking into for some months now. Spendor, Dynaudio and PMC seem to get favourable reviews.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd either admit defeat and change the amp, or try the Musical Fidelty v-dac, which is reputed to be more musical than the DacMagic. Experience tells me if you try the second option, you'll end up doing the first anyway, eventually. It's pointless having a system which only works for you with with certain CDs.

Sorry to be blunt, but I spent six months throwing money at a system which, in the end, just wasn't for me

 

[Anonymous]

Let me put it this way, I don't find anything fatiguing about my current set up (see sig) if the music is well recorded but put on a bad CD and it does start to tire me if I'm actually sat listening to it.

Yes, the pre amp in the DACXP is better than the PreVS2 and should go quite nicely with an X power or 2.

But I think you need to do some serious demoing before outlaying any further cash, as I've said the Cyrus sound might not be for you.

What speaker cables are you using? Have you got a different source instead of going through the DACMagic?

***Edit*** by bad recording I mean the likes of OASIS etc.

 

[mattc76]

I've tried plugging the squeezebox directly into the amp ie bypassing the dac and although the sound was not as good for so many different reasons the "character" of the sound was the same ie that same brightish/harshish/fatiguing ish signature (if you know what I mean).

My speaker cable is some reasonably cheapo gale 400 (£2/metre) copper stranded stuff from richer sounds. I'm not using my airlocked qed anniversary xt because I can't get it to fit in the bfa plugs without snipping the airlocks off and putting the adapter on (which I don't want to do). Also its a silver cable so if it'll do anything I don't think it'll tone down the brightness??!!

The detail and low end punch with this cyrus gear is really quite impressive but earlier today I just had to turn it off because of listening fatigue!

I don't think tweaking cables and interconnects is really going to completely change the character of the sound so I'm hoping that either my ears will get use to it or the xpower gets burnt in (which i don't really believe in but am willing to give it a go) OR nothing changes and i'll have to get rid of it.

Fortunately cyrus gear seems to have a thriving second hand market and I've spotted some on ebay recently that have gone for slightly more than I paid so hopefully WORSE CASE SCENARIO is that this was an interesting experiment (i hope not though).

As I said before I'm getting fed up of having a hi fi that i'm not happy with - there's always been something that has slightly bugged me - am I too fussy??

What I want is a warm, rich, lush detailed sound that makes you stop and listen (not continually flick through tracks!) - is that too much to ask??

 

[Anonymous]

Mattc76,

Try the Unison Research Unico, mentioned in another thread, which should give you all you want. It's very reasonably priced too, I've just discovered - might upgrade my own NAD earlier than I thought! 6moons et al have reviews.

 

[mattc76]

Tarquinh:
Mattc76,

Try the Unison Research Unico, mentioned in another thread, which should give you all you want. It's very reasonably priced too, I've just discovered - might upgrade my own NAD earlier than I thought! 6moons et al have reviews.

I'll have a look.

What's the Naim "sound" like. Is that warmer/fuller/richer? The Nait XS looks interesting.

Just listening to some katie melua and it does sound excellent on this cyrus kit, the trouble is that the George Michael Patience album (of my wife's I hasten to add) sounded flippin' terrible - screechy hi-hat in abundance. (To be fair I could barely listen to it on my NAD amp)

 

[Anonymous]

Naim is a bit like Cyrus in flavour, from what you've said. A friend has a 5i, and I'd guess that if you didn't like Cyrus, you may not like Naim, but in terms of defining the space between instruments, they're hard to beat. Haven't heard the XS, I'm afraid.

 

[Anonymous]

mattc76:Just listening to some katie melua and it does sound excellent on this cyrus kit, the trouble is that the George Michael Patience album (of my wife's I hasten to add) sounded flippin' terrible - screechy hi-hat in abundance. (To be fair I could barely listen to it on my NAD amp)

You can't do a lot with badly recorded/produced CD's I'm afraid. To be honest, if a badly recorded album did sound good any other hifi I'd be more concerned about the colouration the kit is adding to the sound.

 

[mattc76]

Its not all bad - I can now take the port bungs out of the speakers as the bass is so much more controlled...

 

[Anonymous]

where abouts are you? You'd be more than welcome to have listen to my Cyrus setup to see if that's the way you want to go. PM me through CyrusUnofficial if you're interested, same user name, IanS1

 

[Anonymous]

I'm hearing good things from a few places about the new Musical Fidelity A1. Only 36W or so, so sensitive speakers are needed for really loud volumes. You could add some MF Superchargers later to give the volume and headroom. The A1 has a lovely smooth, non-fatiguing sound that might just be your cup of tea. For £1k with it's built-in USB DAC it's a bargain too.

 

[RobGardner]

My experience with Cyrus kit is that it does seem to take an age to run in, however if you've had the amp for over 10 days it does sound as though its not going to settle with the sound that you are looking for. I can only offer some tangential advice, Chord Odyssey 2 cable works fabulously with Cyrus, I thought it had a more balanced sound than the more expensive Epic but not as good as the Epic Super Twin or Signature cable. I have had QED XT350 and 400 pass through my hands but like your cable they had Airlok plugs on which I was unwilling to remove to hear the cables via my 8vs. I am sure that I read somewhere (so it must be true!) that QED cable is the bright end of neutral(?) Certainly on my AV set up the QED cabless sounded different to the Odyssey 2, the 400 was generally better than the 350 as you might expect. I would happyly kept any of the cables on my AV system but I was able to sell the QED cables for more as they were longer lengths with Airlok terminations.Van Den Hul Orchid interconnects (yes they are expensive and rarely come up on eBay) work fabulously with Cyrus kit and you will need to spend an arm and a leg to improve upon them.

 

[mattc76]

I've heard that before that Cyrus kit takes a while to run in. But without getting into a running in debate I still find it hard to believe that electronics need burning in, moving parts in speakers okay, but electronics? Having said that I have read a review of some kit which I can't remember but in a well respected mag that said that initially it sounded rubbish ie harsh and metallic but after a few days it opened out and sounded amazing! - so I'm hopeful but am not expecting much!

 

[john dolan]

Cyrus does sound lean and clean.If you want a warmer sound try sugden.I use a valve power amp with my cyrus kit to add some body and warmth as i find the sound too light weight when i use my cyrus power amps.If you want all cyrus kit then take care with speaker choice to get the desired sound.Id recommend dynaudio speakers.

 

[mattc76]

mattc76:Having said that I have read a review of some kit which I can't remember but in a well respected mag that said that initially it sounded rubbish ie harsh and metallic but after a few days it opened out and sounded amazing!

AHA! Found it - here we are: the "well-respected mag" I speak of just so happens to be WHFSV (hope you don't mind me copy/pasting from pdf on cyrus site!??)

"CYRUS CAN CONFORM, too. Here's an
entirely conventional preamp/monoblocs
package that, if you listen to it
straight from the box, will have you
sitting with your head in your hands
sobbing quietly. It'll sound forward,
bright and insubstantial, and leave you
wondering why you spent so much on
it. Patience, my son - good things come
to those who wait.
After a couple of hours' use the treble
edge is almost gone and the bass gains
weight and authority. Two days later
the amp sounds far more natural, and is
no longer imposing its character on
everything you happen to play."

This hits the nail on the proverbial head: this is exactly what mine sounded like!

 

[Anonymous]

I've got a prevs2&xpower and it is not a harsh/fatiguing souding amp if correctly partnered.

'partnering factors' include:

Speaker tweeter
Source
Interconnects
Speaker cable
Room
Your ears!

I use a CD8X and Dynaudio speakers and with Chord epic cable the sound is too brilliant but with Kimber 4TC it's spot on. Another example is changing the mains lead on the Cd player improved the detail but made it just slightly too bright. [BTW a mains lead upgrade on the Prevs2 is highly recommended.]

jules.

 

[Dr Beat]

Jules

I concur wholeheartedly!! Your ears will decide what's "heaven's music" for you. I have the Cyrus set up too, and they sound great to me. I ran them in for about 100 hrs or so, and now, sound great. Much better than when i first hooked them up straight from the box.

Just sharing, but last weekend a friend with a Prima Luna Valve integrated amp (model Dialogue 2, i think) popped over to hear my "sound". He had partnered his amp with some Mission floorstanders. He commented that it sounded quite good. He did comment that the vocals were warmer on the valve amp.........but i was pretty smug. His amp won Absolute Sound (US version of What HiFI????) Golden Ear 2008 award, he said.Yet, he was enjoying the sound of my Cyrus set up.

Is it true that valve amps are "warmer" ?? What is "warmer"?

All too much for me, need to listen to "heaven's music" for a while now. Cheers!

 

[Anonymous]

Also make sure you leave the Cyrus Pre/Power on standby all the time when not playing music. It does make a difference.

jules.

 

[Anonymous]

mattc76:I've heard that before that Cyrus kit takes a while to run in. But without getting into a running in debate I still find it hard to believe that electronics need burning in, moving parts in speakers okay, but electronics? Having said that I have read a review of some kit which I can't remember but in a well respected mag that said that initially it sounded rubbish ie harsh and metallic but after a few days it opened out and sounded amazing! - so I'm hopeful but am not expecting much!

Took 200+ hours for me.

 

[mattc76]

Graham_Thomas:mattc76:I've heard that before that Cyrus kit takes a while to run in. But without getting into a running in debate I still find it hard to believe that electronics need burning in, moving parts in speakers okay, but electronics? Having said that I have read a review of some kit which I can't remember but in a well respected mag that said that initially it sounded rubbish ie harsh and metallic but after a few days it opened out and sounded amazing! - so I'm hopeful but am not expecting much!

Took 200+ hours for me.

The prevs2 should be well run in as it was second hand, but the xpower was brand spanking new. It just seems a bit forward and "in yer face" at times!