Upgrading my Cyrus-Marantz-Mission set-up. Any advice welcome.

[admin_exported]

My current system comprises of :- Marantz CD 63 se, Cyrus one amp, Mission 733 speakers, TCK 500 es tape deck. Audioquest 'Ruby' interconnects (CD) Audioquest 'Coral' (tape), QED 'Revelation' speaker cables. Sitting on Apollo wall racks (glass shelves),CD is on 'Perfect sound' spikes,amp is on a Cyrus isoplat, Russ Andrews 'yello' mains cables. Plugged in to a Tacima CS929 extention with a Russ Andrews 'Silencer'. I am saving up for a Cambridge Audio 'DAC Magic'. I would welcome any recommedations or suggestions for any other (not too expensive!) upgrades. I do enjoy the sound. But it seems to be missing 'something'

 

[the record spot]

You've hit a plateau I think. Upgrade one and you'll look eventually to doing the rest. I'd go for improved speakers to start with. Mainly, seeing as you'll probably ask, as the amp is still good and you can add PSX power amp to it for relatively little money in time, the CD player will be fine for the DAC Magic, leaving the speakers. They are good, don't get me wrong, but upgrading them to something one notch up will reap rewards I suspect and they've hit their ceiling with your current level of equipment which can take better.

I had a pair of the 733i and changing to the 752 just opened up a whole soundstage that wasn't there before, so even speakers one level up will make a difference I think.

Other models are of course available and it depends also on what sound you are looking to achieve, but check out Q Acoustics, Acoustic Energy, Teufel, Wharfedale and KEF who all make wallet friendly designs up to £400/500.

One last thing, your speaker cable is hopelessly out of kilter for the equipment you have at around £13-15 a metre. This won't save your system or what you hear. Sell it on, buy some generic copper cable, 322 strand is what I use and my system sounds excellent (see Roger Russell's site about wire thickness - he knows his stuff being ex-McIntosh). It cost me £5.50 for 10 metres from Digitalis Direct on Ebay, postage free too. Give it a whirl, this is about the cost of two pints we're talking here and use the rest of the money you make of the QED wire to put towards some new speakers. Your other interconnects will be fine so no need to change any of those. Audioquest make good stuff and I used those before I opted for generic (unbranded) cables interconnects.

 

[gregory]

Not much wrong with your gear, all seems to gel well. I liked the cd 63 when it came out and the amp you have is a good one, decent speakers too so maybe the dac you mention may smooth things out a little bit if that's what your after, suck it and see i suppose but i am a vinyl man, i just cant get on with cd so i would probably go with a different set of speakers maybe a pair of Mission 752's 2nd hand, you should be able to pick up a nice pair for the price of the DAC Magic, i wouldn't worry to much about changing cables or IC's they all seem fine and do the job.

 

[gregory]

Record spot beat me to it with the 752 suggestion, they are very good speakers.

 

[the record spot]

Only slight niggle with the 752 and Cyrus combo would be the possibility of them being too lean a partnership; depends on how well they work with the CDP and DAC. I wouldn't want to comment, but would warn that the 752 can be bass light in the wrong combination. Get it right and they're sweet, no question, but worth bearing in mind. That said, you shouldn't have much trouble or long to wait for a used pair in good nick turning up for around £100.

 

[Anonymous]

A second hand PSX power supply will make a big difference in giving texture and depth to your music.
Will bring your system onto another level.

 

[Anonymous]

Is a PSX power supply compatable with the Cyrus One? I dont think it will.

 

[Anonymous]

The speakers are Mission 733.

 

[the record spot]

Yes, I know the difference; the 733 has a mesh dome metal tweeter, the 733i has a silk soft domed one. That'd still be the one I'd change and for exactly the same reason.

 

[Anonymous]

What do you think about just getting some 733i' tweeters from Mission (if that's possible) and replacing them? I also have a metre or so of QED 'silver anniversary' speaker cable, I was thinking about removing the stock cable and fitting that instead (I'm not too bad with a soldering iron!). Is it possible to fill the lower part of the cabinet with sand?

 

[the record spot]

Not sure of the fitting requirements as it's a fundamental design change to the original speaker. The 733s had the option to fill with sand (I never did with mine); there's another audio forum that specialises in DIY projects. Worth asking there maybe?