wrong amp ?

[Adrien92]

Good afternoon, being stuck abroad a few months back I decided to get back into audio. I was advised by a certain audio shop to get the combo Kef R3/ cyrus one cast.

I started getting constant audio cuts mainly whilst steaming Qobuz/Tidal in CD quality or better and sent the amp for repair.

I went to visit another audio shop and they basically told me this was a fairly poorly built and performing amp. they especially insisted on Chromecast not being a good way of streaming music.

They are now offering to resell the One cast and for me to chose another amp after some listening sessions.

The guys tell me to try Naim and Hegel to start.

I need an all in one amp, HifI and movies (HDMI arc or optical) and around 3k max would be good for the price. (also i was advised on the R3 so not to have a sub for now ...)

what are your thoughts ?

Thank you for your help !
Adrien.

 

[Gray]

Would be good for you to hear the experiences of other One Cast owners.
(Rather than necessarily accept the things that dealers say).
Which dealer is offering to sell the Cyrus for you? The one that described it as poor?
You say you sent it for repair. Where to? What was the outcome of that?

 

[Adrien92]

Would be good for you to hear the experiences of other One Cast owners.
(Rather than necessarily accept the things that dealers say).
Which dealer is offering to sell the Cyrus for you? The one that described it as poor?
You say you sent it for repair. Where to? What was the outcome of that?

Thank you for your reply. I bought the bunddle from Peter Tysons in the UK.
I am originally from France and took the speakers/amp there as I cannot go back to my current working place for the time being. I sent the amp back to PT who in turn will send it to Cyrus.

The dealer I went to is in Toulouse, southern France and are very professional and not pushy at all. We did buy a few things from them already which were quite satisfactory (CM9s +REL t9 with a Naim Nova) .

I was warned about this amp and even whathifi do not review it very well, but I trusted PT's online staff and bought the bunddle based on their recommendations.

I only sent the amp back last week so haven't got it back yet. just very disappointed by the constant streaming interruptions.

The new dealers insisted on the fact that they stopped selling cyrus because of issues like the one I am having.

They are then offering to take the cyrus if I wish, and try other amps with the R3. The Cyrus according to them having a lack of dynamics, depth and soundstage. I did listen to a Hegel 90 with a different, less demanding set of bookshelves in the shop and indeed after also trying them with the One Cast the difference in all of the abovementioned was unbelievable.

Feeling quite lost to be honest. I work out of Morroco atm and unfortunately only could trust online reviews and support staff to buy my equipment...

 

[Simon 13th note]

I reviewed the Cyrus one cast (see my video) and wouldn’t say there is a lack of dynamics depth and soundstage. It’s a class d amp, so power is its strength. I have a Hegel h120 and I’d put it ahead of the Cyrus but it’s another £700 ish.

My recommendation in my review was not to buy the one cast, but the older one HD as you get them cheaper and I did a test with the one cast and a Chromecast Audio puck for virtually same sound, but £500 cheaper. The HD uses the same dac and 4th gen class d amp which is very good. Dac is more than good enough for those great KEFs.

A dealer telling you it’s a poor amp is an alarm bell for them trying to sell you something instead, to my mind, particularly if they don’t run that brand. Hifi is a strong sales game.

if you want to message me on here or my website I’ll gladly help you sort it out. Id ask are you using fixed Ethernet or WiFi? Hires or CD over casting. I’d be thinking if you are running via WiFi it’s a combo of your connection and possibly casting issues to the amp.

I don’t think the what hifi view is justified. It’s a detailed dynamic amp that can drive lots of speakers well with its impedance matching too and has been shown off driving ridiculously big speakers well at shows. If you like the sound or didn’t have issues with it, I wouldn’t be tempted off that by a connection issue. Someone is unnecessarily trying to sell you something. if you want to improve it, add on a streamer box for not much dosh with a really good app interface (where you don’t have to chromecast) and job done.

 

[Deleted member 188516]

here is the review :-

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hFwk9eouRo

 

[Gray]

Thank you for your reply. I bought the bunddle from Peter Tysons in the UK.
I am originally from France and took the speakers/amp there as I cannot go back to my current working place for the time being. I sent the amp back to PT who in turn will send it to Cyrus.

The dealer I went to is in Toulouse, southern France and are very professional and not pushy at all. We did buy a few things from them already which were quite satisfactory (CM9s +REL t9 with a Naim Nova) .

I was warned about this amp and even whathifi do not review it very well, but I trusted PT's online staff and bought the bunddle based on their recommendations.

I only sent the amp back last week so haven't got it back yet. just very disappointed by the constant streaming interruptions.

The new dealers insisted on the fact that they stopped selling cyrus because of issues like the one I am having.

They are then offering to take the cyrus if I wish, and try other amps with the R3. The Cyrus according to them having a lack of dynamics, depth and soundstage. I did listen to a Hegel 90 with a different, less demanding set of bookshelves in the shop and indeed after also trying them with the One Cast the difference in all of the abovementioned was unbelievable.

Feeling quite lost to be honest. I work out of Morroco atm and unfortunately only could trust online reviews and support staff to buy my equipment...

Understandable that you're feeling a bit lost, your different locations add unwanted complication.
Now that it's away, all you can currently do is await the actions of retailer / manufacturer.
Unlikely there's a fault they can cure, see what they say but I'm inclined to agree that it's a connection issue.
You have to ask why a dealer would be happy to take the amp off your hands - an amp that he describes as poor, from a brand he no longer stocks.
Hope you get satisfaction one way or another.

 

[Adrien92]

Thank you both for your replies !

To answer the questions; I wish to use Qobuz in high res over CDs due to my ever changing locations. And as the One cast is wifi only that's what I ll be using to cast.

I did try to cast over a different wifi network and had the same issues. What is interesting is there was no issue whatsoever when using the naim integrated app and high res files on the Nova, but issues occured when casting onto the Nova as well !!

Is the Chromecast technology then stable
/mature enough for high res casting ? I recall having very slight issues on Spotify as well although not as bad as Qobuz with the cyrus.

I also both get your point about the dealer...

I will then wait for the dealer to reply, just very worried about that Chromecast not working well on both the cyrus and the naim over 2 networks ...

Now, the dealer was telling me the class D watts do not mean much and that a 40W naim atom would be a lot better as it has more "torque".. what do you think about this ?

Given the chance, would you upgrade to the Hegel or stick with the one cast ? My uses are both Hifi and movies over the arc. I just do no wish to "under use" the potential of my R3s ? would a Naim be also better suited ? (simply inquiring )

I really would like not to have to add extra elements to the one box... although if required i will. But in that case i guess I might as well take a Hegel ? (from the little i heard I liked both amps sounds, the Hegel just seemed fuller and richer..)

I know it all sounds a bit messy but that's what is in my head at the moment ahah !

and Thanks for the great video Simon

 

[rainsoothe]

I don't think that the Cyrus lacks dynamics, and also the streaming hiccups might be related to your wifi - but the lack of an Ethernet port on the Cyrus is a major no-no for me, but sounds pretty good imo. And of course, Naim and Hegel are better - and +1 from me for those recommendations - but they should, at several times the price. Mind you, Hegel needs a third party app for streaming, but the new models can function as Roon endpoints I think. Naim has it's own app, which sometimes creates a lot of frustration to it's users. For a stable and sleek app, also consider Linn.

EDIT: The "torque" comment probably refers to high current delivery - Naim are high current designs, and high current is good for speakers with big impedance drops. Just know that doubling the watts into the same speaker only yields a 3 decibel increase in volume (so a 100 w/ch amp will only be 3 db louder than a 50w/ch one). The extra wattage and/or current helps with driver control, dinamic headroom etc.

 

[Adrien92]

Thank you again for the detailed reply !

The thing is I had the same casting issues over a different wifi network which led me to believe that Chromecast was the issue when streaming better than mp3 files ?

Now, I have understood that the cyrus is a good amp from all your comments.
But, if given a good price for it, would you bother swapping for a Hegel or Naim and if yes which one ? (my listening room is about 40/45 sqm).

again thank you for your time

 

[rainsoothe]

In order to avoid further dissappointment, you really should try to audition. I like Hegel amplification, but 1. YOU might not, and 2. it might not be a good partner for the KEF (which are excellent speakers, but matching is very important). Imo, the KEF need... "exciting" amplification behind them - Hegel is not a snorefest, but it is a bit laid back - it's you who needs to decide. I'd look at the H120 as a minimum, or find a used H190. As for Naim, if you want any of the new stuff, of course the bigger ones are better, but do listen to the Atom as well. Alternatively, if you don't mind a 2 box sollution, do consider (from the sh market) a Cambridge Audio CXN v2 + a Naim Supernait 2 (or even an XS2) with Tellurium Q Black 2 or Witchhat N2 speaker cable. For even bigger box count, I thing you can find Naim pre-power combo Nac 202 and Nap 200DR for chips these days.

Because technology moves so fast, I would keep the digital and analog stuff separated (at least the streaming part), so there's another reason for staying away from all-in-ones, besides the niggles with software. Even though companies like Linn keep their products updated, so you can update your old Linn all-in-one to current specs.

You defo need to hear them, some just hate Naim, fullstop. I, for one, want to get away from them (because of the upgraditis), but can't find something that will give me the same musical enjoyment in the longterm, so I'm stuck with them

 

[Adrien92]

Good evening everyone!

So... in the end issue got resolved when I took the one cast to a different country (quite literally 😅) .
It is now working fantastically well . I assume it must have been the Internet "hub" of the neighbourhood I was trying the amp from.

By the way, very satisfied with this amp;
Phono stage with a Project debut evo, Tidal streaming from the phone and ARC from the TV. All outstanding with the Kef R3s really!

Lovely warm sound from the kef/cyrus combo with fantastic powerful tight bass, great depth and soundstage. Clarity and separation are also very impressive .

A great versatile all in one for those not wanting a complicated life aha

Thank you again for all your replies and advice.

Good night !