Have your say & ask the experts

Hi

I have a budget system at the moment but want to upgrade significantly and begin again from scratch.  I listened to a Cyrus based system the other day and was blown away - now need some help on choosing what to test. 

My 1st question is whether the Cyrus CD 6 SE is likely to partner well with the 8 XP or would it be worth the extra £300 for the CD 8 SE?  It would be great to save some money if possible but I don't know how much this is likely to compromise the system. 

My 2nd question is what stand mount speakers would you recommend I test with the above?  Budget would be up to around £1,000 and the system will be used in a relatively small room.  My music tastes vary so I want something that can deliver high end detail but also offer a decent level of base when needed.

Currently have Ecosse Composer interconnect, Silver Anniversary XT speaker cable and Custom Design RS300 stands but happy to change any of these if needed.

Hi,

Go for 6 SE, it will sound brilliant. The 8 SE IS better, but they are both superlative. What's great about going down the Cyrus route is if you get the 6 SE and after a year or so, feel that you want a change, you can send your machine back to Cyrus and have it upgraded to the 8 SE and once that's done, if you want even more, you can add a PSX-R.

Sorry, I can't be of much use on the standmount recommendations. 

Many people have found the 8 series CD player much better than the 6.  In fact few people on cyrus unofficial forum have 6 series at all.

 Speakers - I would consider Dynaudio and Spendor offerings.  Few people like B&W or Monitor Audio but you might be one of them!

mutley526:

My 1st question is whether the Cyrus CD 6 SE is likely to partner well with the 8 XP or would it be worth the extra £300 for the CD 8 SE?  It would be great to save some money if possible but I don't know how much this is likely to compromise the system. 

Both players are very good and you should go with the one that fits the best with your budget.  Neither will dissapoint.

Speakers with Cyrus ...... mmmmm ..... I use B&W but most will go with either Dyn or Spendor.  ATC are another popular brand at the moment, SCM11s?

For what its worth at the Manchester show Cyrus were using Dyn Focus 110s for their demo.  They sounded fantastic but were being driven by Mono Xs.  Dyn's in my experiance do need power to drive them well.

 Good luck and enjoy.

bretty:

Hi,

Go for 6 SE, it will sound brilliant. The 8 SE IS better, but they are both superlative. What's great about going down the Cyrus route is if you get the 6 SE and after a year or so, feel that you want a change, you can send your machine back to Cyrus and have it upgraded to the 8 SE and once that's done, if you want even more, you can add a PSX-R.

Sorry, I can't be of much use on the standmount recommendations. 

Cyrus upgrades cost an arm and a leg.  You'd be better off flogging the old unit on eBay and buying a brand new 8-SE.  I think (emphasise my opinion) the "upgrade" spiel is more of a marketing ploy than an actual desire by Cyrus so-to-do.  About the only things salvaged from the "upgrade" are likely to be the case and the power supply, maybe the loading mechanism, but that's about it.

Go for the 8SE straight off the bat.

As for the PSX-R route, better bet, if your speakers are bi-wireable, would be to add an 8-Power or even X-power and bi-amp first.  Pick up second hand PSX-Rs on eBay at half the new price as and when they come up and as and when you have the cash to spare.  It's basically just a transformer after all, with no moving parts to go wrong.  I bought three of my five PSX-Rs that way.

Me? CD-XTSE and DAC-X feed PreVS2 feeding 2 x 8-Powers in twin mono mode.  All with PSX-Rs.

mutley526:

Hi

I have a budget system at the moment but want to upgrade significantly and begin again from scratch.  I listened to a Cyrus based system the other day and was blown away - now need some help on choosing what to test. 

My 1st question is whether the Cyrus CD 6 SE is likely to partner well with the 8 XP or would it be worth the extra £300 for the CD 8 SE?  It would be great to save some money if possible but I don't know how much this is likely to compromise the system. 

My 2nd question is what stand mount speakers would you recommend I test with the above?  Budget would be up to around £1,000 and the system will be used in a relatively small room.  My music tastes vary so I want something that can deliver high end detail but also offer a decent level of base when needed.

Currently have Ecosse Composer interconnect, Silver Anniversary XT speaker cable and Custom Design RS300 stands but happy to change any of these if needed.

Hi mutley256

The speakers to consider are ATC's SCM11. They are a closed box design and more importantly they are flat and honest. This will help greatly with room positioning as they can be placed close to walls or relatively tight spaces without the sound getting itself into a twist.

I have used and i have many customers who happily use Cyrus electronics with ATC speakers. The SCM11's performance potential is vast so whichever Cyrus components that you choose to begin with and possibily subsequently upgrade to the SCM11's will easily show up the differences in a clear, precise, uncoloured, neutral, natural and powerful manner.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

At the risk of groans from the assembled multitude, I moved away from Cyrus 8vs2, CD8x and PSX-r to an AVI ADM9.1 system. I found the sound quality to be way better than my Cyrus kit, they were paired with ProAc 110's.  I use a Squeezebox to stream music to the AVI's.  In case you didn't know, they are a two box speaker solution with built in pre-amp and power amps, and are active speakers with 75 watts p/c for the tweeters, and 250 watts p/c for the bass drivers.  30 seconds into my AVI demo I knew the Cyrus kit was going. 

People here will try to put you off the kit, but the majority won't have heard it.  Before you buy the cyrus kit, I really recommend you get an AVI demo.

I got a discount on the AVI's.  I'm sure you will too if you shop around.

'Groan'!

 You're not Darren incognito (again!) are you?!

 Yawn 

I got rid of my Cyrus system too in favour of the ADMs. They are much better.

People will yawn and groan but all I can say is try and audition some. 

  No I'm not, although I do know who you mean!  I'm just a very happy owner of the AVI's.  If you get to listen to them, I think you'll be surprised at just how good they are, especially for the money.

They sound great, don't need a multitude of boxes, and don't need cables either.  Obviously, they therefore won't suit the fiddlers here.