Small Talk - Why Cyrus Audio's Classic AMP Delivers Serious Sound Despite its Dinky Dimensions

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Small Talk - Why Cyrus Audio's Classic AMP Delivers Serious Sound Despite its Dinky Dimensions

Рет қаралды 7,893

Күн бұрын

The guys are back at Mike's Hi-Fi Hut for this week's Riff, reviewing this pleasingly small Cyrus integrated amplifier. Despite its diminutive size, it packs a decent punch that can be further strengthened by the addition of a PSX-R2 power supply.
Mike and David salute its fine build quality, great packaging and highly enjoyable sound. They're genuinely impressed by its overall ownership proposition - although the competition at this level is stiff. Ironically, Mike thinks its biggest rival is another Cyrus!
Each episode of Hi-Fi Riff features Mike and David's unedited, unexpurgated views about all manner of weird and wonderful hi-fi designs.
Business executive Mike has a wealth of knowledge from previous hi-fi retail experience, and David has written about hi-fi for thirty years. Now Editor-in-Chief of StereoNET, he's picked up a few things along the way.
So relax and enjoy some one-take hi-fi riffing - and please leave your comments below. And don’t forget to hit the Subscribe button, this one goes up to eleven!
The eighties-tastic title tune is called ‘UFO/Mike’s Jumper’, and used with the express permission of our old pal and rights holder Simon Lythe.
Follow Hi-Fi Riff on Instagram here: hifiriff

Пікірлер: 83

@numptification Жыл бұрын

You guys are on fire this week. A great laugh and very entertaining.

@roryyoung6192 Жыл бұрын

Great riff again! I really look forward to these. You two should really be writing a book combining your wealth of knowledge, humour and great insight into the world of hifi.

@owenoneill5955 Жыл бұрын

All got a bit too technical for me when it got to ''the feets are adjustable''

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

You and me both. Mike showing off his great grasp of mechanical engineering, again...

@owenoneill5955 Жыл бұрын

@@MrVinylista I guess he was in a bit of a Rush? He does ocasionally get a Rush of blood to the head and Rush into things,

@TonyCottrell-iv2qv Жыл бұрын

Another bit of fun with some serious points, thank you. I can vouch for the fact that the remote will light up for people other than Mike; I have what looks like exactly the same remote for a 2016 Cyrus 8a amp and it lights up for me! The 8a is a nice piece of kit, so I am not surprised that the new one is also. Feet still firmly attached to mine though. But.... my fancy remote has already suffered from plastic decay, making it sticky to the touch. You can't have everything!

@banginghats2 Жыл бұрын

David's attic could be a whole YT channel in itself.

@kenlyon8285 Жыл бұрын

But is there a DNM Gem up there? Curious minds want to know.

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

@@kenlyon8285 Sadly not, Ken.

@swedishdriller Жыл бұрын

What we need is a Riff of David’s attic!!!! 😂🍺 Thanks for a great show/riff as usual 👍🙏🏻

@richardparnell6551 Жыл бұрын

I heard the Cyrus i9 at the Bristol show, and while that was hardly the best environment to listen, I thought it sounded fantastic. I heard them adding the dedicated PSU and the difference was marked and a significant improvement over what was already a great sound. The mix of Auralic, Cyrus and Spendor was the highlight of the day for me.

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

Thanks Richard, this tallies with Mike's comments. Annoyingly, I wasn't able to spend any real time hearing Cyrus at Bristol - wish I'd had more time.

@leegoodwin3466 Жыл бұрын

Great vid….as per usual 😎 The Cyrus one was pretty good with Quad 57s. I had the Cyrus dad7……the PSX transformed it. Definitely took it to another level

@nigesavage5548 Жыл бұрын

This is the best episode you guys have done to date. Hilarious - and FYI, I love that t-shirt!!! The "Ting" makes it a work of genius. Oh, and at the risk of repeating myself: Subdivisions is the greatest song Rush ever wrote 🤘 Kudos gents!!

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

Thanks Nige, but please don't encourage Mike with his T-shirt. The Camera Eye for me, then Red Barchetta, then Spirit - but Subdivisions is probably 4th. Genius, as you say.

@nigesavage5548 Жыл бұрын

@@MrVinylista We need photographic evidence of Mike at the gig wearing the t-shirt proudly whilst air-drumming along to YYZ!

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

@@nigesavage5548 Seconded. Mike, don't forget to take a selfie for us. "Conform or be cast out!"

@geoffadams590 Жыл бұрын

Thirded. Photos, or it never happened 😀

@Hi-FiRiff Жыл бұрын

photos.app.goo.gl/4yht5LCx3af1wPow7

@robertgough5804 Жыл бұрын

Location looks right again

@dimitri_mark Жыл бұрын

1984 it's Grace Under Pressure!! Cheers Rush fans everywhere!

@mikeyevs Жыл бұрын

Positively embarrassed. Shows it's live though! Mike

@dimitri_mark Жыл бұрын

@@mikeyevs Love the humor and your authenticity! Respect and greetings from Greece!

@astroporpoise7802 8 ай бұрын

Love your guys' energy and dynamic! Thanks so much for the info--the Blade Runner retro-sleeper aesthetics of this amp really has a hold on me! Heard it at my local hifi shop with some Spendor 4/5 speakers and it sounded wonderfully spacious, lifelike, and well-composed. Cheers, subbed, and looking forward to watching more :) Happy holidays!

@davidstein9129 7 ай бұрын

I love a little 'small talk" each day. lol....You guys have great synergy in your your shows and a bit of a somewhat restrained enthusiasm that is "very British" Lol..and fun to watch in action I just purchased this very Cyrus DAC/Preamp to integrate with the rest of my av kit. An audio reviewer did a vid on KZfaq of his top favorites high-end favorites DACs. He mentioned that this model was discontinued and that there are many available for sale ...at deep discounted prices in the used audio marketplace. He said to grab one along with the Cyrus upgraded power source. I bought both products used, in😅 great shape & well nearly 60 % off the original MSRP. The latest generation Cyrus DACs/Streamers,/Amos, etc have already launched.

@geoffadams590 Жыл бұрын

Oh my giddy aunt! You two were absolutely on fire in this Riff. Tears of laughter this end, especially when David says 'Mike, run your fingers along the RCA sockets' - which sounds rather risque when said the way David said it. Maybe its just the way my mind works. And Mike is not just a Socket Botherer, he also has a foot fetish. Or were you playing Footloose? Good to see you back in the shed, by the way. Right, I'm off to play Hemispheres...

@geoffadams590 Жыл бұрын

So Deezer has the 'Ting' at 2:36, my CD has it at 2:34, and my vinyl just has a couple of pops around about that time... 😀

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

Thanks Geoff, I'm not really a natural in front of the camera - unlike Mike, who is hi-fi's answer to Dickie Davies - but I'm beginning to relax and enjoy myself more now. Hence me being ruder to Mike. And you're right by the way, I think he unscrewed that foot deliberately so he could fiddle with it during the show. I do worry about him, sometimes.

@johnh10069 21 күн бұрын

I had a cyrus3 with mission 733i floor standing speakers,fantastic combination

@StylusDrop Жыл бұрын

It has a piddling little 3.5mm headphone socket (on the back!) and no USB input to connect up a laptop/PC/Mac and for that reason I'm out. Love the Rush tee shirt!

@mikeyevs Жыл бұрын

Both fair points! Mike

@aussie8114 Жыл бұрын

All the Cyrus have the headphone socket on the back. It’s ridiculous, I don’t have a hope of finding mine with all the cables plugged into the back.

@StylusDrop Жыл бұрын

@@aussie8114 Yes, it's a stupid design decision.

@Dr_Girthly_Baggington Жыл бұрын

i still have all my amps from when i was 17. Cyrus One + PSX, II, III and V. Now I listen with 2x Cyrus Power both with a PSX-R, running as monoblocks connected with balanced XLR. I very much like the sound they put out.

@itisjustacomment 7 ай бұрын

you had a good job at 17 ? Or rich partners .

@Dr_Girthly_Baggington 7 ай бұрын

@@itisjustacomment haha, niether. I bought the Cyrus One 55 quid, the outer casing was broken and it did'nt turn on after the last owner dropped it. After some testing and soldering it was ok, still working to this day.

@itisjustacomment 7 ай бұрын

@meshachturpin3988 I wish I could find buys like that , I guess it's the risk of buying with damage . Great work

@richardrosetta2728 Жыл бұрын

They continuing to be manufactured in the UK and not China so that makes them exceptional .

@robertleitch2016 Жыл бұрын

Outsourced to SMS Electronics in Nottingham. Incidentally did anyone else notice that the logo for the "Made in Britain" start up screen was exactly the same as the symbol used by the British Conservative party in the 1970s?

@aussie8114 Жыл бұрын

I have a Cyrus 8 QX and the seperate power supply. The QX means the DAC is upgraded from the standard one. I like the performance of this amp, I also like that it has a zone 2 output which is a feature that has been removed from the new ones. I’m using the Bluesound Node as a streaming transport streaming Tidal. I do have a bit of an upgrade bug and tempted to get a new amp but I don’t know what to try. Given I’m happy with what I have I probably shouldn’t bother. I have considered a new series 2 Michi 3 but yet to listen to one.

@nickevans3190 Жыл бұрын

I'm sorry about my previous message i'm sure this amp sounds great and maybe i'm old school but IMHO cramming everything but the Kitchen sink into such a small chassis must compromised overall sound quantity at that price point, i'm like Mike a million separate boxes each with their own function is the best way too go for sound quality IMHO

@aussie8114 Жыл бұрын

My Cyrus 8 doesn’t seem to comprise sound output at all. I’m frequently blown away with what comes out of that box. Mind you it can get hot, I’ve installed 2 fans behind it to cool it off when needed.

@robertgough5804 Жыл бұрын

Why dosnt dave drink on his own pristine cream couch😂

@yippie6862 Жыл бұрын

I was hoping for this review of the Classic. Question, were Mission Cyrus and Mission Speakers ever part of the same company? Thanks.

@razisn Жыл бұрын

Of course.

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

Yes, the company was started by Farad Azima in the mid seventies. He began with the 770 speaker and then a pre-power amplifier combo, then the 778, and then the Mission Cyrus 1 and 2 circa 1983. Cyrus then split off from Mission around 1990, IIRC, with Mission going on to its golden generation of affordable speakers (752, 760, 780). That's when the Cyrus 3 integrated came out, which was the direct ancestor of the Classic AMP.

@martinscase3904 Жыл бұрын

For some reason I have the subtitle of the Hifi Answers review (Alvin Gold?) of the Mission Cyrus 1 engraved in my memory : 'Sweet as a Nut'. I never heard one, but that doesn't quite agree with your characterisation of it as 'Shouty'.

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

Hi Martin - It was a bit bass-light, and especially when you turned it up, it could sound 'well lit'. The Cyrus 2 was more balanced, especially with the PSX - quite neutral, actually. Knowing Alvin as I did, he didn't listen to hard, fast rock music much so perhaps didn't pick up on this, but it could have been down to any number of things, such as his source (likely a Linn LP12) at the time, and/or his speakers. Both Cyruses were certainly sweeter than the (then) favoured Julian Vereker-era Naim amps.

@dagreatstoney.5869 Жыл бұрын

Great stuff lads

@itisjustacomment 7 ай бұрын

Had a full system , 2 power , 2 power supply , pre , cd , Had to for years then my home got broken into and all of it went . Cost me thousands lucky i got insurance im rebuilding but not to degree . Loved that set up easy to upgrade and the first amp i had without the fizz noise . Shame

@Hi-FiRiff 7 ай бұрын

Gutted... what a nightmare!

@pauldoyle8986 Жыл бұрын

1984 was Grace Under Pressure. Power Windows was 1985.

@mikeyevs Жыл бұрын

I realised that as soon as we finished the recording... You can see I wasn't sure. Ironically, I love gup, it's a brilliant album. I will get a gup tattoo as a penance! Mike

@RogerBergqvist Жыл бұрын

Nooo.. Rush - Signals was 1982. A great album and the first cd i bought.

@MrSidMuff Жыл бұрын

Hi both, loving the content and premise...two old stagers 'chewing the fat, sharing the love'. 😉 Might I ask your opinion/advice? I own a pair of Raymond Lumley M-75 valve monoblocs used to drive my Magnepan 3.6/R speakers. I love them; their sonorous midrange augmented by 2 SVS SB1000 subs is magical. I cannot seem to find any information on them (beyond a short Ken Kessler review, as a result of a Google search)...can you possibly shed any light; any knowledge or experience of such?

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

I seem to remember Stereophile reviewing them back in 2000, or thereabouts. What can one say about Magnepan? They are amazing but flawed, and pigs to drive, but capable of magic. I've heard most (but not all) over the years. Ideally they need an amp with power and load-driving ability, plus a fairly bright source and supertweeters. There's a big drop in the midband and treble, and you need to work around this. When I tried the LRS+ I used Townshend Maximum supertweeters, and moved to my Lyra Dorian moving coil cartridge which has a clearly rising treble. This seemed to balance them out and get the best from them. The 3.6/Rs are lovely, but quite unlike almost all other speakers on sale and an acquired taste. I for one have acquired it!

@MrSidMuff Жыл бұрын

@@MrVinylista - many thanks for the response, it's fully appreciated 👍. My (poorly structured) query was actually about the Lumley's - do you have any knowledge or experience of these?

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

@@MrSidMuff Sorry Sid, no I don't.

@medonk12rs Жыл бұрын

There's really a TING! 🙂

@Cyriljayant 10 ай бұрын

Small talk on a big stuff. I love Cyruss. I have a 8XPD -QX . Psx=R and Dynaudio Xcite Is This a Classic AMP . without the DAC??? I am confused and there are lot of amps Updated in many machines.

@soundlysbananacam6182 Жыл бұрын

Grace Under Pressure 1984

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

Thank you. It had been a long day. Inexcusable for us to get our Rush LP release dates muddled!

@mikeyevs Жыл бұрын

I know... Brilliant album too. Unforgivable! Mike

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

@@mikeyevs I think Mike has lost the right to wear his 'Ting' T-shirt!

@mikeyevs Жыл бұрын

@@MrVinylista you are soo jealous!

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

@@mikeyevs Wouldn't be seen dead wearing that rubbish.

@timothyfreeseha4056 Жыл бұрын

Rega ElexR has the same stat- 90 watts into 6ohms. I think because Rega speakers are 6ohm rated? Still- i agree. I wouldnt run down street...er, for anything at this point.

@Gadgetdad007 Жыл бұрын

These two are piling on the pounds. 😂

@menfallinloveandwomenmakeplans Жыл бұрын

What did you say? Been in production for around 30 years and they haven't changed the styling of the casework? Blimey - it still looks good. Like Morgan cars, I suppose. You never have to change the styling if it has an authenticity to it. I think you chaps might learn a sartorial lesson from this. You both look like you have been sleeping in your clothes for thirty years. Plus the prospect that Mike O'Barik, the Socket Botherer will be wearing a tee shirt outdoors, at his time of life, is a bit of a stretch. Try and find a sartorial role model: not Ken Dodd.

@mikeyevs Жыл бұрын

"Ken Dodd died' "Did he? " 'No... Doddy'

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

How about Ken Ishiwata?

@menfallinloveandwomenmakeplans Жыл бұрын

@@MrVinylistaKen Ishiwata: very good. Typical example of your creativity and lateral thing, David. Ken was quite dapper, as I recall from pics of him at shows. Another sartorial model which I might have suggested for you, from a motoring context, is Quentin Wilson. However, your friend, Mike O'Barik the Socket Botherer, is more difficult to help. He might try Jim Davidson as a starter. This needs further work.

@MrVinylista Жыл бұрын

@@menfallinloveandwomenmakeplans So you're not a fan of Mike's new Rush t-shirt? At least it's a change from his usual Pringle sweater...