Recent Cyrus amps

Are they any good?

I ask because I'm currently listening to an old Cyrus One knock seven shades out of my Naim Nait 5i.

Bit surprising that and not altogether welcome

Believe they're up to a Cyrus 8 these days but I definitely dont subscribe to the newer has to be better school of thought...especially when it comes to hifi. Any experiences??

Spike

 

I had a Cyrus 3 (not 3i) and I felt I preferred it to the newer amps in terms of over all tonality and character, but the newer amps definitely have more to offer if you happen to like their tonality as well.

 

Cheers for the reply. Curious as to how the older amps differ in tonality compared to the later versions?

I've found with some other brands that the latest offerings tend to be reaching for maximum hifi & sometimes the music tends to get a little lost. Listening to the Iron and Wine album thru the Cyrus One at the moment and it sounds better than I've ever heard it thru the Nait. Naim are fond of saying that the Nait 5i is the best Nait to ever carry the logo..

I'm thinking maybe not.


Spike

 

if u fancy an upgrade, try a cyrus 2 + psx, often knocking about on ebay.

 

Interesting comments.
I had a Cyrus 2/PSX from new and thought that a Nait 2 walked all over it when dem'd against it.

More recently, the 2 was replaced and during dems I tried the Cyrus 7 and Nait 5. I thought the Cyrus 7 was a good deal better, and that the Nait 5 creamed the Cyrus 7 completely.
Still, just my opinion.

 

i'll start with this caveat - i've not personally heard a cyrus 2, 5, 6, 7 or 8.
1 and 3 - yes.
my suggestion of 2 + psx was given with:
if you're patient, you wont have to spend a lot of money to get a good condition pair.
the 2+psx is alleged to be "better" than a 3; and i like the 3.

 

Or get a 3 and PSX. As I understand it the 3i is where the sound changed a bit to be more clinical.

 

3 + psx-r is more costly - the psx-r is £400, still in production, and hold their value on the 2nd hand market, the 3 i think commands around £200.
£200 should get a mint 2+psx combo.

 

as with all hifi brands some items appear to stand the test of time better than others. in cyrus' case it was the one(v8). hifi doesn't necessarily age in a way other consumables like computers tend to so it's possible to find outstanding items from a bygone era that appear to offer more than they should. secondly you can not underestimate the importance of the system whereby your c1 just happens to work far better than it should! if it works be happy and focus on the real weakspots in the system.