Sometimes its a gamble for both manufacturers when they team up for the first time. Add in to that mix a notoriously "difficult" room at Bristol and the risk increases. For as long as I can remember the large room just off the main bar has been the Bristol home of a different manufacturer pairing. One long wall is all glass and the opposite side of the room has a large open area that is a few steps higher than the listening area, making it a bit of a challenge.
This year Cyrus and Kerr had arranged curtains along both of those challenging elements - with the higher floor dedicated to static displays of the whole range of both manufacturers' products - very nicely presented.
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| Cyrus 80 Power |
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| Cyrus 80 Pre |
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| Cyrus 80 Amp |
For the demo Kerr fielded their one-from-the-top large standmount, the K200. Cyrus brought along the 80 Amp for its UK debut - part of their first range of full width components - this unit being a streamer, DAC, pre-amp and power amp combined in one box. There is also an 80 pre and 80 power with more products in the pipeline. So a 4300 GBP all in one driving a 24,000 GBP pair of speakers - was that wise?
Well, yes. This is one seriously impressive piece of kit from Cyrus, and with the Kerr K200 they've finally found a speaker partner that shows off their capability - something their recent forays with
Audio Physic haven't achieved. I enjoyed all the tracks played in this room and the system filled this room very well indeed. There was a touch of bass boom if you were in the wrong row of seats, but moving a row or 2 allowed this to be avoided. Dynamics, detail, believability were all present and correct. There was never any doubt about the 80 Amp's ability to drive and deliver to those Kerrs.So the challenges with this room might really have nothing to do with the room at all...
