Cyrus Power vs Linn Power - Decision Time

Finally I get around to writing about the comparison with Cyrus amps.

If you look at my system pictures in the images tab you'll currently see 4 x 8 Powers with 4 x PSX-Rs powering my tri-active Linn Keilidhs and bi-active Linn Centrik (with a pair of SmartPowers driving bi-active Tukans at the rear).

A quick re-cap:

- My system had been static for about 7 years
- I went through a few Squeezebox / DAC combinations before deciding to go for a Linn Akurate DS/0 Dynamik, selling my DAC-X and Linn LP12 to fund the DS
- I was using 6 x Rotel RB850 power amps to drive my active Linn speakers
- The listening room was being thoroughly re-decorated

So during the re-decoration I started collecting power amps to compare once the room was back in action, realising that the Rotels are now the weak point in the system.  My brother has Cyrus kit which has some merits (punchy, fast, excellent imaging, good bass depth) and obviously with Linn in the system I had to give those a try too.

Over the 3 - 4 months of listening room re-decoration I found 4 Cyrus 8 Powers, 3 PSX-Rs (I had one I had been using with the DAC-X to make a total of 4), 2 SmartPowers and the Linn C5100 / AV5125 listed earlier.  FYI, the C5100 is 5 x mono 50W amps in one box and the AV5125 is 5 x mono 125W amps in one box.  The Keilidhs need 6 channels of amplification and the Centrik needs 2 channels so its 2 Linn boxes or 8 Cyrus 8 Power / PSX-R boxes.


Wiring up all the Cyrus amps wasn't the fastest operation - 8 mains power cables (connected into 2 x Clearer Audio Copper Alpha distribution blocks), 10 interconnects and 14 speaker connections took a while, and the spaghetti behind the rack was a real challenge.  The 4 PSX-Rs with their 4 8 Powers on top all lined up on the lower shelf of the Quadraspire QAV rack looked pretty impressive (although many would complain about so many boxes).  Mrs Sunbeamgls is very tolerant!

Comparisons first with memories (3-4 months old remember) of the Rotel power amps.  The Cyrus amps sounded clearer, faster, imaging better and altogether more lively.  Bass wasn't really deeper, but it had more control.  In all the right hi-fi ways, it was a better sound.  But as local Naim enthusiast Richard pointed out, it wasn't really all the way it should be.  I left the system like this for a week - to allow it to settle in and to make sure there weren't any issues waiting for the system to warm up etc.  Still, I wasn't happy with the sound - I just didn't want to sit and listen to the music for very long - I wasn't captivated by the music.

So in come the Linn amps.  Fewer mains cables of course, but just as many of the other connections.  Initial impressions spotted some immediate differences.  I would characterise the overall change in sound as a huge amount more subtlety about the presentation of the music.  Its not something that hits you in the face as being entirely obvious, but its clearly very different to the Cyrus amps.  Bass notes are deeper, more controlled and exist in their own space.  One of the tracks I used suddenly had not just a kick drum, but a kick drum with a bass guitar layered over the top, which is playing a tune - the Cyrus amps just didn't resolve this as 2 instruments, hence not playing the bass line as a tune either.  Cymbals became stand alone instruments with sudden clarity of shimmer vs sparkle and its possible to distinguish how hard they are being struck. There's more - the Cyrus amps initially sound more exciting, but direct comparison with the Linns shows that the leading edges of the instruments are quiet edgy and grainy - they happen faster, but there's a roughness - the Linns again displaying some subtlety in leading edges that allow the music to flow more convincingly.  Its a weird mix of instruments being distinctly separate but the music flowing as an whole - difficult to describe but that's the best way I can put it.

So the Linn's win it for me.  All of this kit is secondhand with the AV5125 being around 8 years old, the C5100 about 5 years old and the 8 Powers and PSX-Rs being between 4 years and 6 months old.  If we consider the new price of the equivalent current models, the Cyrus ensemble comes in at around £6.5k and the Linns at £5k.

I'm almost disappointed!  I kind of like the idea of mixing and matching components, but it seems, in this case, that there could be some synergy happening.   Certainly not disappointed with the music I'm getting - its truly involving.  Since then the AV5125 has replaced the SmartPowers to drive the rear speakers and a current Majik 5100 Dynamik has taken up duties powering the bass drivers in the Keilidhs.  A Linn Akurate 2200 Dynamik is driving the Keilidh tweeters and the C5100 is driving the Centrik speaker.  Another advantage of the Linn amps is that the active crossover cards can be housed inside the amps, removing the need for the Linn Tunebox crossover boxes that are required when running non-Linn amplifiers.  So the crossover boxes have gone and for the front speakers I've gone from 4 Rotels and 2 crossovers down to 3 Linn amps - with Cyrus amps it would have been 10 boxes!  Fewer connections and interconnect cables are probably helping the sound too.

Oh, and one more thing - when watching a movie, because the Cyrus amps are driving only a limited number of drivers and they switch themselves off after 5 mins of inactivity, they were switching themselves on and off rather annoyingly - clicking as they powered up and down to the point of distraction.  Not acceptable!. Of course, it is possible to have the Cyrus amps constantly powered up, but that's not too convenient either.  The Linns are more patient - waiting for 15 minutes before powering down, so they work out just fine, staying active for the full length of a movie.

The Rotels are leaving the building...

Woe Is Me!

I've come over all Shakespearean and its down to the new heart of my system, the Cyrus DAC-X.

It was secondhand and has been performing really well in my system for several weeks now, but we came back from a few days away and it's developed a fault - the left channel is heavily distorted.  Tested cables, connections to the pre-amp, different digital inputs, with and without the PSX-R all with the same result - a distorted sounding DAC.

An email's gone off to the Cyrus service dept to check out what to do next, but it'll be a while before they get back, given the UK's plethora of bank holidays at the moment.

Hopefully its not something too expensive!

Cyrus Streaming On Tour

Since the February 2011 school half-term holidays and my brother's visit with his Cyrus DAC-X and PSX-R, life hasn't been quite the same.  With my own versions of these components now firmly in place in the main system, Cyrus has become a topic of interest.

Recently they announced their streaming range and I'm looking forward to hearing their offerings.  It will be interesting to hear what the Stream-X does for its £1500 in comparison to a Squeezebox Touch being used purely for Ethernet streaming.  It looks like I'll have to book my own session with the local dealer, but for those who are fortunate enough to live near one of the tour date locations, Cyrus are on the road to demo their new kit between now and late May.  Book a place if you can:

http://www.cyrusaudio.com/register-for/cyrus-digital-music-tour-2011

DAC. Magic?

For those of you paying attention, the streaming set up currently looks like this:
QNAP NAS (including SqueezeServer software) - Etnernet over mains - Logitech Squeezebox Touch - QED Performance Digital Coax cable - Cambridge Audio DACMagic - Audioquest Emerald analogue interconnect - Meridian 541 pre-amp and then off into the active amps and Linn Keilidhs.

And very satisfying it is too - as I've said earlier, about 90% up there with the CD player, and definitely better with 24 bit tracks.  But there's always that nagging doubt eh?

Now some sites (e.g. Stereophile, Digital Audio Blog) have been making some seriously big claims for the capability of the Logitech Squeezebox Touch - such as "the best transport I've ever heard (Digital Audio Blog on the Touch with a Teddy PSU)".  This means they've been running the humble Touch with some multi $k DACs and stratospherically expensive amps and speakers.

I am, by nature, somewhat sceptical of such claims and what sometime seems to by hyperbole.  Now I'm not singling out Stereophile nor Digital Audio Blog or questioning their integrity, it just that I like to see lots of evidence and corroboration, or better still, find out for myself.

Another thing that's a worthwhile background to this post is my continuing good natured sibling "rivalry" with my brother when it comes to hifi and the route to getting the most enjoyable sound in the home.  Brother J has gone down a different route to myself, (although we initially shared an enjoyment of Meridian CD players, with J running a 206 for many years.  After a few years with Meridian CD / Cyrus 2 / PSX and Mission 770 Freedoms (the last of the 770 line) he's recently upgraded to a Cyrus 4 box CD player (I can't remember the transport model, but the other three boxes are DAC X and 2 PSX-Rs) plus a reasonably high end Cyrus integrated.  This has substantially improved his whole system and it suits his taste - its fast, has pin-point imaging and real clarity and separation.  But for me, it doesn't go deep enough, the music lacks somewhat in emotion and doesn't "envelope" the listener.  Its all silver too, which just isn't right ;-) Each to his own of course, and it delivers what he wants to hear.  This means he finds my system to be somewhat vague in its imaging (can't argue with that) and a little less analytical than he would enjoy.  Fair enough.  Will do a feature on the "other systems I have known" page sometime soon.

Why is this relevant?  Well, in amongst J's kit list you might have spotted a somewhat fine DAC combination of Cyrus DAC X and PSX-R.  This half term (this is a very late post, apologies!), J came to visit with family and had kindly agreed to bring along said DAC and power supply.  It's good to unplug and re-connect cables every now and then, make sure the connections are clean!  And so began a "quick trial" session - we reckoned an hour would be enough...

For purposes of this session, we used exclusively 16 bit 44.1 kHz FLAC files ripped from my CD collection - so we could make direct comparison with my Meridian 508.20 CD player.
Music used:

Thea Gilmore - Loft Music - Tracks "Ever Fallen In Love" and "The Old Laughing Lady" (A great covers album - with Thea its all about her extraordinary voice - its range and ability to convey emotions, plus the acoustic instruments and backing vocals)
Brendan Perry - Eye of the Hunter - Track "Death Will Be My Bride" (Don't listen if you're feeling a bit down!  Very well recorded and spacious track with some really tricky and complex cymbals to deal with)
Eagle Eye Cherry - Desireless - Track "Shooting Up In Vain" (Another one to cheer you up! Mutilayered instruments that need a good system to allow each instrument to survive in the complexity of the mix)
Chris Rea - The Road to Hell - Track "Looking for a Rainbow" (needs a system that has good drive and pace as the song builds the underlying rythmn throughout)
Eddi Reader - Eddi Reader - Track "Dear John" (lovely voice, needs to convey the emotions)
FAC 15 - On Fierce Angel's Angels Fall 3 CD Set "Stay With Me Till Dawn" (a superb re-work of the Judie Tzuke classic with a bass line that slides into the depths of the unknown!)

To get a reference and to demo the DACMagic to J we started off using the Thea Gilmore album to play the Touch with its internal DAC and then stepped up to the DACMagic.  J's view largely aligned with mine - a massive improvement somewhat out of kilter with this modestly priced most looking little black box.  Comparing to the CD player there are aspects of the music that are different but we couldn't really choose between Touch / DAC and the CD player.  CD being warmer, Touch being a bit more up-front.  Tried Eagle Eye and Chris Rea on this too, with similar indecision.

So the Cyrus DAC X is unpacked and plugged in to the system.  It sits on an Isoplat and takes the place of the DACMagic in support of the Touch for the streaming side of the system.  What follows is somewhat of a revelation.  Usually, when you get to this stage with hifi, the improvements in the system deminish, the more you spend on the system.  One day I'll post in depth on the benefits of going from passive amplification to active amplification with the Linn Keilidhs which was the biggest single improvement I've made in my system.  Until now.  For those of you who've had the benefit of listening to a Linn or Naim system that has been moved from passive to active, you'll know just how fundamental a change this Cyrus shoebox has brought to the system.

Cyrus DAC-X in brushed black

Some examples of what we heard:
- The music appears to be playing slower (but it takes the same length of time to play the track) this would seem to be because the instruments and/or notes aren't slurring into each other, they've got time and room to be notes in their own right
- One of the tracks (can't remember which one) has a riff played on an acoustic guitar.  As the track progresses and more joins the mix, the guitar continues in the background.  But we were both astonished to hear (and we both spotted this at exactly the same moment, without discussion) that part way through the track the guitar changes from acoustic to steel.
- The Brendan Perry track finishes with a very complex and subtle cymbal sequence.  Now, the difference between the sound of each cymbal is much more obvious, but on top of that, you can hear if the stick is striking the top or the edge of the cymbal and when being brushed, if the brushing is being done by a brush or by a stick.
- The soundstage on all tracks is outside the speakers and with the FAC15 track, fills out into the room.

So we were VERY impressed with this and messed about with a few tracks for another hour or so.  Then outcame the Cyrus PSX-R to sit alongside the DAC-X.  You need to keep both the DAC and the PSX-R plugged into the mains then there's an umbilical chord from the PSX-R to the DAC.  I understand that the internal power supply of the DAC is then dedicated to digital duties and the PSX-R takes over the analogue output circuits.

So what now?  Well this is another non-subtle improvement.  Darkness behind and around instruments, bass is deeper and more controlled (check the sliding synth bass line on the FAC15 track) and those Brendan Perry cymbals shimmer out and away from the speakers, seeming to sit in the room.  FAC15 are now enveloping the whole room.  Its lush, detailed and completely captivating.  And so the quick listening session went on for 3.5 hours.  We didn't want to stop trying different tracks.  Later in the evening, the system seemed to have matured again - I know many experience this with their systems and there is much debate about noise on the mains. physcological effects and many other theories. Perhaps this would've happened anyway, but we did suspect that the PSX-R might have warmed through a little?

We, rather indulgently, spent another couple of hours of listening the following day, throwing in some 24bit stuff from Linn and HDTracks, which, of course, was mighty impressive, if, at times, a little dry.  No problems with Ian Shaw's "Barangrill" (on "Drawn To All Things" from Linn Records) nor with Steely Dan's "Hey Nineteen" (on Gaucho from HDTracks).

And then J and his Cyrus kit went away again.  Sad.  But one thing has definitely been proven - the little Squeezebox Touch is certainly capable of supporting some very serious downstream electronics.  Now to eBay...