My Cyrus/Usher set up

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

Been kicking around on here for a while but my system has been through massive changes in the past year.

I was using a Yamaha CDS2000 and AS2000 combo driving a pair of Castle Howards. Them I got a chance to buy a pair of Usher CP6381 speakers from a forum member (cheers sanddancingwotsit) and haven't looked back.

The big changes came when I got a chance to compare the Cyrus CD8 against my Yammy. Now the Yammy is very highly rated and I loved the smooth sound but I was stunned at how much more detailed the Cyrus unit was.

I was so pressed I decided to investigate going down the all-Cyrus route. Started with quite a modest three box set up of CD, Pre and power and then got carried away. There's now eight of those dinky little boxes and the whole thing has totally reignited my love of music (I bought over 50 CDs last month).

So . . .
CDXTSE2 Transport
DAC XP DAC and Pre
2x PSX-R Power supplies
4x Mono-X Power amps
Usher CP6381

Guess you want pictures?

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

7180

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[jandl100]

Aha - a Cyrus 8 CDP. I had a 8X for a while, and to my surprise I liked it very much.

There's a mini-review on my system blog somewhere ....

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

If you liked the 8x then the CDXTSE2/DAC combo would blow you away.

[Alex_UK]

I do dread to think how much money new joiners have ended up spending after they come here - I damn near bankrupted myself! :lol: Still, you can't take it with you!

Looks great Harry, and I especially like to see this - "the whole thing has totally reignited my love of music"

:thumbsup:

[jandl100]

Aha - a Cyrus 8 CDP. I had a 8X for a while, and to my surprise I liked it very much.

There's a mini-review on my system blog somewhere ....

Aha - here it is ....


I did a swap deal for my old Myryad MCD600 CDP, a very nice machine, imho ... and got this Cyrus 8X cdp in exchange.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/DSCF7125.jpg

Ho-hum ... Cyrus. :rolleyes: Not a lot of audiophile cred there :nono: - it should be an easy sell on fleaBay though, and I'll recoup the cost of the Myryad, so I guess I'll move it on pretty quick. ;)
Some good reviews on t'internet, though. But you could probably find a good review for rancid dog poo used as an LP cleaning fluid somewhere on the internet .... :eyebrows: I mean, Cyrus, right?

Plumbed it in to my humble system ... hmm, a bit bright & grainy, and tonally lightweight. But the reviews say it should be left on for a couple of days, so OK I'll humour them and give it a go.
Of course, no way could I wait 48 hours - of my many fine personal characteristics, patience is not high on the list. So after 9 or 10 hours of playing silently on repeat I tried it again. Well, the bright graininess had largely disappeared, and a touch of welcome natural warmth was starting to intrude into the mids. And, by gum, the soundstage is a bit awesome. :scratch:

OK - left it playing on repeat overnight - by late morning when I got around to trying it again my jaw sank heavily to the floor. This is one bloody fine player! Whodathawtit? Not me, for sure. :nono:

The grainy texture is gone. The mids are now gorgeously rich and natural - "beautiful" would be the 1WR (One Word Review), I think. Bass is solid and deep, but it doesn't "lead the sound" if you know what I mean. Still a bit lightweight in tonality - especially if compared to some bass heavy-hitters like Jake / lordmortlock's old Marantz SA KI Pearl cdp that has visited Jerry Mansions recently. But really quite fine nonetheless.

I've been playing this now for a few days and am continuing to enjoy it muchly. To be perfectly honest, I've not heard a 3D focussed soundstage as good as this before. Very nice indeedy.
I'm now on the lookout for a PSX-R outboard PSU to power it with. :)

Cyrus? :thumbsup: ... I wonder what their pre-amps sound like ...?

[jason]

Thats a great looking system Harry, those speakers are very nice. I too used to have a
cyrus 7 with psu nice sounding amps.

Jason

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

Jason, doesn't just look good. It sounds superb.

Jerry, I know what you mean about the Cyrus 'credit' thing. I thought there was too much hype with the brand but I trust my ears.

As for what the Pre Amps are like, my 8 Pre was excellent but my DAC XP is on another level. Should be good for the money though.

[Floyddroid]

very nice H

[1000RPM]

Hold the phone! where did that rack come from? I can see my half-width Naim Chrome Bumper gear looking very sweet on such real-wood finery :)

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

Hold the phone! where did that rack come from? I can see my half-width Naim Chrome Bumper gear looking very sweet on such real-wood finery :)

Hand made from solid oak. Finest grade you can get. Designed and made by a young craftsman with an eye for proportion, form and function. Best thing of all is the difference it made to my system. I was very sceptical (as I always am) but within a few seconds I noticed a better, more rhythmic bass. After protracted listening the sound stage was just 'better'.

I'd better come clean. The young man in question is my son Ben. He's just about to launch his range of solid oak hifi products. He's just joined the forum I'm sure he will be along in a moment to add some info.

All pieces are one offs so you can have pretty much any configuration you want. And it means you'll be very unlikely to ever see another one the same. Beware of the weight. Mine weighs over twelve stones . . . empty. Took three of us to lift it into place.

Apologies for being a proud dad but he's a bit good.

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

73007301

A couple more pics.

Top one is just a snap I took on my phone. Second pic is from the under construction web site.

[1000RPM]

Hats off to Ben - stunning!

[daytona600]

real quality designs Good luck