[Cyrus 7] 사이러스 7 해외 수상 내역.

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Cyrus 7  © Hi Fi Choice Best Buys December 1999

Cyrus recently regained its independence from the NXT operation, and this has helped breathe life into a brand that at times had looked tired. The 7 marks a subtle change in emphasis towards optimising sound quality. No component from previous models has been included unless it could make its case musically, but while the shoebox packaging has been retained, ABS replaces magnesium for the base. 

Cyrus has managed to squeeze two sets of loudspeaker connectors alongside the six inputs, the preamp outputs, the PSX outboard power supply socket (optional) and the headphone socket on the dinky back panel. Remote control is included. 

The 7 turned out to be a peach with the merest whiff of lemon. There was a smattering of mildly dismissive comments from a couple of panellists during one presentation, but the general view was consistently positive. 'The best so far,' as one put it. 'There are real dynamics and energy here (and) image scale is big yet the bass is well controlled.' Another commented that it encouraged listening and provided real insights into the music. 

The hands-on listening confirmed this is an assured amplifier, with a fine sense of poise, real clarity and impressively strong control, marking a significant upwards turn for Cyrus. it's lucid, detailed and well controlled across the band, and not above getting its hands dirty and kicking ass when the occasion demands. But its stand-out qualities are its refinement, soundstage precision and the usual superb packaging.

Cyrus 7  © hi>fi+ issue 5 February / March 2000

. . . Cyrus assured me that the unit supplied to me was fully run-in, so I took it home, plugged it into my system, and let it play to itself for a week just to be sure. I used my trusty Trichord Genesis CD and a Nordost Solar Wind interconnect, and I connected my Rogers LS3/5a's with their usual van den Hul CS122. I also plugged in my Quad FM4 Tuner using a Chord Company Chameleon interconnect.

Cyrus have added a few interesting touches to the 7. It is a fairly common niggle that components within a system can have varying output levels. My Quad FM4 for example, is a lot quieter than my CD player. Therefore I have to remember to adjust the volume control of the amplifier when switching sources to compensate for this small, but annoying 'miss-match'. Not too much of a problem switching to the tuner; more of one when you switch back to the CD player. The Cyrus 7 has a neat function entitled Programmable Input Sensitivity, which enables the sensitivity of all the inputs to be adjusted by ±2dB relative to the CD input. There is also a fade-out/fade-in when using the mute control, slowly reducing or increasing the volume to the required level.

Having cursed previous generations of Cyrus equipment for the consummate skill with which their feet refused to stay stuck in place, this new amp has not only (so far) kept its feet securely adhered to its bottom, but better still, the back pair are adjustable, enabling some degree of levelling! This is important if they expect you to stack up a whole system of identical boxes, side by side.

To review any Cyrus product in isolation is only doing half a job. It should be remembered that it is designed as part of a Cyrus System. I have therefore split the review into two parts - the Cyrus 7 alone, and also with the PSX-R Power Supply. Listening was within the context of my own system components at home. (I hear rumours that this review is only examining the most basic elements in the system. The full Monty comes later.)

I began with one of my favourite Annie Lennox albums - Medusa (RCA 74321331632), and the song 'Thin Line Between Love and Hate'. This is a superbly crafted rendition of an all-time classic - a song that accurately portrays the timeless inevitability of sweet revenge. The craft of Steve Lipson?s production is such that the menace builds and builds to a truly splendid climax. The Cyrus handled everything fairly well, giving an honest, workman-like performance. The crucial underlying bass line seemed perhaps a tad polite, though it didn't lack tonal quality or texture. Separation and soundstage were above average, and the Cyrus 7 was certainly out-performing its predecessor in these areas.

I worked my way through my CD collection, choosing several awkward pieces, in varying styles to really test the amplifier to the full. On simple, melodic classical pieces such as the Ravel String Quartet in F major (Emerson String Quartet DG445 509-2), I found the counter-melodies of the first and second violins and depth of feeling provided by the cello almost totally convincing - almost. The sharp, spiky and definitely boozy 'El Salon Mexico' from Copland (Fanfare, Decca 448 2612, Detroit Symphony Orchestra/Antal Dorati), was delivered with suitable atmosphere, and I found myself rather enjoying the impressive dynamics and speed of the amplifier. The overall musicality was more than proved on Vaughan Williams 'Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis (Academy of St. Martins in the Fields/Marriner, Philips 442 427-2), with swirling strings and haunting English lyricism. 

In short, the Cyrus 7 is a significantly superior sonic tool to the Cyrus 3i. The design team has succeeded in bringing a novel and original model bang up to date, and should be very pleased with their handiwork. The overall build and sound quality is certainly well worth the £700.00 outlay, though I couldn't help feeling at times that the headroom was a bit restrained. There was an element of "niceness" about the sound which wasn't always appropriate. It felt as though there was a very fine net curtain across the sonic window, and the effect of this was to rob the music of immediacy and impact, softening the emotional content. As a result the amp didn't totally grab me and make me want to keep on listening. Plenty of definition and detail, and if transparency is your thing then look no further. But it comes at the expense of a lightish balance, and musical involvement and authority can suffer slightly as a result. You pays your money you takes your choice.

In use, a few operational niggles also emerged. I don't much care for the rear panel. To be blunt, it's full! In an area half the size of a conventional 17" wide amp, the 7 manages to have no less than two complete sets of loudspeaker outlets, ten pairs of RCA phono sockets, a PSX-R connection socket, a headphone socket, a power inlet, a mains fuse holder, and a power on/off switch. If it was necessary to actually connect all this lot I could imagine it getting very cramped back there, especially if your choice of interconnects tends towards the chunky!

And why go to the trouble of printing the identities of the phono inputs upside down, so as to enable easy identification from above, and then cover the whole lot with the rear end of the casing. This is a demonstrator?s nightmare! OK, this may not be a problem to most owners, as they would only have to plug things in once or twice, so perhaps I'm being "picky". It's also the price you pay for the cute as a button size and shape of the amp, but it's definitely approaching saturation point. Why have they supplied two sets of loudspeaker outlets (BFA Sockets)? Perhaps a single pair on each side might have alleviated the congestion a bit! As it stands, the 7 is definitely more suited to the straight line music lover with two or three sources, rather than the home entertainment complete-ist who is going to connect up everything including the Nintendo.

Then I added the PSX-R Power Supply

Ignore my sonic quibbles! The net curtain I mentioned was so much drawn back, as ripped away! The acronym PSX-R should be replaced by Turbo-Charge! Absolutely everything got a lot better, - and it wasn't bad before. The whole sound thing received an almighty kick up the arse. The soundstage, separation, musicality and tonal atmosphere were enormously extended. And so was the sense of musical purpose.

Returning to Annie Lennox, the bass line lost all its politeness and now growled threateningly, giving a wonderful air of menace to the song. It got so threatening, that at one point, I seriously worried about the possibility that my poor old LS3/5a's wouldn't be able to cope. They did - just! That depth of feeling provided by the cello in the Ravel string quartet was now very convincing. It shimmered and snarled with every nuance of the performance being allowed through the system. The Copland became far more real with the additional depth provided by this curious little box of tricks. As for the Vaughan Williams, the music swept around as if blown on the wind. Lovely!

This in a nutshell sums up the raison d'être of the Cyrus philosophy. You start with something good, then improve as and when you want, or as far as your budget will allow. £700.00 buys you a damn fine amplifier. It's small, superbly designed and built, and more than holds its head up with the competition. Add a PSX-R at a further £350.00, and you have just over a grand?s worth of money very well spent. Even with the external supply it still sits in the open fast and detailed category, (as opposed to the 'warm and cuddly', or 'big and beefy'). The sonic building is starting to take shape, and the options are there for easy upgrading of either amplification or source components.

And it's quite an upgrade path! It is possible to gang the 7 with a power amp, both with PSX-R's (obviously)! Add to this a dAD3/Q24 CD Player (with PSX-R), hook the lot up to a suitable pair of loudspeakers and you may not have quite enough power to conquer Babylon, but you'll certainly subdue your neighbours and give the Greeks advance notice of your intentions. Now, if you go for a Cyrus aca7 pre-amp and a pair of the stonkingly powerful 15OW per channel apa7 power amps, all I can say is: 'Babylon beware!"

Thank You

Cyrus 7  © HI FI News & Record Review June 2000

New Amplifier from Cyrus Electronics aims to rise above the crowd with power, good sound and facilities. 

In October 1998, Cyrus separated from the Mission Group and became an independent company. The Cyrus 7 amplifier is the first product to benefit from development under the new regime, and is intended to be the company's core product, around which the rest of the range will develop. It retails at £700, a point where customers expect a high quality, well-designed and finished product. The 7 does not disappoint. 

The shape is the customary Cyrus 'long and narrow' casing, 215x75x365mm (whd), and weight is 4.6kg. The diecast casework has the 'Batman-esque' looks, common to the entire product range, which is hand-finished and then painted in black. The unusual looks, combined with the red or green LED displays (the colour changes according to the function in use), make for an attractive but relatively discreet-looking piece of equipment. 

Across the lower part of the fascia are seven buttons to select the required input. These comprise five line-level inputs, a tape loop and a tape playback facility. There is no on-board phono stage; however, Cyrus has come to the rescue of vinyl users with the aEQ7 phono pre-amp [HFN/RR March/April '99] which plugs into any spare line-input. At the top left are buttons for Standby, Mute a n d Headphones. To the far right is a large rotary volume control surrounded by a ring of LEDs. At volume zero the first LED displays red, with remaining lights green as the level increases. Using the comprehensive remote control, the volume knob can change function to a balance control. Again, the colour of the LEDs alters as the sound is panned from one side to the other. There is also a very useful option (accessed using the input selector buttons in conjunction with the volume control) whereby the relative volumes of each input can be equalised to that of the CD input. This eliminates that annoying change in level which can often occur when switching between sources. 

At the rear are neat rows of gold-plated phono plugs for the inputs, as well as pre-amplifier output sockets. MC-BUS system sockets are included to enable several Cyrus products to be interlinked by phono leads, allowing fully integrated system control from one remote control handset. At each side there are two sets of speaker terminals. These are of the CE-approved style, and require either unterminated leads to be inserted, or else minor surgery to allow regular 4mm banana plugs to be used [or just re-build every speaker cable with the recommended BFA plugs! - Tech Ed]. Below all of these are the mains on/off switch, fuse bolder, IEC mains socket, ¼" headphones jack, and a socket labelled PSX-R. This is for the optional outboard power supply unit and will provide the analogue and signal circuits with a cleaner and more stable DC feed, whilst all other functions are powered from the regular supply, with its large toroidal transformer lurking within the casing. 

After unpacking and reading the handbook, the amp was plugged into, alternately, AR Status 520 bookshelf speakers, and Kelly KT3 floorstanders. Sources included the Cyrus dAD 1.5 CD player, as well as a TEAC VRDS l0SE. Analogue sources included Nakamichi DR10 and Yamaha TX 340 tuner. Interconnects came from van den Hul, True Colours Industries, and DNM. Loudspeaker cable was DNM Reson and Ecosse Reference Monocrystal M52 3. 

SOUND QUALITY

The sound produced was big. It goes deep without rumbling, and there was an absence of grain or harshness right through to the upper limit. Imaging was very focused, and it became very easy to lose oneself in, for instance, The Orb's floating Pomme Fritz album [Island 524013-2]. Music with a more regular rhythm was made enjoyable by a fast and punchy drum sound, allied to a rocking bass line. Elvis Presley's 'Marie's the Name' [All Time Greatest Hits, RCA PK9O100] played through the DR10 showed this to perfection. 

Overall presentation appeared to be somewhat forward when first heard; this sensation was later recognised as being related to the excellent separation between sounds. The only negative point I found in general usage was that applause on live recordings had a slightly clicky sound. 

The claimed 60 watts/channel caused me to wonder about some manufacturers' power claims: I found that the 11 o'clock position drove the efficient Kelly speakers to very neighbour-annoying volumes in a well furnished 18ft x 16ft room. 

In practical terms, this amplifier was found to be a well thought out, well built product that offered flexibility, and enough power to satisfy most needs. 

It sounded good, looked good and offers good value for money.