Great components. Natural detailed soundstage. Class A performance at peanuts price. Decent phono stage pre.

No balance control. The case is a little cheap. Hard to get good interconnectes attached to the RCA jacks. Speaker jacks are too close together.

I had traded a NAD preamp for a Cyrus 2 integrated amplifier. The Cyrus was not operational at the time and had spent many years on my garage shelf. I was recently sold a used Rega Planet CD player at a very low price ($800can) and so thought of getting the Cyrus 2 amp fixed. I replaced the output stage and $350can later the amp is now matched with the Rega Planet (a great CD player). I purchased good used and broken-in copper interconnects (Truth Links for $200can) and a pair of PSB alphas that I purchased new for $189can. I had to get good stands for the speakers and average 12 gauge speaker wire. I am very impressed with the sound of this system. For a total cost of less than some speaker wire, I have sound that is evocative of a much more expensive system. I have a friend with Sonus Faber Grand Piano speakers with a Linar pre and power amp and a tube Shandling CD player. This system is amazing, even astonishing, but with a replacement cost of $20,000 my cheap system, at a fraction of the cost, compares favorably and has nothing to be embarrassed about.

Similar Products Used:

Cyrus 1, Rotel, and far too many crappy big box electronic store branded amps.

Very detailed and direct soundquality.

Some sharp highfrequentie details. A bit overpronnounced with some soundmaterial.

Amp is modified: Heavy supply and great storrage Caps and set in full Class A. Is playing on Final0.3's. Very pleased with these soundreproduction. Handles very good with these hybride-esl's. Never heard a better combination in that price class. Very well to listen to.

Similar Products Used:

Philips cd640, Own modified supply, full Class A settings of End Amp.

size, power and great RIAA part.

volume with balance, it is not a common parts. No line amp part. Painting is no good for early version, it is very ugly when it used a long time. The early version's components is better than the laters.

It is a one of good UK products, sound is good, it is better than my MF A1. After a little modification (update the output transistors and the power circuit), it is a great, when I compare with Quad 405.2, the power feels greater than Quad.

Similar Products Used:

Quad, MF and Naim

sounds great, used ones are extremely cheap in Germany, slim & precise bass, typical englisch style

connectors are very weak, RCA broke one after the other, volume, looses its paint

I bought several Amps, I've never found a better price to value relation, the transistors inside are selected, what do you want more for 300$?
I've used focal speakers, TDL and Mission 741, 781, all together sounded good, esp the TDL was feeling well with the PSX.
I build my own PSX with three-phase current, the growl current is at 10% of the original.

Similar Products Used:

Acoustic Research, Signature

Drive, rythym, power, dynamics, deep and tight bass

too forward, could be more detailed overall

This amp is a giant killer. When it came out it was compared to Krells in magazine reviews. This is mainly because of it high current capability and ability to drive any speaker. If you like rock than this amp is for you. I've recently compared to both Naim and Linn amps. The Cyrus 2/PSX combo was better than the Linn integrated but didn't have the detail of the Naim 90/92 combo. However the Naim's fell apart at volume while the Cyrus 2/PSX did not. The amp is forward however. Pair with equipement carefully. Considering the price that you can get one for used this amp is a steal. There can be problems with the RCA connectors on the back coming of the mother board. Overall there are still very few integrated's that can touch this combo.

Similar Products Used:

You name it!

-

Quality of components, cover finish, price/quality

Perhaps Cyrus II sounds nice, but it's components are TOTAL crap. Input and output terminals are just piece of s**t, because those cheap rca connectors lose their contact almost every day. Loudspeaker terminals are too near each others, short circuits are more than common. That stupid volume potentiometer is a fake. Cover finish sucks, it blows a way. I hate my Cyrus!

Similar Products Used:

Onyx, Rega, Creek, Rotel.

small in size

poor component, inputs, volume controls quality; Without Remote, speaker poles too close; Lacks power, ry expensive.

I agree many of the weakness mentioned in earlier reviews.

It is a neutral amp, as described in many UK magazine reviews. But they did not mention that the unit lacks power , esp. driving current.

It is a cheap amp in quality but expensive when i bought it.

the PSX design wastes the caps and transformer on the amp unit and that actually make the amp so expensive but the sound so cheap.

Having said that (taken from Greenspan), the amp sounds easy and suits casual listeners. But if i were one of them,
i would save the money and buy a Japanese models with all the features and remote.

Similar Products Used:

none

Sounds almost perfect, good price: good value for money (I'm Dutch)

amount of connections at the back-side, head-phone jacket is at the wrong side of the ampifier, volume control is controlling the left side a little in the front.

I have the Cyrus II with Power Supply now for almost 15 years. And each time I listen to the music it produces, I feel good. Altough there a few bad points on it: amount of connections at the back-side, head-phone jacket is at the wrong side of the ampifier, volume control is controlling the left side a little in the front.
At its best the Cyrus does with solo-artists, or chamber-orchestra's, however the amp doesn't have to shame herself for a rockband.
I have a pair of modified Rogers Studio Ia connected to it, this is a very good combination.
By the way: the Cyrus with PSX is for sale (DFl 700).
I'm thinking of a NAD or Rotel Pre/power combination.

Similar Products Used:

Sansui AU888, Marantz PM 80 mk II

I use to own a Cyrus II with PSX. When I owned it I thought that it was a great unit. It was musical and smooth. However, it does not have deep bass nor is it truly detailed, it is smooth. It does include switchable MM/MC inputs, and it is neat looking. Generally a good way to get into a decent rig to start listening to music. Used prices are good. It is also forward in sound, guitars will leap onto your lap, and vocalists will stand out in the middle of the room. (the cyrus i, its little sibling is sweeter sounding, though less powerful....go for the sweeter sound). Therefore don't pair it up with a forward balanced speaker, you won't enjoy it in the long run. Recommended sources....turntables, and soft sounding cd players.
If a YBA Integre is an 8.5 to 9 out of ten, then the Cyrus II is a 5 to 6 out of ten. (your typical poorly designed and constructed 90's receiver, would be a 1 to 3 out of ten).

I sold my 10 year old Cyrus 2 with accompanying PSX power supply to my cousin last year. He has never been happier. This thing is beautiful to look at, simple in design and built like a tank. I've noticed that it's difficult to find one used, but when one comes up for sale, it sells right away and surprisingly for a very reasonable price. You have to spend about five times the price of a used Cyrus 2/PSX combo, to get a new amp that will be better is sound and power. It's peak amperage is 60 amps and will drive any speaker and barely get warm. But all this wouldn't mean a thing if it didn't sound good. And this is where it shines.Very sweet highs, powerful bass and generally rich sound. The only amp I found better sounding is its updated version, the Cyrus III/PSX-R, which I bought at four times the price of what I got for the Cyrus 2/PSX.