I have had the Cyrus 2 and PSX for three years now. It goes deep in the bas, and is very revealing of fine detail. Couldn´t live without it!

I, too, have the Cyrus II w/PSX power supply. I wouldn't for a second say that this unit is not detailed, either. When you listen to a string quartet, the rosin against the strings of each instrument is very apparent. This is not your typical warm, lush, British amp. This amp boogies, and with the added external power supply, it gets more confident, with deeper bass, and more air, a more relaxed presentation. However, it still has drawbacks, mainly, a not supremely deep soundstage. Still, this amp can be had relatively inexpensively and is a great buy at used prices. My combination of amp and external power supply cost me $500 used. The new Cyrus III w/power supply goes for $2000!
Still, I'm considering a more tube-like amp, the Audio Refinement. I haven't made a side-by-side comparison so I don't how much, if any, an improvement it will be. A may just be a more compatible sounding amp with my small Magnepans.

Ihor you are dead wrong to say this amp does not have deep bass and is not detailed. This amp is extremely detailed and has fine bass reproduction as stated in many magazine reviews. I have listened to many integrated amps and this one is up with the best. I like the Naim Nait 2 slightly better but only in some respects. The Cyrus 2 can be found fairly cheap used and can be an excellent deal!

Well constructed and excellent value for money

Headphone socket is at the rear of the unit.

For quality sound reproduction, without the gizmos and gadgets, then look for a second user Cyrus I or II. There are quite a few for sale as second user and extremely good value for money which just goes to prove you don't have to spend a fortune to bring real quality sound into your home. I have mine running with a Mission DAD7000 CD Player and Mission 737 Renaissance Speakers and the sound quality is excellent in all respect, there is plenty of mid range, a crisp and visible high end coupled with a detailed and full bass. Best left switched on for 6 hours before use for best performance, don't ask me why but Cyrus recommend this and there is undoubtedly tonal improvement in doing so. I'll never understand why Cyrus put the headphone socket at the rear of the unit, but I can live with that ! Undoubtedly the best £60 I ever spent !

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I would like to review the item. But I need help on attaching PSX to the Cyrus 2 amp. Could someone please let me know the procedures to follow.

Do I need to set some switches or open the case? Where to get a copy of the orginal manuals.

My email address martinccheng@NoSpamyahoo.com. Please remove NoSamp before emailing. Thanks for your help.

I was very pleased with how my Marantz sounded. Major drawback however is its lack of power. Although this unit is certainly better designed than most Japanese receivers, with more real power on tap, sometimes it was running out of juice. Since I like some music very loud, I felt I would be better off with something more powerfull.
At the dealer's I was adviced, with my budget, to go for second-hand. The offerings they made were Musical Fidelity X-Pre/Audiolabor Flink (German make tiny class-A monobloc) vs. Cyrus II w/PSX, the MF/Flink trio being roughly $250 more expensive. I auditioned side by side with Mission 780 and KEF Cresta 1, the digital source being a Marantz CD6000.

Since initially I liked the of monobloc concept of the Audiolabors I auditioned them first. I fell in love instantly with their rich, sumptuous sound. They effortlessly set out the complete soundstage of the excellent Portishead Live in NYC 1997 set, bringing home the fact that the hiss I thought I heard on this recording was in fact ambient information. Soundstaging was superb, although the musicians were not entirely fixed in place. At the pricepoint however, one could hardly consider this of any importance, the imaging being better than anything I have heard this side of three grants. Bass was very deep with only a minor dip in upper bass, midrange smooth, treble sweet, dynamics were a tad slow but it sounded highly musical. The same went when playing David Baerwald’s Triage set.
When asked to reproduce Kruder’s Peace Orchestra, the combo was let down by lacking timing and dynamics. Basement Jaxx’s Remedy was overly rich, almost syrupy, the bass thundered but too late. Prodigy’s Fat of the Land was a disaster, the nasty lower bass grooves faltered over each other and became too predominantly present.
When asked, the dealer changed the interconnect for something more forward (and costing $350 less). Curiously, timing improved and details were let through better, but the ambience was partially gone. By the time I went to play some classical (Beethoven’s violin sonatas op. 30 by Ashkenazy and Perlman, Decca) my dream had fallen apart: transparency was less than perfect and the richness of the sound was increasingly over-the-top to me. Clearly the combo wasn’t up to my musical preferences: in came the Cyrus.

At first I was weary of direct comparison between solid state vs. tube pre/class-A power. I needed not: it was on spot from the very beginning of it warming up. Sound was more natural and detailed, more transparent and with much, much more drive. Clearly this one is lightening-fast for any Prodigy - or worse - you care to throw at it. It sounded maybe a tiny little bit grainy but kept you informed as to what was happening in the music. I couldn’t possibly sit still at the rhythm of the Remedy set, with loads of drive and thumping bass (even with the tiny 780s!). I was astounded by the power of the bass, with deep-going, big speakers they even have the power to terrorise your house’s fundaments with slamming vibes around the 20-30Hz mark, without ever exaggerating or getting boomy. What’s more, they simply never run out of power, even with the volume knob driven into the wee hours. Built upon this strong fundamental is sweet treble and a mid-range that is slightly forward. Although in the shop the depth could be better, horizontally the musicians were nicely laid out and fixed solidly in position.
Even with not so well recorded symphonic orchestra explosions (Rachmaninovs first Piano Concerto Vasary/Ahronovich/LSO, Deutsche Grammophone) the instruments are clearly distinguishable, even then subtle details never falling out of the picture.

The best feature of this amp is its transparency. You get the impression the music comes straight from the CD without an amplifier in the signal path. Hassle-free, spontaneous and musical reproduction is what this nice piece of equipment is all about. It’s built like a tank although the RCA-connectors are dustcatchers, easily contaminated and wobbly. Balance control is tricky, being wrapped around the volume control. Otherwise the controls are excellent: built to last, just like the casework: thick cast aluminium. However, my unit was quickly back to the shop because of a cracking noise and falling out of the left channel with other sources than CD. Some inside cleaning tackled that and worked a treat for treble, midrange and soundstaging, the latter being deeper by a foot or 30. The overall forwardness has lost its edge, bass is still better defined and overall sound warmer. Cyrus 2 owners: have it cleaned! You won’t believe your ears!

Cyrus 2 is here to stay. It happily forms the heart of my system and will stay there the coming years. You’ve got to bring a helluvalotta bucks to upgrade this jewel pair.
I can highly recommend it. Enjoy the music!

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Hardly to be considered similar: Marantz SR-590 A/V-receiver

Drive,Power,Great Bottom end

Non at the price

This is a stuning little unit i payed 60pounds for my one and sounds great with fast punchy bass and a crisp treble i'm looking for a psx so if you know of one for sale then email me please, it drives my mourdunt short 20ipearls with no problem a very up front sound that is best for rock and jazz,may be a little trying sound for some but i love it

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fast, powerful bass, punchy, good overall sound, unbeatable at that price.

build quality, slight lack of detail

I loved my Cyrus 1. When it died I tried loads of other amps, but the only one in my price range that was any better than the Cyrus 1 was.... the Cyrus 2. When my Cyrus 2 died, I bought another Cyrus 2. If I buy another amp. it may well be a Cyrus 3.

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It's still running after 11 years

connectors

I have had my Cyrus 2/psx for about 11 years.
I have changed my speakers several times over the years and gone through about 3 different CD players - but in all that time I have never felt the need to change my good old cyrus.
Yes - it can be a bit bright sometimes but that's my only real complaint.
I've noticed it responds really well to a decent mains cable - make yourself one out of QED silver anniversary speaker cable. Then take the lid off and spray some Deoxit into the volume pot and every connector - it'll freak you out - the extra clarity and bass is worth the effort.