Cyrus 82 DAC/QXR integrated amplifier

You can usually tell what a product is from its name, an LP12 plays LPs or ‘vinyls’ (spit), a CD17 played CDs and a NAP 300 is a (Naim) amplifier. Cyrus takes a different approach and puts ‘DAC’ in as a suffix to its range of integrated amps. I guess the company’s amps have never hinted at function; the Cyrus 2 could have been anything! The new suffix, QXR, doesn’t tell you much, but this turns out to be a DAC upgrade board that can be added to a whole raft of Cyrus products, most of which are pre- or integrated amplifiers up to ten years old. 

QXR is a DAC module, based on an unnamed ESS Sabre chip that’s bang up to the moment in terms of figures with the ability to process PCM up to 32-bit/768kHz and native DSD up to DSD512 via an asynchronous USB input. The 82 DAC in standard form is limited to 24/192 with no mention of DSD; an upgrade-worthy state of affairs for the spec enthusiast. The coax and optical inputs are a bit more limited but benefit from reclocking circuitry that’s designed to reduce noise on the incoming signal. It’s a £600 upgrade option for compatible products and adds the same premium to the 82 DAC amplifier.

This back panel is festooned with socketry; Cyrus couldn’t squeeze in another Toslink input even if it wanted to. There are 11 inputs in total, six of which are analogue and five digital. There are also fixed and variable outputs, a PSX-R upgrade port, and a bus connector for use with other Cyrus components. Oh and a headphone output. The speaker cable terminals are those irritating BFA types that don’t match banana plugs or spades, so I had to use adapters. Power output is given as a rather specific 88 Watts into six Ohms and despite its compact nature this is a Class A/B amplifier with a linear power supply. It seems expensive for something so compact but does provide nearly everything the contemporary music lover requires, the only omission being any form of Bluetooth or Airplay. Look to Cyrus’ One series to get that.

Inputs can be labelled using a wide selection of preset names including CD, DAB, USB, and Tape 3-Head, but the only one for a streamer is Stream X. There is the option of AV Direct for incorporating the amp into a multichannel system and you can choose ‘no source’ which means that a given input will not appear when scrolling through the options. You can also vary input sensitivity so that all the inputs come through at a similar volume level. Making these settings is pretty straightforward; you do need the manual to get started but thereafter it’s pretty intuitive, which is more than can be said for other similarly flexible systems. Once set up, the amp/DAC largely can be controlled with the remote handset; this has movement sensing backlighting for those late night sessions, but this sample proved hypervigilant, lighting up at the slightest shift on the sofa, so not quite as relaxing as it might be.

Listening commenced with a pair of Q-Acoustics new Concept 300 loudspeakers on the end of Townshend Fractal speaker cables, using a USB input from a Stack Audio Link streamer. This speaker proved a little bright in the 82 DAC/QXR’s hands, but also appealingly alive and vibrant with Joni Mitchell’s Miles of Aisles live recording [Asylum]. This is a high res mastering of what is clearly a good analogue original and contains lots of atmosphere in the fine details, and it proved engaging and enjoyable. As did another live album from a seventies concert, Nucleus with Leon Thomas [Live 1970, Gearbox] at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Here the immediacy worked really well but the slightly exposed nature of the amp/speaker pairing was evident. But it wasn’t so much so that listening was discouraged; I enjoyed a selection of tracks each of which had plenty of distinct character, suggesting that the Cyrus is highly transparent via the QXR input.

A switch of speaker to Dynaudio’s Evoke turned out to be a good move. This speaker’s relatively smooth and calm yet revealing demeanour proved a perfect match for the 82 DAC/QXR. It allowed the Cyrus to show off its image scaling capabilities with a strong sense of physical presence enhanced by solid – if not room-shaking – lows, but this isn’t a huge speaker by any means. It pulled lots of detail out of the music especially through the mid and top but avoided any sense of forwardness. I really enjoyed Conjure’s ‘Foolology’ [Music For The Texts Of Ishmael Reed, American Clavé] where the percussion popped out of the system with real vitality, and the bass line really drives the piece along. The Cyrus may not be hugely powerful, but it gets a grip on whatever you give it and keeps things tight. A contemporary track from Leifur James’ excellent A Louder Silence [Late Night Tales] filled the room with sound, and while the amp’s enthusiasm for higher frequencies brought out the ride cymbal more than average, it always sounded natural. It was also possible to play this at an entertaining volume without any edginess creeping in to suggest that the amp was struggling. Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks [Warner Bros] had a slightly distant feel and a light balance, which is somewhat different to its usual character but it was easy to hear all the elements in the mix albeit the bass line was less clear than it can be. Essentially it sounded lighter, but not in a bad way.

Acoustic guitar from Gwenifer Raymond was a lot more present and crisp with good pace and well defined notes, attack and decay being clear alongside the sheer intensity of the playing. It could perhaps have had a bit more ‘body’ but the timing was very strong.

I checked out the analogue side of the amplifier by playing some vinyl through an external phono stage. Here the balance was very similar with good separation of instruments and consistently clear definition of leading edges especially where percussive instruments were involved. Vinyl sounded a little more fluid than the digital sound and had a little more body and warmth as you’d expect but the difference is often more marked than the Cyrus revealed, suggesting that the QXR DAC is really rather good. I used a good external DAC, the iFi Pro iDSD, and found that the QXR outperformed it in many respects. It does of course have the advantage of much shorter signal paths but I was nonetheless surprised that it sounded warmer and was more rounded. The other explanation of course is that the analogue inputs on the Cyrus have a leaner sound than the internal DAC.

In a quest to find the best speaker match I also tried PMC’s twenty.22 stand-mount; this delivered tighter grooves and a larger soundstage with slightly drier bass than that of the ported Dynaudio. Which highlighted a Olu Dara trumpet solo that sounded particularly good. Switching to the bigger and more revealing PMC Fact.8 that I use as a reference improved dynamics but emphasised a slightly skeletal aspect of the Cyrus’ sound, its relatively lean balance not working well with the speaker’s less than fulsome balance. Clearly the 82 DAC was conceived with ported speakers like the Dynaudio in mind, which given the prevalence of this approach in speaker design makes perfect sense. That said it’s rare to find an amplifier that disagrees so strongly with the fact.8. It goes to show that the amp/speaker match is one of the most critical in system synergy.

The Cyrus DAC 82/QXR does an awful lot of things remarkably well; it has all the inputs most would need and even a headphone output with dedicated amplifier if you can reach round the back to find the minijack socket. The QXR DAC upgrade is clearly just that. It is very transparent and performed to a very high standard especially with a USB input, and that it is backwards compatible with the last decade of Cyrus is a strong point. The amplifier’s balance will be familiar to those who have heard Cyrus in the past; fast and detailed, but a little lean through the lower mid/upper bass. If you want a compact, fast, and flexible centre for your digital and analogue sources, it should be on the shortlist.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Type: Solid-state, 2-channel integrated amplifier with built-in DAC and headphone amplifier

Analogue inputs: Six single-ended line-level inputs (via RCA jacks)

Digital inputs: Four S/PDIF (two coaxial, two optical), one USB port

Analogue outputs: Two pre-outs (via RCA jacks), One fixed level (via RCA jacks), one headphone (via minijack). IR, MC-Bus, PSX-R upgrade port

Supported sample rates:

Coaxial and optical S/PDIF: 16-bit, 24-bit up to 192kHz

USB: 16-bit, 24-bit, 32-bit — up to 768kHz

Input impedance: Not specified

Output impedance (preamp): Not specified

Headphone Loads: Not specified

Power Output: 88Wpc @ 6 Ohms 

Bandwidth: Not specified

Distortion: THD </+ 0.005% with both channels driving from 250mW to rated power, 20Hz to 20kHz; IM </+ 0.005%

Signal to Noise Ratio: Not specified

Dimensions (H×W×D): 73 × 215 × 360mm

Weight: 6.9kg

Price: £2,295

Manufacturer: Cyrus Audio

Tel: +44 (0)1480 410 900

URL: cyrusaudio.com