What happened to Cyrus? (Following on from the Linn thread)

Still around. 

kevin J Carden posted:

Still around. 

I know they are, so are Linn. Did you not see the recent thread?

 https://forums.naimaudio.com/t...-the-score-with-linn

Sorry popeye ... if you know they are still around... what was the point of the thread ?

I'm confused too ????

I did say it follows on from the linked Linn thread. 

If you never saw the Linn thread it will make more sense if you have a look first. Didn’t see the point in repeating everything.

That there name is not what it once was, there products are not stocked or supported by many  stores and they are not a brand that they once were. 

Sorry, thought the topic was obvious especially with the linked thread. It’s just a topic for conversation. 

When I started with Naim in the ‘80s I seem to remember that Cyrus and Exposure were the amps that appealed to Naim users (and NAD at the lower price point). Naim are obviously a major player in the specialist hifi market now. Cyrus are still around, their amps seem to get good reviews, I occasionally see them at shows doing a great job of handling serious speakers in crappy environments (I.e. not booming terribly in a hotel room), yet I don’t know any dealer apart from Sevenoaks who carries them. I’d be interested in hearing them in a good environment, their ?300? monoblocs have sounded good at a few shows as far as I could tell, I suspect in a good room with equally good source and speakers they could be fantastic.

I thought I would go to my grave loving everything Cyrus did, upgrading every few years. However, the SE edition CD players were very temperamental for me, and the streamer I auditioned lost out heavily to my Squeezebox in terms of functionality. There is supposed to be a fantastic phono amp that I might try, but their time might have passed.

It's a shame, as they are local to me and it was nice having the world's finest hi-fi manufacturer sharing my post-code.

I really enjoyed my Cyrus Mono X amps... fantastic match with the older  ATC speakers.

That Linn thread dragged on a bit and I gave up before the end, never liked the company anyway.

I heard the top cyrus phono stage sounding very decent into Naim 282 etc however.

I struggle with the fact their stuff looks like it was designed in the early 90s.

Not that there’s anything wrong with early 90s design (I run an Olive system, after all), but it’s just strikes me as weird to make new stuff that looks like it belongs then.

Shallow, I know...

I get the impression they're still going reasonably strongly, maybe a bit 'niche' (as Naim is also), while I gather one of their design criteria is small size.  I think they have a smattering of hifi shop outlets, and also supply some products through Richer Sounds. At the time I got my first streamer (ND5XS) in 2014, Cyrus had better information available about setting up streaming than did Naim.

I still have a system that is largely Cyrus.  Traditionally Cyrus have been a bit lower end than Naim but they seem widely stocked by dealers in my experience.  Their strong areas are CD transports and power amps IMHO.  Shall I start a thread on what has happened to Naim?

angelface posted:

Shall I start a thread on what has happened to Naim?

I'm pretty sure that's the "impress your friends" thread. :-P

Just look them up in your search engine, Linn and Cyrus both have great websites, so they’re still around. Just bought an amazing amp, Cyrus One when it was Black Friday......maybe I’m missing your point?

I think I understand what Popeye is saying. I am always a little surprised when I hear about Sugden and Quad. They are still around; but for some unexplained reason, I tend to think they are old companies that are gone. 

The photo on their website that has their banners at a super 8 hotel....  kinda makes me go hmmm.  

JoexNaim posted:

Just look them up in your search engine, Linn and Cyrus both have great websites, so they’re still around. Just bought an amazing amp, Cyrus One when it was Black Friday......maybe I’m missing your point?

Maybe I am well off the mark. The reason behind my thread was that Cyrus was a name that I once heard on a regular basis and saw in many stores. 

I know they are still around but I don’t know of any dealers near me that promote and sell Cyrus still and when I ask in those dealerships they all say the same thing, they are not what the once were! 

They are still around and strong as ever IMO. Actually in my area, it is much easier to get Cyrus than Naim now. There are really no dealers of either brand here, which is kinda sad. I have a current Cyrus CD player and it is the best sounding CD player I have ever owned. Don't ever see myself changing it. Cyrus does have a pretty poor rep for customer service that has probably done a bit of damage, but hopefully they are bouncing back from that, and all their CD reader quality issues now. 

The other thing I have noticed is the used prices of a lot of there products are extremely cheap compared to what they were and compared to Naim residuals 

Popeye posted:

The other thing I have noticed is the used prices of a lot of there products are extremely cheap compared to what they were and compared to Naim residuals 

This is true. i saw a MINT Cyrus CD6S on CAM last week for $200 cdn. & there is an 8 on there now for $400. Lets just say, the 6 didn't last long!

Popeye posted:

JoexNaim posted:

Just look them up in your search engine, Linn and Cyrus both have great websites, so they’re still around. Just bought an amazing amp, Cyrus One when it was Black Friday......maybe I’m missing your point?

Maybe I am well off the mark. The reason behind my thread was that Cyrus was a name that I once heard on a regular basis and saw in many stores. 

I know they are still around but I don’t know of any dealers near me that promote and sell Cyrus still and when I ask in those dealerships they all say the same thing, they are not what the once were! 

Nostalgia is over rated. 

I've heard Dac XP Sig + 2x X300 Sig + Stream X Sig on Elac and ATC. Impressive sound, the noise floor is to die for. But my 272+250DR, although lacking some details and being somewhat noisier, had a ton of prat I much preferred to the Cyrus kit. The remote, screens and the apps for the naim kit are also a big plus.

Really wanted to like the Cyrus kit more, the 4 brick system stacked in a Cyrus Hark is something to look at!

A four box Naim setup in a Fraim is far nicer though. 

I heard their last very expensive phono stage with dedicated PSU in between a Majik LP12 and a SN2 and it all sounded very, very good. If you look on eBay there is still a strong market for Cyrus perhaps the marketing is a little more subtle and less aggressive  than Naim's new 'Impress your....' blurb and so we do not hear about them as much.

I have a simple if rather old Cyrus setup (CD, amp and tuner) as second set to my Naim one and I love it. Very enjoyable if not as good as the main set. 

In my view Cyrus are very good value and recommended though they seem to be falling behind in the streaming stakes.