We are taking some time to appreciate some of the rising stars of the amplification-world, and the next to get the AA Blog treatment is the rather lovely Cyrus One.
… no, not that one. Well, at least not quite that one. That there is the original, hailing all the way from the glorious era of 1984 (not quite as Orwell imagined it). The Cyrus One was Cyrus’ kismet, the item which catapulted them straight into the hi-fi scene, capturing the imaginations of what is possible with shoebox-sizes. Now, 32 years on, Cyrus are celebrating their long reign by rebooting and re-releasing the very product that made them who they were. And it’s had a bit of an upgrade…
We love the look (which clearly draws some serious inspiration from its ancestor), and we love the features. It can already boast being Cyrus’ best value amp at £699, but comes loaded with pretty much everything that wasn’t around in 1984. It’s well equipped with Bluetooth AptX, a turntable input (vinyl is actually a bigger deal now than it was back then – all hail the revival!) along with four other inputs and a pretty meaty 100W power output.
This is a amp that’s hot off the (vinyl?) press, which means we’ve yet to hear it with our own ears. It was debuted at the Munich High End show on May 5th (2016) which was yesterday at the time of writing and sadly none of us were there to hear that happen. But so far we have heard some (very) good reports and will have one to show off in our showroom as soon as they land. And yes, we will be letting you know.
Sound and features aside (and just how new it is, it’s always nice to be on the cutting edge), it’s worth noting that the One is considerably cheaper than the Cyrus 6 DAC at £995 (which is the next amp up of Cyrus), and with a gap like that it’s practically a bargain.
One very minor downside is there isn’t anything that will match the Cyrus One in style (a pity, we love the new design) but to ruminate on that would be drastically missing the point. It is supposed to be a standalone! This is an amplifier that can do almost everything: Bluetooth AptX for wireless streaming, a turntable input for vinyl and provisions for more traditional sources, all with enough power for a match with pretty much any speakers.
Your alternatives to this clever One reboot would be the Quad Vena (which does go for £100 less but is getting on in its years), the Creek Evolution 50A or perhaps Icon Audio Stereo 20PP (if you prefer valves) but frankly, we love the visual appeal of this new Cyrus model (I for one hope it sticks!) and given its rich and unusual heritage, and its significance to the brand, we’re willing to bet it’ll be a class leader for sound.
Read more about (and pre-order) the new Cyrus One by clicking here, and we’ll let you know when it’s ready to be demo’d.