CD Transports - Cyrus Audio
CDs are still widely regarded as the best audiophile medium to enjoy your music, and a wide range of CD playing solutions exist, ranging from one box CD players to multi-disc players and SACD players. We also offer a range of separate DACs and CD transports which can offer superior performance and are considered the optimum way of enjoying CD playback.
Simpy put, CD Transports place into a single box the transport unit of a CD player, eradicating the DAC. Why? By splitting these modules, akin to a separate power amplifier and pre amplifier, the CD Transport can deliver greater presentation than a one box unit as it is designed for a single purpose and does not share mechanisms or have separate power supplies, etc. We provide free UK next day delivery on all of our in stock products, so you can have your kit ready to use in no time at all!
Cyrus Audio is a well established and highly regarded hi-fi brand with numerous awards and accolades for their products. For more info on the current range, see our full Cyrus range guide. Cyrus Audio has consistently pushed the audio technology boundaries, designing and building the ultimate hi-fi system.
Cyrus Audio design, manufacture and support their products from a UK base which is rare in today’s trans-national manufacturing environment. But, it is a testament to Cyrus Audio’s commitment to superior audio performance standards, which means they maintain standards you expect from Cyrus
Cyrus Audio's philosophy of separating what can be separated greatly assists in isolation from noisy power supplies and ultimate overall sound quality. Therefore, their range features DAC’s and CD transports rather than single-box CD players and their pre and power amplifier solutions tend to be more popular than the one-box integrated amplifier models available.
A further advantage of Cyrus ownership is that there are numerous upgrade paths to elevate the performance of your existing Cyrus separates to higher model specification without you needing to replace the whole unit, as is usually the case with other brands (with upgrades available for all models apart from the flagship models - although even in these cases they may be serviced to optimise performance).
To arrange an upgrade for your existing Cyrus hi-fi separates, please view the pricelist (link above) and call or e-mail us to make the necessary arrangements (you will need to ship the models back to us - ideally in their original packaging - and we will arrange the upgrades with Cyrus and return the units back to you).
Unlike CD players housed in a single box, dedicated CD transports take the CD reading mechanism and house it separately in one box, taking the pure digital information from the disc, and requiring an external DAC to then convert this information back into analogue and a form which can be fed to an amplifier. You can only connect them directly to your amplifier if your amplifier has a digital input.
If digital information is just a series of 1s and 0s, then why is one CD transport different to another, and why are they priced differently? The answer is jitter. Jitter when reading digital media such as a compact disc can have undesired effects on the quality of the audio achieved – often manifested through clicks, skipping and poor audio quality. Ensuring you have a good quality CD transport, delivering a good quality signal and disc read therefore, can have a significant impact on the sound quality you experience. Some manufacturers offer improved CD clocks as upgrades for your existing equipment that can also affect and reduce the presence and effect of jitter on your music.
Premium CD Transports use several technologies and isolation methods to evade jitter wholly however possible. These units aim to play the CD as precisely as possible without any risk of interference of other circuitry such as a DAC, and top end models strive hard to separate the transport from the power supply, through anti-resonance systems and damping techniques which avert tremors from the power supply that would disrupt the transport’s laser’s ability to reading the disc. Many high end models are intended to elude the automated loading trays of some CD players. As these mechanisms require power to eject and insert discs, avoiding these can prevent the need for additional circuitry and power, thus further isolating the CD reading mechanism from resonance.
Most CD transports will offer both coaxial and optical digital outputs, giving you flexibility to use existing cables and to pair with a range of DACs or integrated amplifiers with different optical inputs.
