A high end, hi-res audio streamer and phenomenal amp all in one box, this could be your ticket to sonic perfection…
For some of you the name Cyrus may currently be linked to a certain Miley rolling around scantily clad and making a horrible racket. However in the world of hi-fi, the name Cyrus has a totally different meaning. Based in Cambridge, this British manufacturer stands true to what proper build quality should be and in an ever changing world of hi-fi that now demands streaming and a great tone, they strive to be different, bold and unquestionably brilliant.
To anyone who has owned a piece of Cyrus equipment, welcome back. You’re in for a treat. The new Lyric is quite an impressive piece of kit and is certainly a unit that deserves a true audiophile’s ear for a listen.
The Lyric could be considered almost a kind of Frankenstein’s monster style hybrid as it has many different parts from their previous award winning series of separates and boy does it produce a huge difference from other all in one systems. Of course, you’d hope they would have been aiming to do that anyway thanks to its high price tag but the design is extremely unique for a Cyrus product. It is sturdy and certainly looks built to last with a choice of two finishes – either the black and red lipped stealth or the stone finish for a more neutral look. The Cyrus logo on here actually doubles as a power button, which is quite radical but actually works pretty well and it looks cool. The buttons are all touch sensitive so no more buttons to break after pressing too hard. They are pretty sensitive on first trial but not too much to get annoying or double pressing anything.
Cyrus’ Lyric range comes in a variety of models including Stone and Stealth.
I’m sure many of you will be wondering whether the tech inside allows Cyrus to justify the price tag. Let’s begin with the basics then, the CD player built onto the front uses the Servo Evolution technology for the CD player and is taken straight out of their CDT (CD Transport) unit which was a highly reviewed elsewhere. Apart from being slightly louder than a traditional CD player what you get is a system bringing the very most out of your CDs in both sonic quality and also to ensure a smooth insert and eject function with no risk of any mishaps. There’s a nice touch included and that’s the glowing lights around the CD tray in order to help you find the slot when the mood is right… Wink*
But what is a streamer that only has a CD player? It’s not, and thankfully the systems in place here are nothing short of fabulous. At your disposal is one of the best streaming apps you can use, Cadence for Apple iOS devices is a doddle to use and has access to pretty much all the services across the globe in terms of streaming programs, Spotify, Apple Music etc. The streaming engine in this instance comes straight out of their 5-star award-winning Stream XP2 QX... so you’re getting a heck of a lot of quality here.
You’ve also got the old favourite that is Bluetooth. The latest version has been installed here to allow more legacy devices to be hooked up wirelessly and at the best possible file format. There are over 100,000 internet radio services from across the globe available to stream too from TuneIn and that’s more than enough to keep the most in-the-know radio listener glued to their seat.
You’ve got 2 different types of USB input to utilize. Two type A USB inputs that will charge and play music off a phone or tablet etc, and then a USB type B input that would usually go directly between a PC or laptop. This also has the ability to give your low quality music a well needed re-jig and even a low quality mp3 of Limp Bizkit’s “Take a Look Around” from the ‘Mission Impossible 2’ soundtrack was met with nods of approval.
The scariest part of all this is that I haven’t even mentioned that this beast also has a 150W per channel amplifier built in! Yes that’s right not only do you now not need to go from this into a power amp or a traditional hi-fi amp, it’s all built in. It’s also quite an impressive amount of power too, we hooked up some hefty Tannoy XT6F speakers into it and it had no trouble in getting them to rock out very loudly to AC DC but still kept a refined top end sing well above any bass notes. The soundstage it produces is unlike almost anything I’ve heard. It’s open but still gives you a precise position of the various instruments we had to listen to on a couple of classical pieces and some vinyl of Stevie Wonder.
Add in the fact you have 2 optical inputs, 2 coaxial inputs and a traditional RCA (phono) input as well, there is almost nothing that you can’t hook up to this incredible machine. I do suggest that for those of you looking to hook up a turntable that you utilize a pretty decent pre-amp as it will really help go a long way with clarity.
It’s a stunning piece of kit and I would certainly bag one of these as a starting point to my streaming world of hi-hi… just gotta start saving. To find out more about the Cyrus Lyric click here.
Author – Andrew, Weybridge Store
