The Cyrus 8vs

This is a small shoe box sized amplifier form another British manufacturer Cyrus. It is one of a long line of Cyrus shoe box sized amplifiers and comes in black or silver finish. It has five inputs and seventy watts.

It also comes with a remote control. A real plus point with this design is that it is upgradable. You can plug a external power supply at a later date so your system can grow with you as you either get more serious or just become better off! The power supply does not make the amplifier any more powerful but it does improve the overall sound quality.

How does it sound? Very neutral. Tonally it is a little bit bright but not so much as you can notice. Bass is good and the coherence is excellent. Bass and treble time perfectly. It also sounds fast. Tempos seem quicker than usual although I think sometimes it does sound a bit rushed. It can feel like it is trying to race to the end of a song!

In terms of power it does a very good job of driving most speakers, I say most because remember this is seventy watts not seven hundred. The sound stage and imaging is a real strong point, instruments are easy to locate and detail is absolutely first rate for this kind of money.

This little machine lets so much through and you quickly hear things on records that its competitors miss out. As to if it is live sounding, I would say it just plays the recording it neither adds or subtracts anything and in general it favours well recorded material more than most.

If my whole review so far sounds matter of fact it is because that is the way I feel about this amplifier. It offers very little character of its own and just gets out of the way and lets you listen to the music. This is usually a good thing. The only thing I could hope for is possibly a little more warmth to the sound. It can sound quite cold and detached, maybe a bit too analytical.

One thing it does not lack though is quality and I would say that this amp could be a perfect first buy for somebody looking to get into the world of serious hifi. Because it is very detailed, fast and is different to look at, it is certainly going to be a huge step up from budget equipment. Most of all it will sound like an obvious move up the audio ladder and its quality is very easily demonstrable.

I always found Cyrus and possibly Linn the easiest systems to sell. Their quality's are very obvious and immediate even to the relatively untrained ear. This is probably why they have been so successful and I would put this amp high on any short list.

Apart from sounding a little bit cold and sterile at times (although lets face it how much of that could be the musics fault!) it does everything you can expect and it is easily upgradeable, when you factor that into the equation it has plenty to offer. I did not want to say good things come in small packages so I won't, I will leave that down to you!

Ebay Alert!

Cyrus components are cheap as chips 2nd hand. Unfortunately it is due to the company changing the range every five minutes so models are quickly superseded. Expect to pay between £400-£500.