Retro Review - the Cyrus 3 amplifier

This could have also been titled 'Amplifiers that should have been better'

[@AntonyStevenson]

In its defence, I bought a secondhand Cyrus 3 back in 2005 when I was a student. It must have already been 10 years old when I bought it, and to this day use it as my daily driver amp, connected to my TV, phono amp and a Schiit Modi 3 DAC. Listened to this video through it! Definitely not without its faults these days, has to be powered up warm else does the same thing as in the video - powers up but just buzzes through the speakers. Can't complain for an electronics device almost 30 years old though - it is a solid amp (physically and sonically) and still sounds great, especially when cranked up. Agree with the flat response and seems quite fussy on the speakers it powers as a result. Interestingly the 3 is one of the few legacy products Cyrus themselves no longer offer service on, although there are some independent repairers out there doing recaps on these. Might send mine in, see if it can give another few decades of service!

[@MaxZappa1]

I have a Cyrus 2 which was recapped and serviced about 10 years ago. An excellent amplifier and still going strong.

[@itisjustacomment]

I've got a cyrus 8 Integrated amp . When should you recap ? As mine is 2004ish ,I'm guessing caps are OK and haven't degraded as yet , I might be wrong. If one recaps to modern, better caps, how will that should improve the sound, and how does your sound now. Should I just test my caps to see if they are still within tolerance and work from that . Thanks:)

[@MaxZappa1]

@@itisjustacomment I think the rule of thumb is between 25 and 30 years.

[@itisjustacomment]

@@MaxZappa1 thanks I guess it's OK for 8 years yet.

[@Jammy66]

Just found this channel. I use a Cyrus one, bought out of curiousity some years ago and was amazed at how much better things sounded through it (than my then Cambridge Audio amp). I'm thinking of sending it off for a service and Cyrus will still do them, but they don't touch the 3 or 3i.

[@AnalogueInTheUK]

After watching this video I am SO grateful that I dismissed Cyrus electronics, way back in time. I must admit, they looked really cool and the media frenzy surrounding them was intense.

[@rupertherbert594]

My Cyrus two is still working after 34 years, no issues at all, always used with 8 ohm speakers, powered on for entire days, also used for a couple years with the PSX, removing internal fuses, and get back alone when bought a psir of Celestion, because with rhe PSX it sounded a bit compressed. The only aesthetical issue is the paint on the cover, probably due to the heating. Also some friends have had the Cyrus two, without any issues, maybe the pieces exported in Italy were was more selected, don't really know, but it is the first time in all these years, that I heard of those massive issues.

[@vinylrulesok8470]

I had a Cyrus 2 driving Spendor SP2 speakers. I sold both but should have kept the Spendors

[@warrior9085]

Had 2 3i's in the past,system matching alleviates some of the negative aspects.What I found after the 2 was a thickening of the low mids.

[@lemanouchecbien1]

I had a similar problem with the Rega elicit... i had 3 of them they all burn. Faulty power supply but i loved the sound. I finally went to Hegel and Atoll much more stable... that's a pity. I had a similar experience with Cyrus it crashed ... what a surprise.

[@brynybach7741]

I always dreamed of getting a Cyrus system but could never afford it at the time. I always thought they looked fantastic and to die for. What a shame, perhaps a lucky near miss then.

[@gratmatassa5432]

i had my cyrus 1 for 22yrs no issues, i must have had a lucky one, sold it on ebay got more for it than i paid in 1986 lol.

[@DrWrapperband]

I was dreading this review and crossing my fingers they were good :), I still have my Cyrus one and two and they have never blown up. The main issue I've found is getting the volume knobs silver cleaned..

[@jannismpoug]

I have a cyrus 3i with psxr and mission 750sSE speakers with a woofer. After treating my room it sounds very good. Especially the middles (saxophones violins etc.)

[@erniewoodhall7337]

Hi Phil, surprised to hear you didn't rate the audiolab8000a; mine has served me well for years. Thanks for another great video!

[@itisjustacomment]

I own the cyrus 8 Integrated amp and audiolab 8000a , and cyrus was cheaper to buy . Got it for £100. I would say audio lad is warmer , better for playing records lovely sound so so good at sound staging ,detail us nice , but my cyrus 8 is better at the top end and its faster in the detail, that'd where cyrus shines . The difference is noticeable, I can hear more detail, and it sounds clearer in cyrus with a liite lost in audiolab The cyrus also has full bass and perfect voice , only issues are no tone controls, but lucky i have some Monitor Audio silver, bronze b2, which sounds amazing on the 8 also my tannoy d300 they really come alive . I personally would buy the cyrus, but it's dependent on taste . I have my 8000a downstairs solely for my records due to warmth, and it's perfect for that Medium, also i would need a phono amp for cyrus 8 , I have a Myryad t40 and t60 for everything else downstairs . Which is a better amp all around, I got both for £200 that's a good price for such an amazing pre and power . Better all arounder for sure , but again no tone controls. I've seen myryad lp100 and m120 go for same which is little better £200. But the Myryad m240 is the one to get . That blows the audiolab out of the water in most ways . I would sell my audiolab but never my cyrus 8 if that helps. Saying that I've kept the audiolab the longest, it's true what people say it's a most have to Try, but some love it while others don't get it.

[@archiepaton9263]

I still use my Cyrus 2 with the toggle switch from the 80s almost every day. The only thing I had to fix a couple of years ago was to resolder the volume tabs to the circuit board as they were cracked. Otherwise it still sounds good after all these years.

[@gratmatassa5432]

small issue if it ever loses sound on one or both channels check the copper tracks around the rca sockets they were known to crack, easy fix to solder wires to bridge the gaps.

[@andyd5823]

Cyrus is excellent av sold all my stereos I had sitting just to fund my Cyrus system I will never sell it your a man whole believes he knows what he does but fact is every piece of Cyrus can stand tall amongst other quality amps and the sound for the size unbelievable what can say haterz gonna hate

[@toddt5562]

Enjoyed the video. Great storytelling. "Made of old Exocet parts"... 😂

[@fabioloureiro5255]

I have a Cyrus lll, that has been always connected to a PSX R, at it always worked fine. I sold the PSX R, and now that I tried to turn the Cyrus on without the PSX R, it came a flashing on and off red light . Any idea what this could be? Any help is welcome. Thank you

[@d228110]

You have to open the Cyrus 3 and change some wires inside. It´s relatively easy. ( no soldering) I´ve done it when adding a PSX-R to my Cyrus 3 and years later reversed the wires again, when I upgraded to a Cyrus 8 and needed my PSX-R for this new amp.

[@tonyjedioftheforest1364]

My old best mate had a mission amp that I can’t remember the name of powering a pair of mission 700’s. His front end was a Thorens 160 with SME arm and AT cartridge. From memory it was an exciting system. I too had the mission 700’s, I wish that I still had them. Love this series of videos Phil.

[@tonyjedioftheforest1364]

@@domingodesantaclara1130 I had a planner 3 for a few months while on the waiting list for a Pink Triangle. My dealer bought it back for the full price I paid when he installed the Pink. I wish that I had kept it as the Pink was very unreliable but it sounded great. Not a patch on my current Linn though. Back in the late 70’s/80’s the waiting list was over a year for a Linn and only a couple of months for the much less in demand pink. Thank goodness as I got older I have become less impatient. The NAD 3020 was a giant killer but none of my local dealers stocked them preferring to sell you something several times the price.

[@tonyjedioftheforest1364]

@@domingodesantaclara1130 I seriously considered the Rega 8 or 10 along with a Nottingham and one of the higher end Pro-Jects. I had wanted a Linn LP12 for 40 years and in the end I am glad I bought it. Blows everything else that I have heard away. Rega make great turntables but in my opinion the Linn is the best. A Rolls Royce reputation, build and performance.

[@melchior-chr.v.brincken8006]

I had a Cyrus II with PSX and later a Cryus 3 which died - I got the money back. With efficient speakers the Cyrus II was a beast. It reminded me of a jazz club where I experienced brutal sound levels with live music. I was impressed, but left after 20 minutes with almost bleeding ears. The Cyrus II is good to get that "live" experience - for 20 minutes that is. But it is nothing I would like to listen to long term. My Cyrus 3i sounded less shrill and much more "bassy" but died 3 times and went to repair. After that I lost my patience and got my money back. Same experience with Musical Fidelity A-100 X. It died from overheating. Construction fail. The A-100 X sounded nice and tubby and had no bass at all. Listening to ZZ-Top was a joke. It was like listening to a tube radio. Nice longterm though. The absolute opposite of the Cyrus II.

[@chrisclose7793]

i had a similar issue with my old naim nait 5i the input selector used to freeze sent it back to naim 3 times and they could never replicate the issue then one of the inputs stopped working and volume light went off and buzzing loudly on the input so had to let it go and replaced it with a yamaha ax396

[@raceingdemon6464]

Great Video Phil I Had a Cyrus 1 But Much Prefare My Cyrus 2 Sounds Lovely With My Kef Speakers And Rega Planar 2 With a 2M Black (the cyrus 1 has no speaker protection) Thanks For Uploading Regards mike

[@arfer1470]

The old metal body with the toggle switch 1 & 2 were good, I have refurbed loads of those, still running a 2 in my refurb system with a PSX. If I ever pick up a push button version I always replace it with a toggle switch because the plastic bits inside break then you can't turn them on and off. I bought a 3 to fix up, it had the common crackling transistor problem, didn't like it so I never finished refurbing that, think it's still in the loft.

[@philipknight3270]

Back when I was an aspirational audiophile in the early 2000s, a fine chap used to lend me 2nd hand Amps he had in his shop on Leith Walk, Edinburgh. Tried Audio Analogue Puccini se which was lovely, then a Cyrus 3i was tried. I thought "Cyrus woo hoo here we go" but it was flat and thin sounding and I was taken aback thinking I was missing something. Trusted my ears and bought a wonderful Exposure Super XX from him. Sadly a mate kept asking more of it driving Kef Ref 1.2 bought from same seller, which cooked it. Still have the Kefs though working perfectly. Happy New Year to all

[@justiceforall8574]

Remember my brother buying the matching set of this gear,it spent most of its time going back for repairs.Cost him a small fortune to buy and the repair cost got crazy and thats when they could never replicate the fault at the factory.The worst gear he ever purchased but he would never admit it.

[@graemeguthrie2054]

Interesting video Phil. I was surprised you did not rate the audiolab 8000a as I bought one new in 1985 sold it in 2009 and I missed it so badly. I replaced with Cyrus 7 and PSX and they have so far been reliable. However I also recently bought another 8000a to compare and in my opinion quite close. My first cd player was a Mission DAD 7000a and I loved that from day one. Eventually it had read error issues and I replaced it with Cyrus CD7 which also had read issues straight out the box. Since then I replaced with another Cyrus cd player 6a but I'm looking to move away from the Cyrus brand in the next year. Not sure yet what to go with.

[@yuriwalter385]

Nice review! Thanks for sharing. Any thoughts on the Cyrus signature phono stage?

[@symonbuck3911]

Wish I had seen this video 30 years ago! I have a Cyrus 3 amplifier and a CD player which Cyrus, or anyone else, can't repair. Whereas my older Quad equipment is still repairable. It kind of puts me off ever buying Cyrus again - I wonder what current equipment Cyrus will drop of it's repair list in a few years time?

[@patsteel5160]

Any good electronic engineer will repair old cyrus kit

[@richarddavey9547]

Hi , what is the procedure for changing the 3 back to run on its own, with out the external power supply? Thanks 👍

[@theheathster2]

I sold a lot of Cyrus One/Two, merely because it sounded much more upfront than the Arcam and Linn Intek alternatives we had to offer. Mission/Cyrus had very high showroom appeal. They’d all have probably been better off leaving with a NAD, but that didn’t have the audiophile bragging rights! I remember when Linn reduced the price of the Intek, claiming improved manufacturing efficiencies, when we all knew it was overpriced and underwhelming.

[@markjohnathanappleton8642]

Always informative, and interesting and honest

[@patsteel5160]

Do you know where I can buy a remote for the cyrus 111

[@michaelharris6106]

Iv got a Cyrus 2 I was using it with my Cyrus 782 speakers its not for me had me on the edge of my chair 🙃 I much prefer the more laid back quad sound

[@davidluff8838]

I thought I was the only one who didn't like Cyrus electronics! Avoided the 1 and 2 in the 80's as I prefered my NAD 3120 for sound and versatility. Thought the Cyrus was detailed but fatiguing and didn't love the thin bass performance. I didn't hear of any reliability problems at the time as these were never reported in the press. I've bought a couple of vintage 1 & 2 models over the years just to see if I was missing something...i wasn't. Sold them on as soon as I could. A friend of mine has a Cyrus 3 with small AVI Neutron speakers, bought in the early 90's. Although it seemed reliable the sound was 'orrible and a shame for items that were supposed to be a real "Hi-Fi" experience. He is now using and enjoying my vintage NAD (And Mordaunt Short Pageant 2 speakers). I was underwhelmed by sound of the Audiolab 8000A but my Brother has one somewhere that was bought in the mid 80's and still working OK. Is reliability and sound quality (On low cost items) mutually exclusive, I wonder?

[@blackdawg7778]

I used to dream of owning 😢a Cyrus system. Sounds like I’ll stick to Marantz instead

[@leegoodwin3466]

I had a Cyrus 1 which lasted years….however….the Cyrus CD players were garbage…both the dad dac 5 and dad 7 both self destructed

[@gratmatassa5432]

and just when you think it couldn't get any worse.. Cyrus introduces The Straight Line lol

[@lazgrillo6982]

I just can't get past the looks. I'm not a fan of the half width. It looks like it popped out the dash of an early noughties Ford.

[@hoobsgroove]

I'll give you postage and packaging if you want to get rid of it.

[@sexytasmin]

All Mission and Cyrus products sound extremely forward, harsh and aggressive !!

[@panchovillapeter]

What a div can’t see the inputs and does not know a Cyrus should be run hot ie always turned on in standby takes about a week to fully settle down until sounds at its best,

[@gaetancharbonneau3902]

What's the point of selling something so unreliable I wonder.

[@hclandscapes]

Looks like a terrible amplifier, I remember these being all the hype back in the day. I’ll stick with my Hegel solid amplifier and very reliable.