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Half a minute in and we can already hear that things are coming along nicely. Through the built-in dac, which is what we listened to most, the reproduction is particularly mature and relaxed. Surprisingly round and controlled in the sub-bass as well. The bass is nicely defined and has quite a bit of punch. This is not a thin, analytical amplifier but one with balls.
The watts are – if you can say that – very stable and the Cyrus i7-XR will not often run out of power. For those who have very difficult speakers there is the i9-XR (2x 91 watts into 6 Ohms) but in ordinary circumstances the i7-XR is sufficient and even has surplus.
The stereo image is fine with sufficient width and depth. The speakers dissapear very nicely and voices have high intelligibility without harsh s’s and t’s. This is also a very rhythmic amplifier that follows the tempo of the music excellently and sounds particularly catchy. Our feet are soon moving back and forth. Details come through well but it is mainly the overall sound balance that convinces making any genre sound good.
Listen
“Watch my moves” by Kurt Vile seems at first hearing to be more of the same and in a way it is but still we are again effortlessly taken on a dreamy journey and the Cyrus i7-XR has a big part in that. The final track ‘Stuffed Leopard’ lasts 6:39 minutes but is over in a sigh. Every element of the track comes through beautifully and the small details in the background blend seamlessly with voice and guitar.
Pop and R&B with the song ‘Skin Tight’ by Raven Lenae from her new album “Hypnos” is brought tight as the title suggests. Controlled but with the necessary flow and without sharpness or lack of body underneath. The i7-XR is at the same time fun and refined enough to keep the attention and always brings out the intention of a song. The song “Deep in the world” is a great illustration of this. Lenae’s angelic voice gets all the attention but is framed by the beats and instrumentation combined with an excellent soundstage.
Destroyer’s new album “Labyrinthitis” is not a bite-sized chunk and needs several listens to fathom. His previous album is a personal favorite but with this one it doesn’t quite click yet. The Cyrus i7-XR, however, makes it no punishment to listen to certain songs several times. The rhythmic character of this amplifier comes into its own here.
This is also a fast amp we notice which emphasizes the lightness of the songs. Finally a dash of jazz with the Soren Bebe Trio and their album “Home”. A test album by this author that is only listened to late at night. This album remains captivating even after dozens of listens and because of the i7-XR we don’t miss anything. The double bass is nicely placed on the right, the drum on the left and the piano quasi in the middle. Each musician gets his correct place on the stage and both the strokes of the strings on the double bass and the keys on the piano as well as the strokes of the brushes on the drum kit on ‘Haarlem Landscape’ are perfectly audible and get their own weight and nuance.
The i7-XR finds the perfect balance between calmness and intensity on this wonderful album. We also listened to King Hannah, Stavroz, Lonely Guest, Steven Brown, SJ Hofman, Madou, Joy Orbison, Charlotte Adigéry and Leonard.
Compare
We have only the NuPrime Ida-8 (€1450) in the cabinet and it is quickly clear that the i7-XR is better across the board. Logical because the Cyrus costs twice as much. Then we compare it with our reference system. That again is considerably more expensive but here the difference is not so big… The law of diminishing returns’ you know.
Our Bryston 4B³ moves more air and keeps almost every speaker under control and the Cyrus doesn’t achieve that but in normal circumstances with normal speakers there is no problem at all.
The Sonnet Morpheus goes a little further in terms of refinement, tonality and nuance but you only notice this in a direct comparison. Our Benchmark HPA4 has a more powerful headphone amplifier but on, say, a Hifiman Sundara you will not notice that. The Benchmark also has a number of specific options to personalize each input but you do not need these in real life. The Benchmark is a bit more transparent than the Cyrus but because of the updated preamp in the Cyrus it comes very close to this as well. We noticed this when we briefly used the Bryston on the Cyrus.
Anno 2022 integrated amplifiers have become so good that they make the choice for separate components a lot less interesting. And that is a good thing as far as we are concerned. You need less space, fewer cables and you have fewer problems with synergy.