Cyrus 8XPd Integrated Amplifier – Quartz Silver

As always with British company Cyrus, we have their traditional “shoebox” casing, this time it houses the highly regarded 8XPd Integrated Amplifier. Our example is in the Quartz Silver finish and in good condition apart from a few small blemishes – please see photographs. It comes in original packaging, with remote control, manual, mains cable, mc-bus cable, speaker plugs and of course our standard 3 month warranty.
Cyrus Say….
The new Cyrus 8XPd amplifier platform includes many features new to Cyrus amplifiers such as onboard DACs and multi-source / multi-zone features. However, it is the adoption of the preamplifier from the DAC XP that is the key feature. The new preamp is a huge step up in performance in Cyrus’ 6 & 8 series models and together with expanded upgradeability our amplifiers now deliver far higher levels of performance than before.
Combining Cyrus’ latest XP series preamplifier with a newly revised 2 x 70 watt power amplifier has resulted in the Cyrus 8XPd integrated amplifier offering an unusually subtle and detailed sound. The Cyrus 8XPd’s power amplifier section is powerful for almost any size listening room, producing bass instruments with strong and detailed confidence. Because the Cyrus 8XPd is based on the more exotic X series circuitry, the Cyrus 8XP delivers such a surprisingly sophisticated performance for its price point.
With the benefits of digital inputs, the Cyrus 8XPd becomes not only a wonderfully rewarding hi-fi amplifier, able to improve many digital sources through its ‘Cyrus quality ‘DAC’s but more importantly its able to reproduce these digital sources to a high enough standard to satisfy experienced hi-fi fans. The Cyrus 8XPd’s built in DAC is the latest in a long line of top quality Cyrus DAC designs able to upgrade the performance of any digital source. For those looking for even greater improvements would try looking at the ‘Cyrus 8XPd Qx’ which features a more advanced DAC module known as the Cyrus Qx DAC.
Via USB you can play digital from your laptop, PC or MAC through the Cyrus 8XPd’s built in high performance DAC’s. Uncompressed files sound best but anything that plays on your computer will sound better through the Cyrus 8XPd. You can even add remote control of your media with an iTouch or Logitech accessory.
The Cyrus 8 XPd includes a zone 2 feature for easy Multiroom audio. All you need is an iPod dock with an aux-in & remote volume, and hey presto; you can listen to a CD in the lounge (zone 1) and radio in the kitchen (zone 2).
Features & Specifications:
Integrated amplifier rated at 2 x 70W/8ohm
Uses Cyrus XP derived preamp technology
User programmable input sensitivity and intelligent naming function for each input
Twin speaker outputs for bi-wiring
Pre-amp out for bi-amping
Six line inputs plus zone 2/tape monitor
5 digital inputs including USB slave input, 2 optical SPDIF, 2 co-axial SPDIF
Cyrus intuitive user interface via graphic LCD
Intelligent headphone facility
Microprocessor controlled digital protection system
MC-BUS master component
Integrates with AV Master to provide a two and 5.1 channel system
Factory upgradeable with Qx DAC card or to full Cyrus Pre XP d specification
PSX-R upgradeable

To read a review from Hi-Fi Choice magazine please click here