Cyrus vs. Naim

[theturbs]

Currently I'm a Cyrus fan having owned Cyrus kit for a number of years. Thinking about upgrading/changing my system and have a couple of questions:

1) What are the characteristics of Naim presentation - I personally like the tight, analytical sound of my current system, is the Naim likely to be "warmer". I am not keen on an overbearing sound which becomes tiring after a while

2) My current system partners well with my Ruark speakers - would a Naim set up be well-matched with these speakers too?

3) To what extent have the traditional Cyrus characteristics mentioned above been retained in the current line up of products (X/XP- range)?

Obviously any purchases are very much subject to a successful audition, but any opinions/advice would be very welcome.

Thanks

[MaxAndRuby]

Which Cyrus kit?

[SJobson]

I would not describe Naim equipment as warm sounding. I haven't heard the old olive stuff though, just the last few years' kit.

[theturbs]

Sorry I should have been clearer - it's a budget system: an old Cyrus 1 and a daD3 CD player with Van Den Hul interconnects. Bought some Ruark Sabre IIIs just over a year ago and am running QED Silver Anniversary speaker cable.

Currently thinking about latest Naim Nait and corresponding Naim CD player or Cyrus 8XP system. I would prefer to keep the Ruarks.

Thanks

[MaxAndRuby]

If you like the Cyrus sound I would highly recommend using your current CD player as a transport, and auditioning a Cyrus DAC X. It is a truly phenomenal piece of kit. Use the Van Den Hul interconnects with the DAC -> Preamp.

[Eggle]

I had the olive 72 / 140 set up with a cdx I think. This was through Epos ES14 speakers. ( Designed around the Naim. )
The sound was very warm, ideal for vinyl but I didn't like the CD sound.
I swapped the lot for Meridian and have never looked back.

[DavidY]

Eggle - interesting I would not describe the Naim sound (especially of olive components) as warm, and the CDX (especially without any additional PSU) was quite nasty and harsh to my ears.

IME Naim sound is quite in your face (I owned Naim kit for 17 years and have heard a lot of Naim systems), it demands to be listened to and certainly is not background music. It accentuates leading edges of notes making a very 'live' sound, sometimes at the expense of detail. It can be great fun but if you want something warmer and laid back then I would look elsewhere.

Interesting that I too have gone Naim -> Meridian and am certainly not looking back.

davidy

[Eggle]

Well, my room is quite soft with 2 sets of curtains, 2 sofas and 2 chairs with carpet. I found something missing with the Naim. OK, maybe warm is the wrong term, but it wasn't as bright as the Meridian. To me, the Meridian delivers the goods. OK, I have 5 DSP5000s giving 24/96 but the detail and musical tightness is fantastic. With the Naim, I was listening to the music, feeling I was missing something. With the Meridian, you can pick out what people are doing, admittedly with a good recording.

[castex]

theturbs said:

Currently I'm a Cyrus fan having owned Cyrus kit for a number of years. Thinking about upgrading/changing my system and have a couple of questions:

1) What are the characteristics of Naim presentation - I personally like the tight, analytical sound of my current system, is the Naim likely to be "warmer". I am not keen on an overbearing sound which becomes tiring after a while

2) My current system partners well with my Ruark speakers - would a Naim set up be well-matched with these speakers too?

3) To what extent have the traditional Cyrus characteristics mentioned above been retained in the current line up of products (X/XP- range)?

Obviously any purchases are very much subject to a successful audition, but any opinions/advice would be very welcome.

Thanks

1) The Naim sound is detailed, punchy, tight. Like Cyrus yet more so. Worth investing in.
2) You'd need new speakers I'd say.
3) Not sure about this one. Didn't they stop putting some sort of illegal metal in them or something?

[budd]

Interesting discussion, and while it’s great to get other peoples input/thoughts etc, the best advice is buy with your ears what sounds right to you is right.
BTW I love Naim amps but the edgy sound is not to everyone’s taste and they can be harsh if not carefully partnered, but they are certainly exiting and very musical .
I have Naim pre powers running active Linn Kabers (using Linn cards), I’m still using an old Micromega CD which to my ears still sounds great, I’ve tried the CDS player in the past but felt this was a little to much.
I put my system together over a few years using new and second hand kit (one thing about Naim gear is it’s very well built so buying used is nothing to worry about) so it’s kind of evolved into what I want, interestingly and in line with this discussion a few years ago (around the time I tried the Naim CDS) I borrowed a full Cyrus system (my local Hi-Fi dealer is very helpful!!!) it featured CD transport, DAC, pre powers, with matching power supplies and Cyrus speakers (the stand mounted bookshelf ones) this system weighed in at around £6K!!! and while it was very good it didn’t make me tap my feet like my own system, I’m not saying mines better just that I prefer it. Most hi-fi owners are constantly changing and tweaking they’re systems then carefully listening for improvements I’ve started out many times listening for differences following small system changes and usually find myself just listening to the music, which I guess is what it’s all about .

[10 Pence Short]

I just hope Cyrus have got their reliability sorted out. My 8 amp has been back to Cyrus 3 times and come back sounding different 3 times (probably due to the whole internals being binned and replaced with revised versions, I would imagine).

[matt3001]

I have naim nait5i/cd5i with Ruarks and it's fantastically good! Better than Arcam/NAD that I had before but never heard much of the Cyrus kit!

[Maxf]

matt3001 said:

I have naim nait5i/cd5i with Ruarks and it's fantastically good! Better than Arcam/NAD that I had before but never heard much of the Cyrus kit!

The reliability of the Cyrus kit worried me and put me off the brand to a large extent. Of course it's just chatroom moaning I'm listening to, but it did seem to be a common theme - with the CD players at least.

[Maxf]

matt3001 said:

I have naim nait5i/cd5i

Have you heard the 'italic i' cd5i?

[matt3001]

Maxf said:

matt3001 said:

I have naim nait5i/cd5i

Have you heard the 'italic i' cd5i?

Yeah thats the one I have but with the non-italic nait5i, through a pair of epilogue II's.

I used to have a beefier Naim system, but it had to go when I moved house - the money was needed elsewhere :-(

[Maxf]

matt3001 said:

I used to have a beefier Naim system, but it had to go when I moved house - the money was needed elsewhere :-(

How does your current kit compare?

I'm looking at the naitXS with either a CD5x (or maybe the cdx2) or a digital source with the naim DAC. But a leftfield choice is to save some cash and get the 5i combo and spend the extra on upgrading my AV stuff.