Musical Fidelity A3.2 CD or Cyrus CD8 Player ?

Julio V

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Hi Everybody,

I would be grateful if you could give some advice on CD Player. I am in 2 minds about Musical fidelity A3.2 CD and Cyrus CD8 player.

On the one hand Mfidelity has a great reputation, in the other hand, Cyrus CD8 is best buy of the year( What Hifi sound & Vision, Hifi Choice) and the Ex-demo Cyrus CD8 cost the same as MF A3.2 CD.

My system is Roksan Kandy MK3, QUAD L11, Roksan interconnect, QED original bi-wire MK2 speaker cable.

My favourite music is a sort of Unbreak My Heart ( Toni Braxton), Sorry Seems to be the hardest word ( Sir,. Elton John), Hello ( Lionel Richie), Rise & Fall ( Craig David), Saving All my Love for You ( WhitneyHouston). . . a sort of Magic FM 105.4 khz radio channel ( London-England).

I am particularly interested in great details, sound stage-pace, sound image, stretched taut bass.

I am looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks very much for your time and advice. :lease:

Julio V
 
I picked up a Cyrus CD8 recently for £500 and am very pleased with it so far. It is extremely detailed and really shows up any poor discs I have. I heard comments prior to purchase that the Cyrus is a little ‘forward’, my experiences certainly don’t suggest this. Although I have partnered it with Castle Durham 3 speakers which are quite warm.

I haven’t heard the MF A3.2, although I’ve heard it is similar in performance to the X-Ray V3 cd player from MF. I’m hoping to demo the X-ray at some point to partner the amp I have (MF X-80) – I feel the synergies between the two MF products may sing better than the Cyrus & MF combo. However, all is to be seen…

Sorry I can’t be of more help!
 
Hi Tejstar

Thank you very much for your reply.

Although I haven’t heard neither of Cyrus CD8 nor MF A3.2, it seems to me that technologically, Cyrus CD8 will predominate over sound quality. I have read some reviews about CyrusCD8: -Twin toroidal power supply , dual 24bit differential DAC. . . upgradeable PSX-R (if having fund). Moreover, as far as I understand, today technology is far better than 4 years ago.

The only one thing I don’t like Cyrus is its build. Cyrus have never ever won a prize of solid built kits, even comparing to Inca Design, Roksan. . .

The fact is that I love 3D soundstage, refined resolutions as well as low-level details. Therefore, I will be forced to choose Cyrus CD8 for the sake of sound quality rather than solid build. Do you agree with me? I am going to write a letter to Cyrus company to suggest that the company should pay more attention to their solid built kits ha..ha ..a..a.

By the way, you said that you got Cyrus CD8 for £500, didn’t you? I am very happy if you could tell me where the retails or dealers are( I am living in London E16). You know, Audio-T offered me a Cyrus CD8(ex-demo) for £600. If possible, I don’t how much I own you for your generosity.

Finally, I am not sure whether or not Cyrus CD8 will be compatible to my system.

Best regard
 
Don’t discount the MF without hearing it, I’ve heard it is very good. The main reason why I chose the Cyrus was due to the fact that I needed a half width player as space is at a premium. I have this side-by-side the MF X-80 (which is also half-width).

However, many people say that the Cyrus sounds significantly better when combined with the PSX-R power supply. In fact, I’ve heard it shouldn’t really be partnered without it, much like some Naim kit. I haven’t got the funds (or space) to test this out at the moment but this kind of upgrade-ability is not offered with the MF player.

Whilst I’m not too much of a fan regarding the design, the actual build quality is in fact very solid. It’s surprisingly heavy given its size.

I bought mine second-hand that’s why I got mine so cheap however the cheapest I’ve seen it sold at dealers is in Audio-T I’m afraid.

Good luck! :thumbsup:
 
Hi Tejstar,

You are really the kind of person who give his idea basing on facts not opinions. I completely appreciate that. It is true that "do not underestimate MF A3.2 without hearing". However, like you I have to bring it with me back to my country when I finish studying here(London). Another reason is that I want to upgrade PSX-R in the near future.

Thanks a lot for your thread

What I have to do now is contact to Audio-T or search for Cyrus in the net for good bargain

Bye for now. If having any good thread, don't hesitate to let me know

JulioV
 
Hi Tejstar,

It will save me an arm and a leg if you resell your re-secondhand(third hand) Cyrus CD8 playerto me. I hope that after demontraion the X-ray CD to your MF-X80, you will have the answer for your system. Moreover, the height of MF is far higher than Cyrus. I was wondering how can you put it together for a beautifully combinating look. :rotfl:

It is up to you :lesson:
 
I don’t think I’ll be selling the cyrus just yet as I’ve only had it a few weeks. Plus, I don’t think I can go and demo the MF X-ray for a while yet too. But there was no harm in asking :laugh:

You’re right about the combination though, they do make an odd pair! :D
 
I've found the Cyrus build quality to be excellent. I'm using an amp that's about 5 years old (in fact I think the 3 is even older) and it looks and feels and more importantly sounds as good as new. The casing is really nice and solid and there is no resonance. The remotes are nasty though. I would definitely buy another cyrus product.
 

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