Cyrus Audio Classic CDi
The Classic CDi delivers explosive dynamics, fleet-footed timing and exceptionally fine detail resolution, making demanding rhythms and large-scale music feel alive. What Hi-Fi? found it equally capable of intimate nuance and composed control, while the 32-bit DAC, flexible outputs and PSX-R path give this compact disc specialist serious system-building appeal.
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Nicely Roasted
Sound Quality
94/100
Build Quality
85/100
Features Usability
86/100
Value for Money
85/100
Pros
Exceptionally detailed, agile and dynamic sound handles demanding tempos and rhythms with confidence.
Combines speed and punch with enough added body to build convincing momentum in dynamic music.
Remains composed and nuanced on small-scale recordings while delivering scale and precision on larger works.
PSX-R compatibility provides a documented route to further performance gains.
Cons
Its presentation remains somewhat lean, despite the improved substance noted in the review.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 94/100
The available listening review describes an unusually fast, detailed and dynamic CD player that remains composed and nuanced with smaller-scale music. Evidence for the later CDi-XR digital refinements is primarily manufacturer-supplied, but it points to lower-noise disc reading and conversion.
Tonal Balance Musicality
94/100
What Hi-Fi? found the CDi exhilarating, yet also “soothing and composed” when the music calls for it. The reviewer also heard more substance and body than before, allowing dense and dynamic music to build convincing momentum without losing musical ease.
Resolution Detail
96/100
Detail resolution is a defining strength in the available review, which praises its handling of nuance in small-scale recordings as well as the scale and precision of larger works. What Hi-Fi? called its resolution competitive with considerably more expensive players and highlighted agility through demanding rhythms and tempos.
Digital Performance
91/100
The original CDi review praises the upgraded 32-bit DAC section and hears speed, punch and precision rather than obvious digital hardness. Cyrus’s CDi-XR material further describes reduced re-reads, lower induced analogue-stage noise and a carefully calibrated QXR DAC, though these are design claims rather than independent listening findings.
FEATURES USABILITY PERFORMANCE 86/100
As a dedicated CD player, the CDi focuses on straightforward disc playback rather than network functionality. Its useful output provision and PSX-R upgrade path add flexibility for a conventional two-channel system.
Streaming Software
85/100
There is no streaming platform or control app to assess, which is appropriate for this disc-focused player. The supplied iR14 remote provides conventional playback control, while the reviews say little about day-to-day interface behaviour.
Features Connectivity
88/100
Twin analogue outputs plus optical and coaxial digital outputs make the CDi adaptable to a range of amplifier and DAC arrangements. The PSX-R connection offers a clear upgrade route, and What Hi-Fi? specifically notes that the external power supply can take performance further.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
85/100
Cyrus describes upgraded components, noise-conscious circuit design and a separately shielded DAC area within its distinctive half-width chassis. The reviews provide little independent comment on casework, mechanism feel or long-term durability.
Value for Money
85/100
The listed price range places the CDi in a competitive premium-CD-player market, while the strongest review describes resolution normally associated with much costlier machines. None of the supplied reviews directly weighs whether the player is good value against current rivals at its asking price.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
Online Reviews & Mentions
YouTube Reviews
Forum Mentions
No forum mentions found yet
Specifications
- Specification
- 32 bit QXR DAC
- Specification
- Servo Evolution technology
- Specification
- Twin analogue outputs
- Specification
- Optical and coaxial outputs
- Specification
- PSX-R upgrade connection
- Specification
- iR14 Remote control included
Manufacturer's Description — Cyrus Audio
The CDi is an integrated CD player from our Classic series, using the award winning Servo Evolution CD engine. Everything from the power stage through to the analogue output has been designed with sound quality in mind, and the results will exceed all your expectations.
Judged the best CD player over £1000 for ELEVEN consecutive years by What Hi-Fi? Magazine, the CDi is without doubt one of the most influential integrated CD players ever designed. You’ve never really heard your CDs until you’ve listened to them on a Cyrus CDi.
Cyrus CD players perform better because they generate far less background noise than other cd players. We call this our Servo-Evolution technology, and the principle itself is quite simple. Usually the laser mechanism (servo) which reads the data from a disc makes tiny movements side to side quite quickly to re-read miss-read data – this creates ‘servo noise’ and that impacts the ‘noise-floor’ limiting the quality of the sound output.
The principle objective with our CD players is to extract the data on the disc as accurately as possible the first time – and that is only possible through some very careful design and calibration in both the hardware and software elements of the player.
Following on from Cyrus’ trickle down approach, the CDi features the same 32 bit DAC featured in the DAC XP Signature. The move to 32 bit for Cyrus allows even greater detail retrieval and sonic resolution.
Twin analogue outputs and an optical and co-axial digital outputs allow the CDi to fit into a variety of setups.
The CDi features the latest generation of our slot load CD technology. This quiet and low contact mechanism provides a myriad of benefits to the traditional tray method of loading a CD, whilst also de-cluttering the front panel for an improved aesthetic.
The circuit of the CDi has been designed in 2 discrete sections, allowing the product to be upgradeable through the addition of our separate power supply, the PSX R).
This addition completely isolates the DAC section of the product, improving timing and eliminating any intermodulation which can impact the delicate analogue signals output. Whilst not necessary for outstanding performance, this addition is a valuable upgrade for the serious audiophile.
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- Acton Gate Audio — online and in-store — Cymru, United Kingdom (website)
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