Интегральные усилители — Cyrus Audio i9-XR

The i9-XR is an integrated amplifier of the XR range from the British company Cyrus Audio, and it houses a line and phono preamplifier, a DAC, a headphone amplifier and a two-channel power stage within a single compact case. It launched in 2023, with a US price of USD 4,499. Cyrus originally rated it at 2 x 91 W into 6 ohm, and its current specification lists 2 x 98 W into the same load.

Key specs that matter

Connections cover four analogue line inputs, one moving magnet phono input, a USB input working in asynchronous mode, and four S/PDIF digital inputs split evenly between optical and coaxial sockets. Over USB the DAC accepts PCM up to 32-bit and 384 kHz plus DSD256 and lower DSD rates, while the S/PDIF inputs take PCM up to 24-bit and 192 kHz. There is one analogue preamplifier output and a headphone output delivering 2 x 138 mW into 16 ohm at under 0.1% THD. Twin pairs of speaker terminals are provided. The unit measures 73 x 215 x 360 mm and weighs 6.5 kg. Balanced XLR inputs are absent.

Engineering and use context

The converter is the second generation of Cyrus's QXR design, built around the ESS ES9038Q2M chip, with every component and the board layout analysed and tuned by the engineering team. A high-speed analogue buffer follows the chip, and seven digital filter alignments can be selected by the user. The phono stage is a low-noise circuit derived from the Cyrus Phono Signature. In the preamplifier, input switching is done with relays, followed by a dedicated gain stage. The class AB power amplifier is wideband, with a flat response from DC to beyond 100 kHz. A port on the rear connects the optional PSU-XR, an external supply with five independent regulated rails in one box - for the i9-XR two rails feed the preamplifier and a second pair feeds the power amplifier. The front panel uses touch controls, an auto-standby timer of 20 minutes can be disabled, firmware can be updated over USB, and the supplied remote is backlit and able to learn codes.

Pairing

The double speaker terminals accept bi-wired loudspeakers, while the pre out makes bi-amping with an extra power amplifier possible. Sources can include an MM-equipped turntable, a computer over USB, a disc spinner via a coaxial or optical lead and a TV over optical, with the four line inputs left for streamers, tuners or other analogue sources.

Alternatives

The Cyrus i7-XR shares the same inputs, QXR DAC and headphone output but delivers 2 x 52 W and has no PSU-XR upgrade port.