Why do people like integrated power in amplifiers, remember Mission Cyrus One :-)

[funkytwig]

Seems like a bad thing to me. Yes, you don't have a power brick but surely from magnetic interference, POV it's better not to have it near the main circuitry. Also makes it more difficult to fix if the power supply goes wrong, or upgrade it. I remember the Mission Cyrus One which had an upgrade that was an external power supply. Lovely Amp and kick-ass phono stage.

 

[beren777]

Convenience, and a lack of performance degradation when implemented competently. You can shove a Purifi EVAL1 and a Hypex SMPS into a Ghent case and you're not going to hear anything from the power supply.

 

[funkytwig]

I get that but the class D amp I saw was tiny even with inbuilt PSU so not convinced. however, I guess if the measurements here are good it's not an issue.

I also find the smaller cables from the bricks are easier to cable manage on a desk.

 

[DSJR]

The original Cyrus 1 and 2 were basically power amps with a volume pot on the front (and input select before that). Sold at reasonable prices for the time, this was when pre an dpower amps cost substantially more in their home UK market. martin Colloms rated them in his 'Choice reviews and dealer managers got a good free skiing holiday if they met sales targets, so what's not to like In fairness, the '2' with PSX supply was and still is I suspect, a good integrated amp on the used market, the 'One' too low in power and easily stressed by the likes of me...

 

[DVDdoug]

ThatMission Cyrus On is rather odd. In the old days an integrated amp was essentially a receiver (with all of the switching & controls of a preamp) but without the tuner... Even that seems like an odd concept but they were somewhat popular. It seems weird not to throw-in a tuner. I might still have a separate tuner in a closet. At one time I had built a preamp and I had a separate power amp. That power amp is now powering a subwoofer with an AVR for everything else.

 

[funkytwig]

They seem to be going for around £200 still. When I got my second one 10 years ago it was getting difficult to find ones that still worked perfectly as then they were discontinued a VERRY long time ago even then.

So the thing I wonder is what would people recommend as a worthwhile upgrade if someone likes them. How much would you have to pay now to get an equivalent amp? I know its very subjective but would love to know what people think?

 

[Doodski]

The original Cyrus 1 and 2 were basically power amps with a volume pot on the front (and input select before that). Sold at reasonable prices for the time, this was when pre an dpower amps cost substantially more in their home UK market. martin Colloms rated them in his 'Choice reviews and dealer managers got a good free skiing holiday if they met sales targets, so what's not to like In fairness, the '2' with PSX supply was and still is I suspect, a good integrated amp on the used market, the 'One' too low in power and easily stressed by the likes of me...

I retailed the Mission Cyrus amps and power supply when they where new models. I moved them into the sound room to do a AB comparison and found they sounded the same as a much less expensive comparable Yamaha of the time. The sales staff quietly moved them out onto the floor where they could not be compared to other gear. Overpriced and underpowered. I never sold one of them.

 

[Soandso]

As others mentioned: integrated amps provide convenience and phono circuitry. Some older designs had a specific selector switch for whether your cartridge was the MC or MM type. There were even designs that included a sub-sonic filter in the phono circuitry that protected your speakers from overloading when playing warped records.

 

[DSJR]

I retailed the Mission Cyrus amps and power supply when they where new models. I moved them into the sound room to do a AB comparison and found they sounded the same as a much less expensive comparable Yamaha of the time. The sales staff quietly moved them out onto the floor where they could not be compared to other gear. Overpriced and underpowered. I never sold one of them.

We never sold the Yamaha separates (but did do the oddball but quaint integrated system (C10?) which sounded fine for a small room basic sound system and we did have a pair of NS10's, which didn't sound at all over-shrill sat on a bookshelf with shelves above and below - I really liked the tactile clarity and lack of smear (not Danny's version of smear either). As a result, I never got to hear the ancestors of the current Yamaha amp range to see how they developed from the favourite old CA600/800/1000's of fifteen years previously 'Choice reviewed and liked the basic 300 and 500 amps I remember.

The thing is for us, the early Cyrus amps were UK made, at least to start with I recall and promoting the home manufacturing side was important to us back then. I believe they shifted production to the far east after a while, but it's lost in history for me now...