|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
219.88.42.95
Has anyone had experience with old Cyrus amps? This one's got a scratchy line selector dial which is driving me crazy -- unless i keep tweaking the knobs, all my music sounds like its being played through a pepper grinder by an old waitress with emphysema. when i tweak the knobs, though, it's still a pretty groovy little amp.i've heard that cranky dials are a common problem in these oldies, and i don't know how available parts are, so i don't know whether to trust it to a repair shop or whether to file it under 'museum piece' and upgrade. If i don't upgrade the amp, i'll be able to upgrade the speakers -- that's another story.
i'd love some feedback
Follow Ups:
Take off the top and get some contact cleaner and clean the selector switch. You will find it easily on the board. The control knobs assembly is about 2 inches long, so it is not possible to reach anything from the front. Give a couple of shots to each of the volume and selector switch and work the controls back and forth.I don't have to mention to unplug the unit and let the contact cleaner dry for a while before replugging it in and turning it on.
The Cyrus 1 and 2 were good units. There isn't much wrong with yours.
That's good advise for an old classic. The new Cyrus Electronics units are very, very good but equally as expensive. The older units have a nice warm sound that is hard to duplicate for any reasonable sum (although the NAD 320BEE comes pretty close). You might be able to find some contact cleaner at the local Radio Shack if they still carry it but good chemicals are getting hard to find as the full strength stuff is sold only to professionals for environmental reasons. You could always try alcohol as a substitute, just be sure it dries thoroughly before using it again.
-Bill
thanks guysno radio shacks in this land, but the local repair shop sold me a can of pleasant smelling intoxicant that i've used. that's improved things a lot and i've plenty left over to have in my cocktail this evening. i've also plugged the cdp into the tuner line, which seems to have a cleaner contact (should have thought of this sooner).
things are sounding much clearer and i'm even getting more detail and a tighter sound for some reason. however, this amp might be a bit bright for me . . . (still looking for an excuse to upgrade)
the amp is fairly neutral. You are listening to CD. It can be very bright depending on your player. For a cheap upgrade you can perhaps upgrade your interconnects or speaker wire. I just got a chord cable for my Nait and it made a tremendous difference.
Glad you solved your problem with the cleaning. You might also try cleaning the rca jacks at the back with some contact cleaner or isopropyl alcohol. Make sure the unit is unplugged and again as other posters have indicated make sure the alcohol dries or evaporates before powering back up.
you're right -- one tweak at a time. my good cdp arrives in a couple of weeks. in the meantime i've been improvising with a sony walkman.however, there's a shiny looking Perreaux R200i in the shop, and i'm a bit of a magpie . . .
it was handy finding out about the cd vs tuner inputs -- couldn't believe my ears at first.
The Cyrus One had a "buffer" in the cd input. Thethought was, at the time, that cds sounded better rolled off on top. The tuner input was closer to flat.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: