Cyrus CD7Q Cd player in very good used condition complete with original box, packaging, manual etc.

Smooth black finish

A fantatastic sounding CD player with the Q stage 24-bit Burr Brown DAC upgrade which cost £1100 new.

Hi-Fi Choice magazine best buy in 2002 - see review below for more details -

Cyrus CD7Q  © Hi Fi Choice April 2002

Cyrus CD7Q £1100   [Q7 upgrade module £350]

Sound *****  Value  ****

The Cyrus CD7Q is the promised enhancement to the basic CD7 which was previously reviewed favourably in HiFi Choice, and which remains available at a lower price point [£800]. The basics remain the same: the half-standard width case is made from non-magnetic alloy, which gives a clearly superior finish and an appearance that is as distinctive as ever, while also promoting low resonance. The MC system bus connectors allow the player to be fully integrated into an all-Cyrus system and users may upgrade by adding an external PSX-R power supply. The processor is also capable of being upgraded, which is basically what happens when the standard CD7 becomes a CD7Q.

Four 24-bit Burr Brown DACs are used in full differential balanced mode, which provides noise and disortion-cancelling properties, and the DAC itself is a higher spec, higher performance model than the one used in the plain CD7. A new remote control also includes amplifier source selection, along with level and balance controls. It is neater and more attractive than previous Cyrus handsets, but it would have been better still with some use of button shapes or colours for quick visual identification. The player is also compatible with both CD-R and CD-RW varieties of recordable CD.

This 'Q' version of the established CD7 sees Burr-Brown's PCM1716 DAC exchanged for a newer variant, the PCM1728, which offers the same 24bit/96kHz spec. Either way, the technical performance of the CD7Q is marginally superior. Jitter is reduced from 155psec to 145psec, which is within a few psec of the lowest value ever for a CD player, while the S/N ratio has widened from 103dB to 109.6dB. Low-level resolution is as impressive as ever with minimal errors of +0.0/-0.3dB over a 100dB range. Changes to the analogue filter network give the CD7Q a slightly 'sweeter' treble that rolls off at -0.7dB/20kHz while the suppression of ultrasonic noise and other spuriae is improved. On this sample, distortion is low but uniformly higher on the left than right channel - 0.003% vs 0.001% at 1kHz/0dBFs and 0.009% vs 0.007% at 20kHz/0dBFs, for example. IM distortion also registers 0.002% on the left, 0.0008% on the right. Otherwise, the CD7Q remains a compact and impressive package.

Sound Quality

This ambitious new model has all the hallmarks of previous Cyrus players, which have consistently performed well in our tests. It is subtle and engaging, without the obviously electronic thumbprint of many CD players, though one listener complained of a degree of sibilance. The consensus however, which I fully agree with based on my own testing with a wider range of partnering equpment and music, is that the CD7Q is an "expressive" player, which is "easy on the ear". But in contrast to lesser models in the Cyrus range, past and present, it is more physical sounding and has more gravitas. "It is smooth but has real punch" as one put it, and also impressively dynamic. Piano reproduction is particularly gratifying; the Ravel reproduced with an almost bell-like percussiveness and ripeness.

Its standout quality however is its imaging, which is unusually precise and well focused laterally and also in the depth plane, because subtle ambient cues are so well reproduced. This too was recognized by the panel, with comments praising the player's ability to differentiate depth information - particularly obvious when listening to the Vaughn Williams symphonic recording, which had absorbing depth and texture.

Conclusion

This is a fine player - refined, expressive and articulate, as well as tonallly neutral, and with a build quality that cedes nothing to the heavyweights in its class. It is a little more physical sounding that the CD7, with bolder tonal colours, and certainly well worth the extra cost. [existing CD7 players can be upgraded with the addition of a £350 Q7 module.]