Every month, we review the latest products and technology to provide you with a 'heads up' on what's the latest in our ever-changing world of hi fi. All we can say is these products are very "cool".

What Hi-Fi Review 2008:
Cyrus CD 6 SE CD Player
 
For
Dynamics, timing and punch are as good as they get; slot-loader is far nicer to use than the old drawer; upgradeable

Against
Partner with care if you want the best performance

Rarely has a range had such a rocky start. Last year Cyrus announced replacements for its range of Award-winning CD players. Nothing odd in that, you might think; except the launch was postponed. A month, six months, and then a year went past without any sign of the new players.

Delivery dates for review samples were given and missed repeatedly. Then, finally, out of the blue, the CD 6 SE turns up.

Cyrus's entry-level player now costs £800: more than the last model and significantly more expensive than rivals such as Roksan's Kandy. The main change between this player and the last version is the transport. The DAC, power supply and audio circuits remain much the same as before.

The new transport uses a slot-loading mechanism - a more elegant solution than the drawer of before – and it is controlled by Cyrus's own software. That software governs everything from the loader to the laser sled and motors, and it's what the SE (Servo Evolution) in the product's name refers to. A bit of software code may not sound like much, but it is a big deal.

Cyrus claims 20 per cent fewer data errors from its new CD engine than from the Philips-based kit it used in its older machines. A vast improvement – and a figure we would have taken with a ton of salt had we not heard the CD 6 SE.

The Cyrus CD 6 SE is a revelation

Quite simply this player is astonishing. Not astonishing for the price, you understand, but astonishing: full stop. In its areas of strength – timing, dynamics and punch – this player is comparable with the very best machines around, regardless of price. We should repeat that: regardless of price.

Our reference Naim CDS3/555PS (circa £10,000) delivers more of the harmonic detail of acoustic instruments and has more authority and scale. The Cyrus counters with better organisation and improved agility, and delivers the leading edge of notes with greater precision.

Which you prefer comes down to taste. Consider the price difference and you'll see just how great Cyrus's achievement is.

If the CD 6 SE compares favourably to one of the best high-end machines around, you can imagine what it does to similarly priced opposition. The likes of Rega's Apollo are flattened – and we suspect the same would be true of most players below the £1000 mark.

We played everything from Stravinsky to Grinderman and this fabulous all-rounder never failed to impress. Normally we'd recommend a good sub-£1000 integrated amp with similarly priced speakers for a CD player at this price point. That would work just fine, and we have no doubt the CD 6 SE would deliver a great sound.

It more than justifies pricier partners.
However, this player easily justifies more expenditure on the rest of the set-up. We partnered it with £15,000 worth of electronics and speakers and it wasn't the weakest link. Really.

Flaws? Sonically, no. But avoid bright or thin-sounding systems, or the vivid dynamics and energetic delivery could well be too much of a good thing. Choose kit that's refined, but still has transparency, dynamics and timing to burn and you won't go wrong. Also, the new slot-loader isn't the quickest thinker around. Be patient and everything will be fine.

The CD 6 SE is a landmark product that redefines the performance level at its price point. If we could award more than five stars, we would.

What Hi-Fi Review 2008:
Cyrus CD 8 SE CD Player

For
A brilliant sonic performer; ease of use; upgradeability

Against
Transport software is a little slow-witted;’ fussy about disc quality

If you’re a regular reader you can’t fail to have noticed we’ve been mightily impressed by Cyrus’s new SE range of CD players.

The entry-level CD 6 SE is good enough to batter anything we’ve heard below the grand, and the upmarket transport and DAC will worry all but the very best of the high-end.

So, where does the CD 8 SE come in? This player could quite easily have fallen between two stools, but it doesn’t. Cyrus has judged the performance (and price) perfectly.

Given a couple of days to run-in the CD 8 SE delivers everything its little brother does and then some. When it comes to organisation, timing, and punch we ‘d find the two hard to separate.

Adds increased resolution
No surprise really, considering the standards they set in these areas are just about as good as CD players get. The CD 8 SE then adds increased resolution, greater subtlety and authority into the mix, so pulling ahead of its cheaper sibling.

It makes the £300 price premium easy to justify, particularly when you consider the 8 can be upgraded by connecting Cyrus’s £450 PSX-R outboard power supply and the 6 can’t.

The junior player has to be upgraded to 8 status first, which can be done by the factory for little more than the difference in price between the machines. That’s the great thing about Cyrus components: they’re rarely dead-end products and usually have some sort of upgradeability built-in.

With or without the power supply the CD 8 SE is a supremely musical machine. It’s as happy delivering the thunder of Holst’s Mars as it is rocking out to Nirvana.

Direct emotional connection
Judged in purely hi-fi terms it’s astonishingly hard to criticise and musically that translates to a machine that gets straight to the emotional heart of the music. You’re never left in any doubt as to what the singer or composer wants you to feel. That kind of direct emotional connection is very rare indeed, even at far higher price points than this.

Provided the rest of your system is good enough we have no doubt the CD 8 SE will thrill and engross better than any other machine at this price level.

As with all top class equipment a bit of pampering doesn’t go amiss. A good dedicated equipment rack is essential, as are decent interconnects – Cyrus’s own work well. This player also responds well to specialist mains cables, and in our system Clearer Audio’s Copper-line (£95) worked a treat, improving refinement and dynamics notably.

The sonic advance of Cyrus’s SE range over the company’s last generation of players is down to the new transport including the slot loader mechanism and control software. The rest of the machine, DACs, power supply and casework remain pretty much unchanged.

This new transport system is fussier about disc quality than most rivals. Occasionally certain discs, usually CD-Rs, may not load first time, though in most cases reloading the disc does the trick. Be a little patient and all will be fine.

That said, we can’t over-emphasise just how good this player sounds. If we had this kind of budget the CD 8 SE is where our money would go. You can’t get a higher recommendation than that.
 

AktiMate Mini Active Speakers
 

So complete has Apple Computer's expansion beyond personal computing been, that for the first time in its 30-year history, the word 'computer' has been dropped from its name altogether, henceforth to be known simply as Apple Inc.

2007 has entrenched Apple's move into the wider consumer electronics market with the US release of the iPhone, complemented by a digital video device, Apple TV. But, the product that undeniably brought Apple back from the brink of the early 1990s has been the iPod, whose line remains the most successful Apple product of all; far outselling any of the company's computer offerings.

One such product, and genuinely fresh off the production line and launched in Australia while we were preparing this review, is the AktiMate Mini iPod Docking Loudspeakers.

Although, whether or not you choose to use an iPod, or some other kind of MP3 (or even MP4) player with the AktiMate Mini is entirely up to you, as there is a mini-jack input allowing connection to all devices. Undoubtedly though, it was the ubiquitous white and black devices from Apple that was foremost in the designer's mind, as there is an iPod specific dock in the top of the main speaker. And of course, the AktiMate Mini is available in either a high gloss black or white to match your own iPod.

My iPod Nano fitted straight in, but if you own an earlier model, the AktiMates come with all of the adaptors necessary to plug and play. And I do mean plug and play! The main speaker is powered, which means that it has an internal amplifier built in and the other speaker is passive, drawing its power off the main speaker. Just hook it up with the speaker cable included in the box. It could not be easier. When you are all plugged in with an iPod mounted, you can use the included remote control to scroll through the menu playing the songs you want. The menu key on the remote controls the iPod as if your thumb was over the scroll wheel as normal. You then have the ability to select up and down between songs and pause and play at will. The menu on the iPod shows you what is going on as normal. It is fun I must admit to remotely control a device that is otherwise always in your hand.

If you own an iPod with a video out, then you need not lose this feature simply because it is being used with the AktiMate, which also has a video connection. All you need to do is to take a single RCA lead from here into you TV or video monitor and all of your iPod video and images are now available on the big screen. As stated, the most obvious way to use the AktiMate is with an iPod, but some flexibility is built in. Besides the minijack, there is a pair of RCA inputs that allow connection to a CD player or any other line-level source. A pair of RCA outputs allows the use of a subwoofer, or the connection of a second pair of AktiMates. There is a USB connector also which you can use to charge an MP3 player. If you use the iPod dock, your player is charged automatically.

But are the loudspeakers themselves any good? Well, if providence has anything to do with it, then yes. The AktiMates Minis have been designed by Mike Creek, of Creek Audio and Epos fame, who has licensed a number of Epos components for use with the AktiMates. You have a 130mm polypropylene mid/bass driver of Epos origin, and a 25mm metal dome tweeter, similarly off the Epos line.

Through the large ports in the rear of the speakers, bass extends down to about 55Hz, which is pretty good going for a smallish pair of monitors. There is any number of sub-$1,000 speakers out there, but finding a pair sporting components from a proper hi-fi brand such as Epos is great to find. When this destined for review pair turned up at my office, I couldn't wait, I decided to use them there and then on my bookcase. The space was pretty confined, so the sound was initially boomy; Saturday night on Sydney's Oxford Street boomy.

With those big ports firing backwards, you have to give them some room to breath. I moved them and the sound evened right out. Having never heard my iPod through anything other than a pair of Koss headphones before, I was actually well impressed with just how good it sounded - smooth and grain-free. The amplifier produces 40 watts of power which is plenty to push the drivers along. But be realistic; you are not going to be using them to host a block party. You get used to controlling the iPod with a remote in about 30 seconds - from then on, there's no stopping you.

I found my time with the AktiMate Mini a real blast. It's a fuss-free way to get even greater use out of your MP3 player than ever before. They sound good and are simple to install. If you are one of the ever growing number of people who get all of their music from digital files, it might just be all the music player you'll ever need.

For more information please click here (downloadable PDF 51.3KB)

Fatman iTube Valve Dock
 

Want to be able to listen to your iPod in style? Want that luscious warm analogue sound combined with the ease of use of digital technology?  We present the Fatman iTube Valve Dock.

This unit features a docking station that is compatible with all iPods (except Shuffle). You can control the iPod functions via the remote control – allowing you to sit back and relax whilst enjoying your favourite music and movies (yes, you can watch the movies and images on your TV too !)

In addition to this we have developed a matching valve amplifier. This provides the classic audio characteristics of valves, improving the listening experience and adding value to your iPod system.

The amplifier can also take alternative sound sources to allow for more audio options as well as a video output to connect video enabled iPods to your TV!

Sonos. Play a song, any song. From anywhere.
 

Sonos is the FIRST and ONLY wireless multi-room digital music system that lets you play your music all over your house, and control it all from the palm of your hand. With the wireless Sonos Controller you have instant access to your entire music collection, internet radio, podcasts, audio books and music services. Best of all, you don’t need a computer in every room, a music server or a wireless network. All you need is a ZonePlayer and speakers in the rooms of your choice, and a Controller in hand to access all your digital music, no matter where it’s stored.

Australian Hi-Fi Review – by Greg Borrowman

"This is a beautifully crafted system. The seamless way in which the system operates is simply magical: it’s by far and away the most user-friendly system of its type I have ever experienced… and I use the word “magical” in its traditional sense, because everything does happen just like magic. Give the Sonos controller to someone who’s never seen one before and within a few minutes, they’ll be able to locate albums and tracks, play back what they’ve found… even program their own Playlists.

But what I most love about the Sonos ZonePlayer system is the way it wirelessly integrates a media server with an expandable, multi-room entertainment system, while simultaneously expanding the useability of your existing home hi-fi system. Your hi-fi system not only is made more flexible and useful by integrating it with a Sonos, but you will also improve the performance of the Sonos by connecting it to your hi-fi system. That’s a win-win scenario if ever I saw one!

I`d have absolutely no hesitation in incorporating the ZP80 into any high-end audiophile system."

Cambridge Audio 840C Up-Sampling Cd Player
 

The new Azur 840C up-sampling CD Player pushes digital boundaries by embracing a raft of proprietary new technologies.

AFT (Adaptive Time Filtering) asynchronous up-sampling has been developed in conjunction with Anagram Technologoes of Switzerland. This system intelligently interpolates 16-bit/44.1kHz CD data to 24-bit/384kHz, through the use of a 32-bit Analog Devices Black Fin DSP. This in turn feeds two 24-bit/384kHz Analog Devices DACs in dual differential formation.

Both balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA outputs are fitted with two digital inputs, also provided, which even allow the up-sampling and playback of other sources, such as a DVD player via the Azur 840C.

The 7mm thick aluminium front panel oozes class, as does everything about this finely crafted music making machine.

But how does it sound I hear you ask? Hi-Fi Choice had this to say in awarding the Azur 840C a coveted Gold Award in 2006: “A genuinely innovative CD player of extraordinary ability given its price point. Its sound is beautifully subtle and refined – truly an ‘open window’ on the music being played.”