I know there are a number of cyrus owners on the forum, but here is the bad news, you need to dig deep in your pockets with some new monos the £2500 Mono X 300 and £1700 Mono X 200.

Cyrus prices have shot through the roof in the last couple of years. And the Cyrus 6XP came dead last for sound quality in a group test of amps in HiFi Choice while being the most expensive. I think the value for money proposition is getting lower and I'm not sure Cyrus themselves recognise that.

I was surprised to see the price of the PSR, over £500 I remember they were £300 not so long ago.

This hobby has become out of the reach for all but the most fanatical of buffs.

OK - correction required: the group test is this month's HiFi News and the Cyrus was the 3rd most expensive of 7. It's unusual for Cyrus to 'show' badly but the listening panel really didn't get on with it this time.

In fact I think the PSX-R has managed to stay relatively low, but the 6XP entry level amplifier is now £925 (formerly £600) and that's the cheapest item in the range. The PSX-R had been £400 for a long long time and I didn't think it had broken the £500 barrier yet but even so, to go from £400 to £500 or £550 is a fair jump but £600 to £900? And then there's the rest of the range. Even not considering the competition I struggle to see the value for money proposition. Perhaps that's why we struggle to sell it...

Then again, we're struggling to see the value proposition of the new Chordette range which range from £400 to £2000 in tiny jewel like boxes. Most are around the £800 mark. Pretty though they undoubtedly are, they retail right in the meat of the 'audiophile on a budget' market. Has there been such a paradigm shift that they will sell? If you're wondering what I'm blathering on about check out http://www.chordelectronics.co.uk/products_cat.asp?cat=16 and bear in mind that each unit is about the size of an iPhone, just deeper. So yes, cute, but whatever happened to the idea that audiophiles expect to feel the width as well as the quality? Just not sure.

£925 for a Cyrus integrated? wow, how does it fare with it's peers at that price?

As you've probably surmised from my answer above, we don't have much joy with it.

Someone brought me a old Cyrus 1 I think it was last year as he thought it was broken, I found it a bit harsh sounding and bass light. I don't know how the latest versions sound, but I once also heard the III and it sounded good. but that amp was about £500, but that was a long time ago.