Cyrus Audio has announced the launch of an upgrade card available for its classic amplifier range.  The QXR card upgrade provides, say Cyrus, “a major uplift in sonic performance” to existing integrated and pre-amplifiers through the addition of a 32bit/768k DAC and all-new asynchronous USB bridge. 

It also improves the performance of the built-in headphone amplifier and is available for numerous Cyrus products. The new QXR card is capable of processing PCM audio to 768k at a 32bit depth and ‘Native’ DSD 512, through the USB input. The high-specification ESS DAC uses asynchronous upsampling. Even via the lower resolution digital S/PDIF and Toslink interfaces, incoming signals are ‘reclocked’ to reduce noisy ‘jitter’. The improved headphone amplifier, included within the upgrade, reduces the noise floor. Capable of outputting 138mW per channel into 16ohm loads, it can comfortably drive headphones with impedances of up to 64ohm.

Customers wishing to get their products upgraded will need to register via the website and will be given a position in the upgrade queue. When their turn comes, they will be given instructions on how to return their products to Cyrus,  minimising the time they will be without their systems.

Simon Freethy, managing director, says, “This upgrade offers customers with amplifiers up to nearly a decade old, the ability to bring their systems right up to date. Capable of handling even the highest-resolution files, the performance uplift is nothing short of remarkable.  Even customers who already have the QX DAC fitted to their existing product will hear a vast improvement.”. He added, “We always try to foresee how a product might evolve, right from the concept phase. So it’s incredibly satisfying to be able to support our customers with such a superb upgrade option up to 10 years later.”

The QXR upgrade is compatible with: 82DAC, 82DAC Qx, 8 DAC, 8 DAC Qx, 8 a, 6 DAC, 6a, 8 XP, 8 XPd, 8 XPd Qx, 6 XP, 6 XPd, Pre2DAC, Pre2DAC Qx, Pre DAC, Pre DAC Qx, Pre XP, Pre XPd and Pre XPd Qx. Price will be £600 in the UK.

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