Cyrus Stream

Do you need one??

No he doesn't, IMO.  But the way to find out is to find a friendly Cyrus dealer who'll lend you one and compare it to the SBT plugged into your XPd's optical in, and see whether it's worth the money.

Don't waste your money on Cyrus Stream buy yourself either Squeezebox Touch or sonos much better and flexible option then Cyrus wihtout any compromise on SQ, I am saying this as Cyrus owner.

Got one already...

And the rest!

Yes, 'inter alia' doesn't quite cover it really does it

I think the best choice for you would be the Stream X V2.  Make sure its the V2 as its the only one to handle 24 bit 192khz files.

You have the XPd QX which is Cyrus's 2nd best DAC.  The DAC X is better.

If you use the coax digiital connections you should have the best SQ.

I would recomend saving the difference between the Stream X and the Stream XP and use it to fund an upgrade to a DAC XP sometime in the future.  Mind you there are some good deals around at the moment for ex-demp DAC XP's

+1 Stream X2 to answer the OP's question

The sound quality difference from the integrated top the pre/power is massive in my opinion.. I'd agree with others get the New stream xp2 qx or whatever it's called.. I already had pre/power and although it was very nice sound I LOVED the extra mid/low end punch from the Naim streamer for some of my music.. I liked the Cyrus streamer tho and would be a perfect step for you to go pre/power

Thanks for the recommendations, I have only recently aquired the Cyrus and squeezebox equipment.

I am not a big fan of the squeezebox and would prefer to add a Cyrus streamer to the system.

If you wanted to keep the amp and source sections seperate as i did then try the new stream x2.. I'd also recommend tryin the naim ND5 XS as i was blown away by it.. They are both extremely well made and high sound quality pices of kit for the money. It will just come down to personal taste..

Lateral thinking, but how about a Mac Mini feeding the XPd? About half the price of the X2, maybe a bit more if you get Pure Music or Amarra on it as well. Or go for a dedicated Windows machine (to save any anti-Apple comments)

I use a dedicated Mac Mini  / Pure into an Arcam rDac (and then Ayre AX7e and Harbeth 7/2's). I haven't tried a dedicated streamer so don't know how it would compare sound quality wise. But I do know the front end beats the Meridian 508 that I used to use, which itself was no slouch.

How about WHF do a shootout between dedicated streamers and the PC/Dac option? After all the streamer is essentially a computer with the extraneous bits stripped out; how much of a difference does it really make? I suspect not much, if any at all, but the truth would be in listening. I've suggested this before and had a few people agreeing; are the hi-fi manufacturers confident enough in the superiority of streamers to submit to the test?! And who mentioned advertising revenues (waits for clip round the ear from moderator )

I've got a mac mini now and that was my setup.. Optical into xpd qx. There's been endless arguments on here about how can it be different if it's bit perfect etc.. I was stunned by the difference.. I can't tell you what causes it etc pre DAC but the difference is extremly noticable.. For me anyway.. Maybe try a home dem and see what you think.. It certainly would be a cheap/free solution if you already have a computer for the time being if nothing else.. Plus mac mini's are awesome

I already have a server with all my music ripped to it, the idea is not to require a computer anywhere near the system, but to stream the music to it.

My Server is in the loft area running headless and I use my PC (office area) to rip the music direct to the server.

The system is in an entirely different room and currently runs wirelessly. I have a very strong wireless setup and do not have any issues with it.

Yet more lateral thinking.  

What about Sonos?  May be worth trialling the Cyrus streamer and sonos against each other?  I have a Cyrus ans Sonos combination and it's fantastic.