While many well-known ‘manufacturers’ get their products
built in China, there are still not that many Chinese companies that have
managed to establish a profile as strong as that of Opera Audio from Beijing.
The fact that Opera’s Consonance Cyber-100 amplifier celebrates its 15th
anniversary shows just how well established this brand has become.
The Cyber-100 is an integrated amplifier with KT88 or 6550
output pentodes operated in a Class A, pushpull configuration. It has a
specified output of 35 watts per channel and separate eight and four ohm taps
on its output transformers. What distinguishes the anniversary edition from its
predecessor, which is still in production, is the use of valve rather than
solid state recitification in its power supply. This has always been a
preferred approach where sound quality is concerned, but inevitably adds to
cost. The other difference is in appearance; the anniversary has a black
anodised chassis with an alloy rather than wooden top over the transformers.
Cyber-100 15th
Anniversary black edition
The ironwork within is hand wound by Opera with a
nonsymmetrical configuration that’s designed to make power pentodes like the
KT88 function and sound like single-ended triodes. While it might make more
sense to simply buy an SET amp, such as the Cyber 300B series in the Consonance
range, such things are rarely powerful. Personally I prefer the grip of
push-pull, but if you have high sensitivity speakers SETs have a magic that few
technologies can match.
The Cyber-100 is self biasing for the output tubes and
drives each pair with a 5687 (12BH7) triode. It employs a rectifier circuit
that combines a 5AR4 EH with Philips electrolytic capacitors, and the input
driver is a single ECC83. The UK distributor is offering the Anniversary
edition with upgraded output tubes in the form of Shuguang Treasure Series
KT88s for an extra $330, which represents an $140 saving on buying them
separately. The valves on this amp as it was delivered were Russian Electro
Harmonix types, but AA Acoustics tells me that Consonance also supply it with
JJ Electronic valves.
Electro harmonix
KT88
Fit and finish is extremely high on this amplifier; the use
of brushed alloy casework and deep RCA phono socketry give it distinctly
‘un-Chinese’ feel. Even the feet are nicely considered, which is uncommon. The
speaker terminals and control knobs are of decent quality that’s appropriate to
the price, as is the remote control brick. The latter is metal and oddly square
shaped, but does offer control of volume and input as well as transport
controls for Consonance CD players via ball shaped buttons. The German-made
power switch is located on the amplifier’s side, in order to keep the front
lines simple. The amp has five inputs and a tape output all via single-ended RCAs
only, balanced operation being pretty scarce with amps of any stripe at this
price and all but unheard of in valve amps. As you might imagine, it’s a
substantial beast; the spec only gives packed weight, but very little of that
25kg is packing.
The ‘none more black’ look is very cool, but a bit of
guidance might help. In particular, the loudspeaker terminals are not
specifically marked for ‘left’ and ‘right’. This is not a big deal, as they
adhere to the intuitive standard of left going to left and right to right, but
someone with the IQ and streetsmarts of a reviewer could end up getting this
wrong. Oops.
Cyber-100 15th
Anniversary standard version
As I had the Vivid Giya G3 at the same time as the
Cyber-100, I used that unlikely partner first. It’s not a typical choice for a
valve amp, but has an average 87dB sensitivity and seemed to work well. The
sound produced by this pairing was highly encouraging from the off; it
delivered strong leading edges, reasonable bass power, and excellent speed. It
also became apparent pretty quickly that it has a considerably cleaner midband
than my ATC P1 power amplifier, which sounds a little grubby by comparison. The
Cyber-100s nimbleness combined with decent low end control was a pleasant
surprise. Equally pleasing is the sense of focus to the image; it’s not big and
soft as can be the case with valves. If anything, it’s restricted in scale,
with the Vivids at least.
