Analog Gear News

Cyrus Audio continues to fill out the formidable 40 line with their latest offering, the 40 PPA phono preamp. (We initially covered the venerable British company’s Classic PHONO preamp here on AP back on March 25, 2024. The Classic PHONO was an update of Cyrus’ notable Signature line, and it was released in celebration of the company’s 40th anniversary last year.)

According to Cyrus — and according to us as well, frankly — one of the key features of the 40 PPA phono pre is its ability to connect up to four sources, allowing the user to switch between turntables, tonearms, and/or cartridges accordingly. Each input of the 40 PPA (with zero guesses granted for what those three letters stand for, btw) can be adjusted between MM (moving magnet) and MC (moving coil) cartridges, for which specific gain (in 5dB steps), resistance, and capacitance can be set independently.

The 40 PPA enjoys a high capacity and very low noise DC power supply that enables the preamp to provide (in their words) “an extremely wide dynamic range ensuring extended signal levels long before clipping.” Cyrus also points out that their attention to circuit layout and component placement ensures a very low noise floor in order to “further expand musical dynamics.”

The 40 PPA is housed in a sleek, brushed and black hard-anodized aluminium case that sports a 5in hi-res TFT display with a toughened glass front panel and hidden-until-lit capacitive touch controls. Depending on your system setup, the 40 PPA provides both balanced XLR output and/or unbalanced RCA output options.

The custom-designed remote (seen below) allows for full setup and operation of the 40 PPA as well as other 40 series Cyrus products. Other features of the unit include stereo output level meters with peak hold to optimize MC gain, a warp filter intended to reduce bass excursion on warped LPs, a ground lift switch to help eliminate ground hum issues, is 40 PSU compatible, and boasts RJ45 Ethernet and USB-A for respective firmware updates.

The 40 PPA comes with a 5-year warranty. Its dimensions are 8.66 x 3.46 x 14.37in (220 x 88 x 365mm; w/h/d), and it weighs 10.6lb (4.8kg).

Finally, the SRP for the Cyrus Audio PPA 40 phono preamp is $2,899 U.S., or £1,995 / €2,499 across the Pond.

For more about Cyrus Audio, go here.
To find an authorized Cyrus Audio dealer, go here.