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New preamp, so far so good out of the box

108.14.104.71

Posted on January 4, 2017 at 08:33:32






Got the Wyred 4 Sound STP-SE today, hooked it up, out of the box sounds good.

Will chime in in a few months my thoughts further.

Pretty happy man I am. Thanks for all the comments before, this one is a keeper.

 

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Somebody should have given you a camera for Christmas..., posted on January 5, 2017 at 09:38:27
Ozzy
Audiophile

Posts: 7583
Joined: September 21, 1999
...even my f&*ked up Blackberry takes better pics.

Oz




Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
- Winston Churchill

 

RE: New preamp, so far so good out of the box, posted on January 5, 2017 at 03:26:45
Quint
Dealer

Posts: 3657
Joined: June 21, 2003
Looks good! I hope the W4S gives you a lot of pleasure.

I see that you have a Taranis, though. Nice amp! I've heard the Veritas a couple of times, and they were impressive.

FWIW, I have something of a cable "rat's nest" myself--ironic, given that my system isn't particularly complex! But it does become rather ungainly in a hurry.

Hope you're feeling better.



This is a public service announcement . . . WITH GUITARS!!!

 

RE: New preamp, so far so good out of the box, posted on January 5, 2017 at 07:58:05
Thanks for the kind words, the Taranis amplifier is an excellent feat of engineering. It has lots of power and drives my low sensitivity speakers with no problem. To have that kind of power from a traditional SS amp it would have to be be very big, large heat sinks, and drain my local power grid, hah.

This is my second day with the preamp, I've been running it for many hours now, very nice sound. I don't feel I am fully qualified to write reviews of audio equipment anymore, I know what I had before and what I have now. This is the best sounding preamp I've used so far, possibly due to the passive design, others say it is indeed a buffered passive.

Got a fine preamp I hope to get at least a decade or more out of before the upgrade bug hits me again. My system in in a state of the best I've heard, besides of course listening to megabuck systems at audio shows, that is a pipe dream, but good to know you can compare to something like that and not feel like you are missing out.

 

Let us know what you think. I've been curious about that one., posted on January 4, 2017 at 19:44:01
AbeCollins
Audiophile

Posts: 46200
Location: USA
Joined: June 22, 2001
Contributor
  Since:
February 2, 2002

I've always been curious about the W4S STP-SE preamp. Let us know how you like it. And as Daverz asked, I too wonder if you've tried the Vega direct to your amp, and how that sounds compared to using the STP-SE. Enjoy your new toy!



 

RE: Let us know what you think. I've been curious about that one., posted on January 4, 2017 at 20:22:33
thanks for the well wishes, I will chime in in a few months after the electronics settle.

so far very very good from what I am hearing. thanks

 

Vega direct, posted on January 4, 2017 at 19:37:42
Daverz
Audiophile

Posts: 2103
Location: So. California
Joined: September 24, 2002
Have you tried connecting the Vega directly to your amp?

 

RE: Vega direct, posted on January 4, 2017 at 20:21:00
yes, I tried that earlier on when I first bought the Vega. I honestly did not like the sound as the preamp section to my ears was not optimal compared to a separate preamp in the chain. Initially I thought it sounded good, however after a comparison to a preamp in the chain I decided it was best to leave preamp duties to a regular preamp.

 

Enjoy - it looks beautiful nt, posted on January 4, 2017 at 13:40:51
G Squared
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.
Gsquared

 

listening for a few hours now, in passive, posted on January 4, 2017 at 14:11:17
I am pretty amazed at the sound quality I am hearing. Very clear with no bass bloat at all, very tight as the musicians say. Very much detail, nice presence.

Put on some well recorded hip hop from the early 90s Columbia records, Cypress Hill III, Temples of Boom which is an outstanding record. This album was recorded during the bands psychedelic mushroom and acid experimentation phase and tends to shy away from the normal pro weed rants and goes against the grain with tracks of insanity. It was rated the worst Cypress Hill album by the critics however it is the darkest sounding hip hop album I have in my collection, with songs about losing ones mind to how the music industry is a sham, in Pink Floyd fashion, well recorded early 90s Columbia Records.

Passive pre-amplification I think is all I'll use, as I don't listen so loud where the active stage will kick in.

Very very impressive, especially for under $2k. Which is basically the level I can afford for component investments as I am a working man.

 

RE: listening for a few hours now, in passive, posted on January 4, 2017 at 15:50:29
E-Stat
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April 5, 2002
Passive pre-amplification I think is all I'll use, as I don't listen so loud where the active stage will kick in.

That's good since it is primarily a buffered passive with only 6 db of gain. Since I enjoy vinyl playback, that would be insufficient since my preamp splits the gain duty between the phono and line stages.

And I'll echo the suggestion to get control of your cable morass.

 

RE: listening for a few hours now, in passive, posted on January 4, 2017 at 16:08:45
I do not believe in cable elevators and majik enhancements by messing with cable placement, however I have heard tangible results from doing such things, that is an element of esoteric occult ritual that I don't have time to take part in, saying I don't believe in that does not discount the fact that I believe it does work. I also have no WAF so I choose the birds nest for gnomes, fairies and other illuminated creatures to come nest and visit during my listening sessions. However detrimental to the sound that may be from the distraction caused by them.

thanks for your comments,

 

Ok, but, posted on January 4, 2017 at 16:23:44
E-Stat
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April 5, 2002
I do not believe in cable elevators and majik enhancements by messing with cable placement

What does that have to do with any of my comments? Elevators are used for long runs as to speakers.

Your rat's nest can be cured. :)

 

RE: New preamp, so far so good out of the box, posted on January 4, 2017 at 09:10:06
RickeyM
Audiophile

Posts: 2208
Location: East Coast
Joined: March 15, 2003
Good Lord man, organize those wires! Now that the "Wiring Police" rant is over...
What were you using before and what does the STP-SE do better? Inquiring minds want to know :)

 

Haha, the birds nest, posted on January 4, 2017 at 09:18:22



I was using a Bel Canto Pre3 that I bought used on eBay and had for about a decade. It was getting long in the tooth.

I needed balanced outputs and inputs, as well as analog outputs and inputs and this Wyred 4 Sound has both, and two sets of balanced outputs and two sets of analogue outputs. Two sets of balanced inputs, and three sets of analog inputs. I have a Gallo sub amp for the second voicecoil of my speakers that needs analog outputs, and my amp is balanced only.

I am not sure it does anything better in my mind compared to Bel Canto, it does sound more defined and elite but I can't comment honestly right now because I just got it. Manual says 200 hours before settling,

 

RE: Haha, the birds nest, posted on January 4, 2017 at 20:26:29
fantja
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Posts: 15486
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
Nice pic of those Cables- bullethead.

give me a run-down of the brands that you are using in the pic?

 

sure, thanks a lot, posted on January 4, 2017 at 20:42:57
a happy family of kimber, gutwire, nordost, audioquest, blue jeans, and shunyata, perhaps some others but I forgot the names off the top of my head.

mainly the XLRs are silver core, including the AES connection which is a Kimber Illuminations Orchid, Nordost speaker cable is silver, audioquest mostly interconnects and I love the audioquest diamond toslink I am using. blue jeans is a backup spdif, mainly use audioquest VDM-5 for spdif.

shunyata zitron cobra for power, to be honest I think the power is very important, I changed the outlet to hospital grade as well. using analysis plus oval 9 for the second voice coil for my speakers from the gallo amp to power down to 22hz for the bass.

The main chain is silver from XLR out from DAC to preamp and as well as XLR to amp to the output speaker cable which is also silver. I get a very neutral sound. Not bright at all, not as dull as copper wire, no coloration that I can hear, but perhaps I am used to it by now.

please excuse my run on sentences, I hope this makes sense, I am exhausted right now and not feeling too well.

 

RE: sure, thanks a lot, posted on January 4, 2017 at 22:24:25
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15486
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
It goes to show that a hodge/podge of Cabling can work!

 

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