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RE: Wyred 4 Sound preamp STP-SE thoughts, anyone have this?

Posted by akatana2112 (A) on December 28, 2016 at 13:27:36

In Reply to: Wyred 4 Sound preamp STP-SE thoughts, anyone have this? posted by bullethead on December 26, 2016 at 18:40:19:

I am a current owner and everyday user of the W4S STP-SE preamp. I am too new to the audiophile hobby to provide an adequate review of its sonic characteristics, but I can say that it does convey a more deeply layered soundstage and an increase in dynamic details over a passive-only (non-buffered) stepped attenuator that I had tried in my system.

Here are a few findings/impressions:
1. The W4S philosophy is one of aesthetic pragmatism without sacrificing solidity. It has a nice retro-electronic lab equipment silver crinkle visible screw head vibe as opposed to billet-aluminum jewel-like museum piece.
2. Consistent with this theme is the smallish fluorescent display, which I can live with, but find somewhat unfortunate.
3. It is normal to hear low-level clicks through the speakers when changing volume levels as the switching relays interrupt non-zero signal levels.
4. If you set the display brightness to lower than maximum, another small click may be heard through the speakers as the display times-out from full brightness (such as after making a volume adjustment) to its selected brightness.
5. The remote control receiver is susceptible to IR interference. At times when I have my old plasma TV powered on, the screen output reflected off of the back of my coffee table and into the STP-SE faceplate will interfere with the operation of the remote control.
6. If you have a smartphone with an IR blaster, the Galaxy Universal Remote app has W4S codes built in. Cool!
7. The flywheel volume knob is absolutely wonderful! Even though it is not metal, it has a very high-quality feel to it, and satisfies my pathological fetish for knob spinning in the absence of a vintage FM tuner.
8. I'm not sure if selecting the inverted phase circuit imparts a sonic signature of its own, or that I'm actually hearing the effects of absolute phase inversion. However, it is a great feature to have, along with balance adjustment.

I hope this preamp works out for you!

AK

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