Wyred 4 Sound ST-500 mkII

Randy Myers

Randy Myers

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I have a Wyred ST-500 mkII at home. It is up in the loft playing away. EJ recommends 500 hours to do a full break in of the amplifier.

First impression is purely cosmetic. The fit and finish is outstanding. Very well made, obviously Wyred does not cut corners. Top quality connectors. The amplifier looks very nice with the other W4S equipment.

I like that all of the Wyred equipment is fully balanced which is nice when they are all connected together with XLRs. I also like the way the pre-amplifier can trigger the power on the amplifier!

First listen sound pretty darn nice, clear, tight. Way to early to do any kind of comparisons or shot out if you will. The reviews talk about how neutral, un-colored the Wyred amps are. To early to tell, so we will see.
 
Keep us posted Randy. I'm very curious about your thoughts.
 
Well I want to get it burnt in for a while before doing a true head to head. I am not sure my old ears are as refined so much any more. Out of the box the amp sounds pretty darn good.... I certainly love the fit and finish of it... The Job is a dynamite amp also.... I am speculating the Job may very much be a more refined amp. But the fully balanced, matching the rest of my equipment, pre-amp turning it on and off, etc., and how it looks in my rack may win out for the Wyred over pure sound unless the Job blows it away.

It looks absolutely spectacular in my rack with the other gear!
 
Randy Myers said:
Well I want to get it burnt in for a while before doing a true head to head. I am not sure my old ears are as refined so much any more. Out of the box the amp sounds pretty darn good.... I certainly love the fit and finish of it... The Job is a dynamite amp also.... I am speculating the Job may very much be a more refined amp. But the fully balanced, matching the rest of my equipment, pre-amp turning it on and off, etc., and how it looks in my rack may win out for the Wyred over pure sound unless the Job blows it away.

It looks absolutely spectacular in my rack with the other gear!
Click to expand...

Let's say that you end up doing what you just said. Wyred over Job based on the collective look of your rack. I'll give it one month before you change back to Job or move on to something else better. In the long run, look never wins over sound.

Nonetheless it's always an exciting time playing with new gear. Enjoy and have fun!
 
I agree in what you say, for the most part. The look in the rack is one part of it, not the entirety. The matching the system cosmetically is a consideration; certainly electronic matching is a huge consideration. Meaning fully balanced throughout the chain, DAC to pre-amp to amplifier. Remote controllable where the pre-amp turns the amp on and off, another small part. Fit and finish is certainly part of the decision; how it is built and put together. Five year warranty has to be a big factor also. Being built just around the corner and being friends with EJ and Tony is definitely part of the equation; certainly American made becomes a factor also.

But, all of the above is inconsequential if the sound quality is not close. If the Job is night and day better then the decision is made. If they are both very good but different then that has to be part of the final outcome. If they are equivalent then the decision becomes easy.

With a little listening last evening and the W4S not even close to being broken in I would say they both sound good. The Job is probably going to end up being a little more refined. I think bottom end control and tightness will be won by the Wyred. I think mid-range will probably be open more solid with the Job. Sound stage depth and width may be won by the Job. A listen to Roger Waters last night was a tad reveling. However this is way early to doing any real comparisons because the Wyred has at least 100-200 hours to go before it can fairly be compared. So we will see.
 
From what I was reading the W4S amplifiers are using similar outputs to that being used by Bel Canto and Jeff Rowlands. All three use Bang & Olufsen ICEPower amplifier boards (not that I understand what this means :D). I also read that EJ and crew heavily modify the circuits especially the input buffer, to smooth out the amplifier even more. I have read some very good comparisons between the three, especially against the Bel Canto.

I also do not understand the difference in the various Class D amplifier technology. Assuming that B&O ICEPower is a different technology than the 994 Op Amps.
 
Randy Myers said:
From what I was reading the W4S amplifiers are using similar outputs to that being used by Bel Canto and Jeff Rowlands. All three use Bang & Olufsen ICEPower amplifier boards (not that I understand what this means :D). I also read that EJ and crew heavily modify the circuits especially the input buffer, to smooth out the amplifier even more. I have read some very good comparisons between the three, especially against the Bel Canto.

I also do not understand the difference in the various Class D amplifier technology. Assuming that B&O ICEPower is a different technology than the 994 Op Amps.
Click to expand...

Randy when I had my ST-500 not the mkII, I had issues with spades on the speakers terminals, I think EJ upgraded them or you could get the updated terminals for a few bucks. ps: took about 200 hours to bloom, but wow what tight bass.
 
Yea, the terminals appear to be top notch now. I do know they offer an upgraded terminal and internal wiring. It didn't seem to be necessary to me. I am also using bananas which seem to work very well.
 
Well when it was all said and done I went with the Wyred 4 Sound amplifier. The ST-500 mkII still has more breaking in to go, but it is smoothing out very nicely. In the latest comparisons the Job was a little smoother, and a little more open, especially in some acoustic instruments. Again this is very close in all regards. And the W4S has been moving closer and closer as it gets more hours on it.

There are two areas though where the Wyred has a very firm lead, to my ears in my system. A very tight hold and control on the bottom end and to my extreme surprise, separation and sound stage. The Wyred 4 Sound is actually quite amazing in this regards. This is one area that is very important to me. I just absolutely love imaging sound field aspects within my system. This is the one area where the W4S had a decisive lead.
 
Very nice Randy. Keep the updates coming. The first few weeks with my Nords was up and down, now they are wonderful, all the time.
 
Very cool Joe. I personally believe that neither ICEPower nor NCore are remarkably better than the other as far as Class D goes. I believe most important is how they are implemented. I believe that EJ is a remarkable young audio design engineer and he knows how to push the limits of the capabilities.

Very anxious to listen to his new amplifier that is nearing release. It already won best of show at the RMAF. It is supposed to be shown (maybe officially released?) at the Newport show. EJ is designing his own completely new amplifier circuit.
 
The ST-500 mkII appears to be improving almost daily. Smoothing out very nicely. Becoming much more musical and the harsh edge is almost gone! By far the one thing that is blowing me away the most is the separation and imaging. A mark improvement over the McIntosh and Job that were previously powering the little KEFs...

Now that I am not switching amplifiers back and forth I re-hooked the REL through the high level input as REL suggests. Going straight off the amp the bass is very tight.
 
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