WYRED4SOUND STP-SE IN HOUSE UPGRADES


Wyred4Sound recently announced a Stage 1 and Stage 2 upgrade for the STP-SE Preamplifier. Done in house. Stage 1 upgrade cost $950.00. Upgrade consists of rhodium plated Furutech fuse. Discrete regulator's. 24 custom Vishay Z-foil resistor's that are always in the circuit. Stage 2 cost $1950.00 and consists of Furutech IEC inlet, rhodium plated Furutech fuse, 72 cutom Vishay Z-foil resistors throughout the circuit and volume control and upgraded with 16 audio grade capacitors throughout the circuit. Wyred's wholesale cost for each Vishay resistor is $15.00.
audiozen
Bad move in my opinion. W4S should come out with a completely new model rather than to hot rod an existing model.
I couldn't justify a $2k upgrade on a $2k component. Don't get me wrong, I had no problem paying the extra money when I bought my c-j preamp in SE trim. The $500 for Vishays and Teflon caps were well worth it, it sounds great. But if c-j came out with a $2k upgrade I wouldn't even consider it, I would just explore the next new replacement.
Not from Underwood Wally. Different and better upgrade than the one done for Underwood by Chris Johnson. I think the motive here is that during the past six months or so Underwood provided the upgrades without EJ's blessing. Wyred wants to take advantage of the extra cash since Walter is having good results with his upgrades to customers. Joseph796 is correct that they should just come out with a new model. EJ informed me in a phone conversation back in 2011 that Wyred was coming out with a new Reference line with a whole new look and better quality. Where is it? Still waiting. It would've made more sense to invest into the new line rather then buying Spread Spectrum Technologies with their Ambrosia components that look like control panels inside a space ship from a cheap B Sci-Fi movie from 1932.
I did a few of the Vishay Z foils on my SE when it first came out. Also direct coupled the transformer to the chassis and replaced all the chassis mount fasteners with brass. I replaced the fuse with something else and much better. I spoke to EJ about these mods and he actually gave me the values needed for the resistors. Tom
$3k upgrade on $55 parts + 1...2 hour labor. I couldn't believe that W4S is capable of that kinda insanity as I've always thought that their products are resonably designed and priced:(
The Z foils cost me $14.34 each. There is always a resistor at the output for each channel. Volume indicated on the display requires 32 resistors for settings 32 thru 47. My listening range. That incomplete number of resistors and no other parts adds up to $459.88..So yea there could easily be over 1k in parts. The Vishays need to be handled with care because they are naked elements. No coated covered element that would retain resonance. Tom
Overpriced Parts + Overpriced Labor = Poor Value.
Check out Vishay revenue for the past years and figures will always take the right place.
Knowing math also helps even without knowing electronics.
Wyred does indeed have another model, the mPre. It's lower in the line up, so the upgrade to the STP is a way of adding upscale options. It's way beyond my budget, but I'd consider it among others in the 3000 range if I was shopping there. YMMV.
This is a rather old discussion...but I have purchased a used wyerd4sound pre and wanting to do upgrades to pre. The above comments seen to suggest wyred4sounds upgrades, although expensive, as far as the do it yourself goes, not comfortable doing that.
I got a decent price on used one, so I feel the upgrade is worth it, just not sure who to get to do the upgrade. So curious if any updates on who's best suited to do upgrades now, 2 years after this discussion started. Couldn't find any more recent discussions??