Preramp for Adcom GFA 565's

Noble100,

Well, I did it.

Ordered Wyred4Sound SX1000 and STP SE preamp. Should arrive this week.

Hope I did not make a mistake!

Dsper

Hi Dsper,

Looks like you made a good choice going with the Wyred4Sound amp and special-edition preamp. From what I've read, the amp may sound a little thin right out of the box and can take about 300 hours to fully break in.

If after break in you find you want a warmer more textured sound, you could always try substituting a tubed preamp and return the Wyred4Sound preamp. The amp should supply plenty of power, over 1100 watts per channel @ 4 ohms, to drive your Magnepan 1.7 speakers. You've got me curious about how this amp would sound driving my power hungry Magnepan 2.7 spkrs.

Please post again, after you get them set up and the amp has broken in, to let us know the results. Thanks and good luck.

Hi Noble100,

Supposed to deliver today so I will keep you posted.

I heard a big difference when I went to the Krell from a Mac amp. Much more dynamic and cleaner sounding for the Maggie 1.7's to my ear.

I suppose that a lot of what I heard was the doubling in wpc to 300 from 160. I cannot imagine what it is going to sound like going to 1100 from 300.

I am hoping for more detail and better soudstage and not just "louder".

Hi Dsper,

I also noticed a large improvement when I went from an Adcom GFA555 with 200 watts to an Aragon 4004 MKII with 400 watts. The sound was better and cleaner from top to bottom.
But, as you know, wattage is only part of the answer with quality being the other key ingredient. I think the improvement I experienced was a change in the sound quality more than just the increased wattage. By quality I'm not only referring to the quality of the parts in the amp but also the inherent sound characteristics of the amp/brand. I hope you experience both an increase in wattage and change in sound quality that matches your taste. Good luck.

Hi Noble100,

My two boxes of Wyred4Sound arrived two days ago and last night I finally got to open both boxes and set up the Wyred4Sound components. Well packaged in double boxes with no UPS shipping damage.

Everything works and the only hot flash of "what is wrong?" occurred when I started the CD player and no sound came out of the speakers (the volume was turned to zero!).

My initial impressions are compared to the KrellS300i integrated amp with 300 wpc/4 ohms and about 300 hours on it.

Generally speaking, to my ear, the Wyred4Sound and the Krell have a similar overall sound. The difference is not as dramatic as when I upgraded to the Krell from a McIntosh MA6300 integrated at 160wpc/4ohm. The change there was very dramatic as the Mac was definitely warmer sounding but with a lot less dynamics than the Krell.

Right out of the box, I can hear more detail with the Wyred4Sound. For example, individual instruments are easier to hear in a mix. Also, it is easier to recognize individual voices in a multipart vocal harmony.

The soundstage is improved. It is wider and better front to back. I often felt while listening to the Krell that the lead vocal and the drums were coming from the same place. With the Wyred4Sound, there is now a separation with vocals in the front and drums in the back.

I am not sure what I am hearing regarding the bass. It seems to be fuller, but with perhaps bit less slam. Krell is noted for their bass so this may take some time to determine if there is an improvement.

The edges of the treble with the new Wyrd4Sound are a bit sharp and initially it is not as musical as the Krell. I hope (expect!) these to improve with time.

The W4S owner manuals advise that there will be a major improvement after about 100 hours of operation and another level of improvement at about 200 hours of operation.

ALSO, the manuals make a point to advise strongly that the power should be disconnected before anything is plugged into or out of the amp and pre amp.

Will follow up in a few months, but my initial thought is that I have made a positive change but I wonder about the bass.

Dsper