There must be no shortage of coffee pots at Wyred 4 Sound’s Atascadero, Calif., offices. I’m imagining an entire team of heavily perspiring executives, engineers and marketing people rushing around, gulping caffeine in prodigious amounts, carrying schematics, passing around circuit boards and constantly checking their tablets.
I have no idea if this mental image is anywhere near an accurate picture of the inner workings of the high-end audio manufacturer, but how else to explain the torrent of new products flying off Wyred’s dock?
Wyred, just six years old, introduced not one, not two, but three new components at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. Those units — all sporting Wyred’s compact, modern design — joined a formidable list of existing catalog items in a room the company shared with PureAudioProject.
Wyred specializes in making gear that not only is affordable, but also is famed for its fine performance. And, maybe just as important, the little units are just plain fun.
Those attributes apply to the new stuff Wyred was showing in Denver. The statement rig on display boasted four of Wyred’s just-released SX-1000R monoblock amplifiers ($1,499 each.) Measuring 8.5×4.1×13.5 inches and weighing only 13 pounds, each SX-1000R delivers a staggering 1,000 watts.
To create this diminutive world-beater, Wyred developed a new input board and joined that to a proprietary FET input buffer that allows both XLR and RCA connections. The result is an amp that runs relatively cool and is stable down to 2 ohms. Wyred hasn’t scrimped elsewhere, either, using WBT Nextgen binding posts and Kimber Kable TCX internal wiring.
Another new product shipping soon was Wyred’s nifty PS-1 modular power supply ($499, but check the website for a preorder deal). The device can be used to replace up to four wall-wart devices, even if all have different voltages
Each of the PS-1’s power modules is independent and user-selectable. Users flip a switch on the module to set the voltage and then slide the module into the appropriate power zone. The front panel has an LED display to track each zone and voltage.
Finally, Wyred showed a prototype for a new Roon-ready network streamer. The versatile device can be used alone, in conjunction with music servers or with a computer. It also possibly will have Tidal-direct and Spotify-direct capability. The streamer could be finished by year-end.
At RMAF, those three new components were part of a Wyred system that also included its SST Thoebe II remote-control preamp (including DAC and phono stage, $5,350) and Recovery USB Reclocker ($199).
Wyred’s wire included its C2 interconnects (starting at $279 a meter), Premium USB cable ($199 a meter and up) and P1 power cables (starting at $169 a meter).
Those components fed a pair of PureAudioProject’s Stellar 12 loudspeakers ($25,000 a pair). The unusual dipole/open-baffle design features tall, thin panels that curve toward the listener on the top and bottom.
The 12-inch titanium woofers use underhung voice coils and custom Neodymium magnets. The 5-inch midrange also has a titanium cone and the soft-dome tweeter is optimized for dipole use. The frequency range is 29-20,000 Hz.
I auditioned the rig with Roxy Music’s “Avalon,” from my home-burned test CD. The mid-tempo tale of post-party romance, delivered by Brian Ferry in his best sedated croon, emerged with lush atmospherics, good treble detail and tuneful bass. Overall, the sound was slightly dark and the midrange was a tad recessed, which only added to the overall sense of ease.
On the way out, I also had a quick look at Wyred’s lifestyle system, which was built around its mINT integrated amp/preamp/DAC/headphone amp ($1,499). Also in the system was the PS-1 power supply and the new streamer. Paired with the PureAudioProject’s smaller Trio 10 Timeless speakers ($2,800), the combo offered a lot of technology for a total price of about $6,000.
Wyred 4 Sound isn’t likely to rest on these laurels. The staff at headquarters no doubt remains, well, wired. Keep those coffee pots fired up. I’m excited to see what they come up with next.
