Wyred 4 Sound STP Special Edition Vs. Pass X-1

Joule-Electra does not advertise in TAS, yet in March issue Harry Pearson awarded its LA-300ME preamp "2010 HP Editor Choice" Award - so, at least for TAS, we should not be that cynical...

i went threw a bunch of pre's a while back, trying to determine which was the best fit for my system. agree with Tzh21y here. the X1 was the most neutral and added/took away nothing from the music. did not try anything from Wyred4sound but bel canto, krell, and a few others were in the mix. was very undecided until the X1 got plugged in. slam dunk for me here. aside from the rather lame remote control functions....i'm very happy with the choice.

if you have a good source and want to hear every bit of it... the X1 is fantastic imho.

btw....although i didn't compare the two, i've read the newer X1's with the full size power supply are "better" then the older versions with the smaller/black box power supply.

cheers
Lev

Now you got me thinking. I was interested as well regarding the wyred for sound pre. But owning the x350.5 I guess I should be looking at what seems to be the best piece of audio gear I've purchased. A pass product. Just having baby though, I'm scared to see the cost of ownership.

Well I have a Aesthetix Calypso on the way, so I am eagerly waiting to see how that stacks up against the X-1.
Thank you all for your post!

Srwooten,
This is a bit off topic, but have you considered the new Pass XP preamps? I replaced my X-1 with the XP-20 and found it to be more transparent. It just disappears from the system.