wyred4sound amps

Lets not forget that size and energy efficieny are particular strengths of Class D compared to Class A.

When I was searching for an amp, if there was a high power Class A amp even close in size, weight, and energy efficiency, I would have had little reason probably to go Class D.

Sound aside, these are major factors to consider is your goal is to get the most out of good but inefficient or harder to drive speakers. The absolute best sounding amp may be out there, but some people like me do not want to deal with power drinking devices that are to heavy and bulky to deal with easily.

I think the BC ref1000m Class Ds deliver a sound competitive with the best systems I have heard.

I will not say they are the best or better, but I am confident that they are competitive.

They are not cheap, but are small, only weigh a few pounds each, run cool always and I can leave them on and run them as desired without running up the electric bill. That's something worth considering if you have speakers that can benefit from a monster amp but you do not necessarily want to have to deal with the size weight energy consumption, and heat production of Class A or similar beast.

I have not heard W4S amps, but what I have read leads me to believe they are a very good value if lots of SS power is what you need.

In comparison to less powerful or smaller and lighter SS amps, the lower powered Class D amps may lose some of their unique value proposition.

BC ref1000ms are designed to work well with tube amps and also have a custom power supply onboard that might help them deliver more bass and/or handle difficult loads better than stock Icepower perhaps. Wyreds (60Kohm unbalanced) and BC ref series amps (100kohm unbalanced) both have custom input sections with higher input impedance for better mating to tube pre-amps.

The custom power supply enhancement on the BC ref amps are the unique feature that led me to go for those at considerably more cost than the similar powered W4Ss in that this is something that I determined could benefit my particular speakers. FOr some other smaller or easier to drive speakers, this might not matter as much. YMMV.

Yerude1

I've found the Wyred4Sound ST500 to be a very good amp. I was told (and read on line) that the 250 was one to avoid as it had a different chipset and was not the sonic mate of the other two amps in the line. If someone told you the amp was tubey they must have been a solid state lover.

I should add that I'm happy with the ST500 (though it forced me to get a much better preamp to put in front of it) I don't find that it is a world-beater unless you value pacing and transparency. I can see a lot of people listening with different priorities who would find the amp ordinary or guilty of some other sins of subjective omission. I have 4 ohms speakers and the amps control them effortlessly, but I’ve had other amps that have impressed with more slam, but less music. I’ve had (tube) amps that added more tone but less pacing and masked musical lines. I am keeping it until I commit to a design philosophy (or maybe simply a typology) that gives me better pacing, tone and dynamics. But I need to get the vinyl settled first, so I may have it for a while.

I am sure that there are better amps – and maybe equally good digital amps in the price range - I just don’t want W4S to be a victim of their hype. It’s a great amp for $1500, but it’s still an amp for $1500. I am tired of every amp besting amps three times their price, and the amp that was bested was earlier reviewed for “trouncing” an amp twice its price…….... leading me to believe that the W4S ST500 is better than $15-20,000 amps – that’s grade inflation.

When I was listening to SET I had Cain&Cain Abby’s (still have them), like the W4S they do something really right, not the be all and end all, but they can stop a lot of searching until one has more listing experience under one’s belt.

I have a lot of records to re-listen to with my now more open system. Certain tube sound that is wonderful, but far from a “live” sound; like SS slam, far from an acoustic reality (on the other side of the spectrum). So a little more grounded if a little less transfixed. More foot tapping but less “heart-stopping?” There’s a deeper thrill in verisimilitude (on the level that I can afford, a level that to those higher on the food chain might be pretty basic), that’s what kept me going with the amp for the first weeks (when I thought it was harsh and mediocre) because there were little revelations in so many works familiar and less familiar. If I had $3000 maybe I’d be saying the same about another amp, but in this price rage it’s doing its thing right.


Gregg

GreggD - "I just don’t want W4S to be a victim of their hype. It’s a great amp for $1500, but it’s still an amp for $1500."

I'm all for level-headed cost comparisons but isn't one of the advantages of W4S amp pricing that they dispense with a) retail distribution and b) expensive, attractive casings? So if you compare a W4S ST500 at $1500 with a unit like the AudioResearch 300.2 with a sale price of $4000, you need to discount the AR unit for the dealer mark-up and the attractive case, the prices are in the same ballpark (although I would guess the AR is still more expensive on an apples-to-apples basis, maybe by $500-750).

Jult, good point.

I do not adhere to the idea that price dictates performance. It may or may not for various reasons some of which you identify.

You can take a great expensive piece put in teh wrong system and sound crappy or you can take a less expensive piece that is well designed and executed put it in the right system and exceed the expectations of most. The devil is in the details.