I've heard more than one of the Wyred amps, none were brand new. The Wyred is a nice enough amp, but I don't hear a major (or even minor) sonic advantages over Rotel, Emotiva or Outlaw. They are all good, but flawed in varying ways. The only amp in that price group I felt took it to a somewhat higher level was my Odyssey.
This evening we tried the Emotiva out using a Denon receiver as a processor. The movie was the Blu-ray of Avatar. The sound quality was HUGE, powerful and extremely detailed/articulate. I doubt I could tell it apart from a Rotel 1095 in the front channels.
Next we left it hooked up to the receiver and used a Verve CD of Billy Holliday as a test disc. Though these recordings are old, they image beautifully with good gear. I've really been enjoying the amazing image created by the Manley Stingray II even with my theater speakers, which are Def Tech BP7004s. The Emotiva brought out the same detail as the Stingray, but failed utterly to come close to the imaging. Using a Rogue Metis pre helped, but still fell short of the Stingray. To be fair the Stingray cost 5 times more and the Emotiva has only had 10 hours of break-in.
It was bought for HT usage and I'm already VERY impressed. I'll post a followup when it's broken in, tested with another pre-amp and run with the Merlin TSM-XMrs. My initial impression is that the Emotiva is a terrific HT amp. For music I'd probably go for something better, but amps from Wyred, Rotel and a few others, if they are better all, are simply still to low in the food chain for serious musical reproduction...at least for my tastes in the low end of high end!
Now there's a snobby statement! I've become quite the elitist with my Stingray tubes aglow....
Cheers,
Rob
