Upgrade from Wyred 4 Sound STP-SE

Black528:
I meant to write "tubed-interconnect" and yes it is exactly what it sounds like. The interconnect goes to a box which will have typically a couple of small triodes in the path. Exiting the box will be another set of interconnects. This will sit (typically) between your preamp and amplifier and can offer you some of that "tube-magic" you may desire.

Concerning the Rex.., high praise notwithstanding, it is dark and opaque sounding. It covers EVERYTHING with a layer of warm caramel. If you like that.., then :)

You will find that MANY MANY things are HIGHLY praised by magazines and individuals alike. My humble suggestion is LISTEN for yourself, most of the items; be it dacs, amps, preamps..etc are nothing to speak of. I have heard a very very very famous speaker which cost over USD $140K (again owned by a family member) and though it was praised to death by the magazines (which the company "coincidently" advertised in) sounded like a giant "HI-FI" speaker to me. Not real sounding, not relaxing, just SUPER detailed and annoying LOL!!!

You have to hunt and find the products which offer real sound.

The only ARC pre which I have heard and liked is the 2 box 40th Anniversary unit. My unc bought one and I set it up for him. VERY dynamic and fast. I personally think he should have kept it...but his dime :) Most other ARC gear can sound "white-ish" to my ears.., a bit bleached out. Except for a set of Ref 300's I heard over 13 years ago. I recall liking the way they sounded very much.

Black528:

See:
http://www.soundstage.com/rise17.htm

Black528:
This was just an idea, their are of course more cost effective ways to get there. You could even simply try cables that are known to impart a warmer more full bodied signature.

Black528..more than likely your aware of Sonic Frontiers and their remarkable tube electronics back in the 90's which included the Power 1 Amp and their Line 1 Preamp. Their CD players were tube based as well. The founders, Chris Johnson and Chris Jensen are tube guys. I suggested getting your STP-SE upgraded by Chris Johnson, and more than likely his mods would bring the STP-SE much closer to sound like a tube Preamp which you want to achieve.

I went from a W4S STI-500 (some of the same circuitry as the STP-SE) to a BAT VK-52SE with Hypex NCore's for amps. IMHO, I strongly disagree with the description of BAT being labelled as overly DARK or a WARM LAYER OF CARAMEL.

To be perfectly honest though, I think that for the price differential over the STP-SE, you are going to only get a small improvement in performance with ANY pre-amp.

Mine sounds perfectly neutral. I cannot tell how much of the change is coming from the new amps and how much is coming from the new Pre-amps, but overall, my system went from sounding excellent to superb.

I think the only way you are going to find out is to try one in your system. I think if you find a good deal on a used BAT or ARC unit that fits your needs, go ahead and get it and if it doesn't work out for you, you should be able to resell it for a similar price meaning you will only be out shipping costs.

Another one to consider would be the Modwright. I had it narrowed down to that one and the BAT and found a better deal on the BAT before the Modwright. I am perfectly happy with the sound of my system now and am not planning on upgrading/changing anything currently.