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Wyred 4 Sound STI-500 Breakin Time

I was one of the original W4S Dac1 purchasers and just upgraded to the DAC2 and purchased a STI-500 amp. Have about 60 hours on the amp and 100+ on the DAC2.

I did find that DAC1 sounded better and better after about 200 hours of breakin time. Do the W4S STI amps work the same way?

Want to hear from STI-500 or STI-1000 owners with tips on breaking in these amps and how the quality improves with time. Has anyone used breakin CDs with these amps? Can you break them in at low volumn or do you need to play loudly?

So far, the STI-500 plays loud effortlessly but I am not hearing the detail I was with my previous Bada Amp and PreAmp. It is the amazing detail that I got from the W4S DAC that impressed me so much along with a very natural tone and realistic reproduction of acoustic instruments.
ronwills

Showing 2 responses by dxter

dxter
5 posts
 
I am not sure but as I was also breaking in my speakers Dynaudio S1.4 at the same time. The whole system (STI-500, and Dyn S1.4) took about 200 hours before they sounded their best.

However, I also find that the STI-500 takes about half an hour to "warm" from standby to play well. It can sound cold, and hard, soundstage flat for the first half hour.

Source is an Audiolab 8200CDQ similar to the W4S DAC2.

Cheers
dxter
5 posts
 
Hi dudes, I changed the fuses some time in February to Hi-Fi Tuning Supreme fuses. The size for the screws are Torx T-10

Reply from W4S folks then on the fuses used in the STI-500 when I asked them:
"The fuse that is utilized in the STI-500 is a 3.15A 5x20mm slo-blo."

In fact, I think the original fuses on the ice modules are pretty good ones. Housing looked like ceramic, and the contacts were good quality too.
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