Bought one STP-SE after dickering around with vrious passive pres like Luminous, Promitheus,Scott Endlers, EVS and actives like Sonic Frontiers SFL2 and Audio Research SP9, and finally settled without a preamp for a year with my tubed CD player going direct into my mono blocks with such a revelation that how much coloration imparted from the passive components within these preamp active or otherwise. STP SE is the real deal as long as you are in the passive mode. The strengths of STP-SE far outweight the drawbacks when comparing it to without a preamp.
Wyred 4 Sound STP-SE Preamp
Who has purchased one of these preamps (either the SE version or the non-SE version).
What do you think of this preamp? Passive up to a certain point then active. I have got to assume that at my listening levels, I would probably fall into the passive almost all of the time. I read the review on 6Moons, but to be honest, (1) it really didn't say much of anything about the performance and (2) I am not so sure I have very much faith in the reviewer. The review seemed to cover more about the build approach to this piece and offered no real comparisons with regard to sound performance.
Any comments on how this unit performs (passive and active) in terms of:
Sound temperature (warmish, coolish, completely neutral)
Body, texture, emotion experiences
Sound staging - airy, focused, defined, wide, deep, forward, congestion with certain types of music or volume levels, etc. . .
Accuracy at the different frequencies, macros and micros
Any comments in general? Recommendations and comparisons would be great.
Reference:
Amp = Krell FPB 300C
Sources = Northstar CD transport or Logitech/slim device duet going to DCS Purcell and Delius
Speakers = Wilson W/P 5.1
Also considering: Ayre (V5e), Pass (X1 or XP10), ARC (15 or 16 or 26), Calypso (previously owned & loved), JRDG Capri (previously owned, very good).
Thanks very much in advance for your opinions.
What do you think of this preamp? Passive up to a certain point then active. I have got to assume that at my listening levels, I would probably fall into the passive almost all of the time. I read the review on 6Moons, but to be honest, (1) it really didn't say much of anything about the performance and (2) I am not so sure I have very much faith in the reviewer. The review seemed to cover more about the build approach to this piece and offered no real comparisons with regard to sound performance.
Any comments on how this unit performs (passive and active) in terms of:
Sound temperature (warmish, coolish, completely neutral)
Body, texture, emotion experiences
Sound staging - airy, focused, defined, wide, deep, forward, congestion with certain types of music or volume levels, etc. . .
Accuracy at the different frequencies, macros and micros
Any comments in general? Recommendations and comparisons would be great.
Reference:
Amp = Krell FPB 300C
Sources = Northstar CD transport or Logitech/slim device duet going to DCS Purcell and Delius
Speakers = Wilson W/P 5.1
Also considering: Ayre (V5e), Pass (X1 or XP10), ARC (15 or 16 or 26), Calypso (previously owned & loved), JRDG Capri (previously owned, very good).
Thanks very much in advance for your opinions.