Official Wyred 4 Sound Amp Thread - Page 51

I recently compared a pair of Wyred SX500 monoblocks to a Crown XTi-1002. Both amps were level matched. As for sound differences between the two, they were minimal. The bass from the Crown was slightly looser or exaggerated compared to the Wyred. Also, the Wyred had better spacial information(better defined images). The biggest downfall of the Crown was fan noise! I've since upgraded the fan to a Noctua unit, but it can still be heard.

Thanks for th insight Face! I have read so many good things about them. The only concern I had was the consistent claim that they may be a bit "dry' sounding. I am going to contact them today to talk a bit about some custom configurations.

Compared to a poorly designed or "coloured" amp, yes.

I use their amps in three of my rigs and have no desire to change.

Nice. The biggest thing for me at this point is their cost. To get all the channels and all the power I need for the HT, it would take $8k in wyred amps vs $6k in LG class TD amps. I have been researching all day and am finding that the Lab amps should be nearly as efficinet, have remote on/off and save me $$. My intitial though was that the wyred would save money over time, but if the labs are 80% efficient, they may not...??

Wyred4Sound now has an amp based on Icepower's AVR amp module, the ICEtheater7. Looks interesting: compact, ~60W/7ch/8Ω (yes, they claim 150W/ch, but based on the module's spec sheet let's agree to call it a 60W/ch amp, OK?). and not very expensive at $1600.



The only other thing with that much power at that size is the Crown CT8150/Lexicon DD-8. It has one more channel, but is about $900 more expensive.

I just ordered one of these and hadn't seen the 60W/ch at 20Hz-20Khz number (they don't post it on the Wyred4Sound website). That's a real bummer. I just ordered two pairs of relatively inefficient surrounds (84db@1W) and 150W/ch computes to well within my volume needs but 60W/ch is cutting it a bit close. I figured that class D amps are generally multi-mono designs and so number of channels driven had little effect on power output. I'm wondering if I should cancel my order and go with the Mini MC 7 Channel instead.

Call or email them and ask for the official power ratings, they don't use stock modules, everything is tweaked to some extent.

I sent them an e-mail but, looking at the B&O specs from DS-21, the power supply is integrated into the amp so, I think it's unlikely that the W4S specs differ significantly. I'm actually kind of angry about this. The web page is extremely misleading in quoting a 2 channel power output for a 7 channel amp. That's the kind of garbage I expect from AVR vendors and, in fact, the numbers at 7 channels driven are approximately the same (a gentle way of saying worse) than what you can get from a $500 AVR.

I wouldn't worry about it unless you plan to use the amp to drive subwoofers. "All channels driven" is probably an unrealistic spec, and it's a reasonable design compromise to use a common power supply that can burst power into channels that need it, while not being able to drive them all continuously at that level. Music comes in bursts, after all, not continuous sine waves. And it doesn't come in continuous sine waves from seven directions at once!

That said, the W4S amp is B&O's AVR amp module in a nice case, and their spec sheet is going to trick people who don't read between the lines. (As a general rule, if a power amp isn't explicitly given an "all channels driven," its power-supply is not designed to provide the claimed power into every channel at the same time for very long.)

Still, Icepower's newer modules are very good. I briefly had an amp with the smallest one, and it sounded just like a good solid state amp of that power level. Does the Mini MC7 use the newest (ASX2) amp modules? If not, the MC 7150 is honestly probably the better amp. Earlier Icepower modules suffered from "tube sound" syndrome, because their output impedance was high. The new ones correct for it, similar to the Hypex amps that are IMO the gold standard for Class D up to now. The newer ones also seem to hiss than the old ones, though I've not used a W4S amp with the older modules and I base my comment on experience with a couple Rotel models.

Also, every marketer claims to "tweak" something. Doesn't make it true, of course. Chances are the "tweaks" are really just B&O's recommended input buffer circuit.
Edited by DS-21 - 4/2/13 at 10:11pm

Besides an input buffer, other items on the board were changed on the ST-500 and STI-500 I owned.

After some back and forth e-mails with EJ, I think the MC 7150 probably would have worked out for my needs but, I opted for the Mini MC 7 just to be really sure. EJ was super helpful and, though the MC7 is a bit more than I wanted to spend, I think it should be a pretty fantastic amp.

I think I'm in the market for a Mini MC-3 if anyone is selling. I'll be using it for my center and rears. I'll also have an ST-250 for sale.

Is there an audible difference between the ST-250 and Mini MC-3?

I've had a mini7 running 24/7 for a year or so now, no hiccups.