My experience with WyWires (Part I)

 By Lam Seng Fatt

 

For the past few months, I have been hearing nothing but the brands “Skogrand” and “WyWires” as if nothing else mattered in the audiophile world.

 

Since I cannot afford Skogrand cables and nobody distributes them in Malaysia anyway, I decided to check out what all that buzz was about with the more affordable cables – the WyWires.

 

So I managed to get three WyWires cables from AV Designs for testing.

 

Some history about WyWires is essential at this point. Alex Sventitsky, music lover and audiophile, is the man behind WyWires and each cable is handmade and comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Alex himself.

 

Alex asks: “Want to really feel the music? So do I, that’s why I created WyWires!

 

“WyWires designs and builds products for the music lover, first and foremost. Our clients value musicality, accuracy, realism and the ability to emotionally connect with the performance being reproduced in the home.

 

“WyWires came into existence after eight years of research and empirical testing. My conclusion? Massive cables and the ‘overkill approach don’t always equate to the ultimate music experience. We’ve had big cables before and they do fulfill a certain purpose…”

 

He believes that cables are as important a component as any other and a change in cables can make all the difference in upgrading your system, and thoroughly enjoying your music experience.

 

Well, it was reassuring to know that WyWires were made by someone who loved music first and foremost.

 

I connected the WyWires Silver interconnects between the Lamm LL2 preamp and the Bryston 4B SST power amp, slipped in a CD and listened and listened and listened.

 

Several CDs later, I could identify the sonic signature of the WyWires – they created a large soundstage and the singers and musicians were easily picked out and had lots of ‘air’ around them. There was a walk-through transparency that reminded me very much of the effect Wadia CD players have on imaging and soundstage. Both extremes of the sonic range were extended and there were lots more oomph and details in the bass region. The noise floor was also reduced.

 

 

Wywires Silver interconnects

 

 

Wywires USB cable

 

Then I connected the WyWires USB cable to the Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 and I regretted it within 20 seconds – it knocked out my reference USB cable (which I had just bought!). Immediately I noticed better separation overall and more details in the bass region.

 

I felt so flabbergasted that I actually did A-B testing with my reference USB cable several times just to make sure my initial impressions were not wrong. In the end, I noted that my reference USB cable could match the WyWires only in midrange neutrality. The WyWires USB cable was clearly better in the bass and treble regions.

 

Thus it was after a long while and with much apprehension that I fitted in the WyWires Silver speaker cables, replacing the resident Kimber 12TCs.

 

This time I was happy because there was no need for me to fork out more money to upgrade.

 

The WyWires speaker cables changed the sound – it became clearer but ‘lighter’. There was less body and bloom to acoustic instruments and the music seemed to hover in space without being anchored to the music’s  ‘body’. The music became ‘translucent’ rather than ‘opaque’.

 

I am pretty sure this effect would be system dependent as other people have observed great results in a WyWires cable loom.

 

But the speaker cables did not work in my system and I preferred the robust and full-bodied sound of the Kimber 12TCs.

 

Since the Silver WyWires interconnects did such wonders to my sound system, I thought it would be a great – and expensive – idea to check out the Gold and Platinum series. Those are the subjects of the next review.

 

 

Each cable comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Alex Sventitsky himself.

 

Wywires are sold by AV Designs, contact James or Tony at 03-21712828.

 

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