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Meet Your Maker: EJ Sarmento of Wyred 4 Sound

Meet Your Maker: EJ Sarmento of Wyred 4 Sound

Wyred 4 Sound is an overnight success. And as with many good overnight successes, it’s actually taken many years to achieve that status. The company is at the forefront of what is fast becoming one of the new great revolutions in audio today; thus, Wyred 4 Sound is a small, passionate specialist making excellent products that, by design, don’t have to cost a fortune and that in many cases offer timely responses to the rapidly changing landscape of contemporary high-end audio. Much of this success, much of this passion comes from the top – from EJ Sarmento, founder of the company. Considered something of a ‘rising star’ in the audio world, Wyred 4 Sound’s products reflect the down-to-earth, no-nonsense approach of EJ himself.

We spoke to EJ Sarmento about how Wyred 4 Sound came about, what directions he thinks audio is taking in the 21st Century and his advice on how to build a better audio product, and a better audio business, for a better audio world…

AS: When did you first take an interest in sound and stereo?

EJS: It was very early in life! I used to tinker with old stereo equipment and speakers to make something sound better or louder. To my family, music has always been a way of life, so I had instant respect for it early on.

What kinds of music do you listen to?

Music has always been something very dictative in my life and something that I use either to suit or change my current mood. I listen to everything from electronic, rock, metal, alternative, reggae, blues, country, and some folk, jazz, classical, and very little opera. I find myself gravitating to more acoustic or blues when trying to relax or focus at work, and more electronic or country on a daily basis.
 

What equipment do you use at home?

I’m lucky enough to try many different products and all types of gear as time goes on. I used to do this at home, but that didn’t seem to make my wife happy! So, I decided to keep things consistent at home and use the sound room at the shop to play around.

Currently, we have a pair of Paradigm Signature 8s in that sound room and they sound great. But, I’m more of the line-source type, and we are currently packaging MartinLogan speakers with our products… and they sound killer. I think I see myself toying with some electrostats soon.
 

What is your typical day like?

My typical audio day is quite hectic. I’m very ‘hands on’, so I might be talking to customers on the phone one minute and then out in the shop helping out the next. We manufacture everything in house, including the assembly of the circuit boards, so our new ‘pick and place’ machine keeps me pretty absorbed at the moment during the day, too. This means for me the best time to sit and design is after hours or at night in my lab at home. I’m a perfectionist, so needless to say… I tend to stay quite busy.

What is the biggest challenge the industry faces at the moment?

It has to be our reluctance to embrace computer audio. Although many now use a computer as their digital source, there are still people who reject or even fear the concept. I suspect many audiophiles don’t like change, and there is going to be a lot of that coming soon!

What is the most important development in audio recently?

The DACs has become the true starting point to digital audio, as it is the beginning and most crucial part of any analogue signal within the system. Recently, high performance digital has become truly portable, where in the past portable audio demanded too much power to be good and portable. That has all changed! There is so much more powerful and portable digital signal handling now. I think the hardware is progressing nicely – it is now time for the media to follow.

What is your latest project?

My latest project comes from the thought that there are already many streaming devices out there that sound OK, but not good. What they offer us is convenience but tend to sacrifice quality at the same time. I don’t think it would be wrong to say that every household has something of this nature already. What we did was come up with a device that can be used between these digital streamers and the known DACs, which will become even more popular. This device (Remedy Reclocker) can take the signal, compare 64 samples, store the consistent copies in a buffer and then clock them back out in a much more pure form with far less jitter, which drastically improves the sound. I have never seen a product be more welcomed than this, as it fills an important gap that practically all of us have been looking to address.

What is the best piece of advice you have been given?

The best advice I have been given is probably to, “Take the good with the bad.” This has helped me on so many fronts whether it is with employees, customers, machinery, or even stability in sales. I found that if you can take this advice, you can pretty much find the good in anything you come across.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the same field?

If I had to give any advice, it would be that competition is a blessing! Competition helps keeps us motivated to make superior products every day.

What are the most important rules that your brand follows?

As a business, there already too many rules put in place but here are the most important rules that are as easy as 1-2-3:

1.         Customer service is key. We must be prompt in email or phone responses and always assist as needed, even after the product has arrived. Believe that there is no stupid question, for it would be stupid to not be asked.

2.         Offer affordable and dependable products – it is just as important to provide the same feeling the customer has on day one years after they bought the product. Happy customers will always come back for more.

3.         Build a stellar reputation that is rock solid – Reputation can relate to many fronts, and it starts with customer experience then ends with used market inventory.  We think that much can be said from not being able find many used goods for sale!

Wyred 4 Sound website

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