As I believe I have previously stated, EJ Sarmento is a friend of mine from back when we lived in California. He is the owner and brilliant designer at Wyred 4 Sound.
Several years ago, I went to the Denver show with EJ. I owned the STP-SE Stage 2 at the time. I am very happy with my McIntosh pre-amplifier; however, the Stage 2 may very well be the only preamp I have owned that I feel sounded slightly better. We had discussed some design changes and upgrades, etc., for a possible replacement to the STP-SE. He came up with the name of Aura.
About a year later he built a fully functioning Aura and asked me to take it home and compare it to my STP-SE Stage 2. I reported back to him that I absolutely love the design, the layout, feel, functionality was a huge step forward. Sound performance it was on par with the STP-SE. I gave him all of my notes I compiled while comparing the two. I suggested a Stage 2 parts upgrade which I felt would be make the Aura rocket past the STP-SE Stage 2. From reading the web listing it sounds like the performance enhancements of the Aura may have been reworked and I would not be surprised if it does indeed take over the Stage 2 pinnacle for Wyred's impressive pre-amplifiers!
I have been surprised that Wyred had not previously released the Aura to be honest. I have not discussed it with EJ since; however, I felt that the Aura I tested was very close to being ready for prime time! I am very happy to see that he is finally bringing it to market. This may very well entice me to sell my McIntosh for an Aura

.