Alpha 3 SX

$9,295.00

The Alpha 3 SX: Brought to you by the minds behind Wolf, Stillpoints and eXemplar Audio,  we have taken our most powerful Alpha 3 and incorporated technologies – some established, some so new that we can’t disclose them yet, and created a system that sets a new bar of performance for digital audio.  The SX is best summed up by one of our favorite beta-testers on his Reference Level system: “Holy Sh!t!”

Available exclusively at

House of Stereo
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Or call us at direct at 234-770-0660 for details

Upgrade options available at House of Stereo:

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SKU: A3-3 Categories: ,

The Alpha 3SX is a big step forward. The Alpha 3 was already our most capable Alpha, a Stereophile A+ Recommended Component and an indispensable source for mission critical audio sessions. The Alpha 3 SX is quieter, more natural, and better sounding than anything you are listening to now.

Wolf Audio Systems constantly assesses new technologies and materials in the technical and sonic advancement of its products. The Alpha 3 is the favored choice of many high-end manufacturers displaying their own products at Hi-Fi shows here and abroad. The Alpha 3 SX server represents the latest performance upgrades resulting from our work with Stillpoints and eXemplar Audio. The objective of the SX project was to make improvements in three key areas: micro-vibration control, electrical grounding, and RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) suppression.

All the right places…

Utilizing Stillpoints patented vibration isolation technology, the SX package isolates the power supply and critical components employing Stillpoints circuit-board Isolators. The increase in clarity, dynamics, focus of image and broadening of the sound stage made themselves known immediately. The sonic benefits are indeed palpable. Wolf Audio Systems has taken the time and effort to deploy Stillpoints’ materials precisely in areas where a little bit of Stillpoints technology goes a long way.

Wolf has deployed Stillpoints’ ERS material exactly in areas where limited amounts of the ERS material works exceedingly well. The ERS material gives the Alpha 3 SX the perfect balance of naturalness, air, dynamics, transparency and clarity while limiting the noise from Radio Frequency Interference that’s automatically generated in every digital circuit.

High power and Total Control

eXemplar Audio’s ability to identity and suppress RFI penetrating the Wolf Alpha 3 and exiting the unit via the AC mains results in lower noise floor throughout an entire Hi-Fi system and creates an increase in low-level information retrieval, micro dynamics, soundstage, stereo imaging — sharpness and depth. In summary the SX package induces longer listening at lower volumes with even greater satisfaction. One giant step for Digital Audio.

High Fidelity Audio Servers

The best sounding and most powerful system on the market

HFAS+ Apex – The Alpha 3 XS is based on the HFAS+ Apex server configuration. The build process of the SX server is highly precise and the result is such a large improvement in sound quality that we decided that each component in the system should represent the very best of all of aspects of modern digital audio.

So what is the HFAS+ Apex?

High sample rate multi-channel audio? No problem. DSD1024? Easy. This is the fastest, most powerful version of this server. In five years, it will still be fast, and you’ll still be very happy. 12 Hyper-threaded CPU cores, 32GB RAM and 1TB of 3.5 GigaBytes per second system drive. Play DSD to multiple DACs at once while sending a movie to the living room and browsing the web with 100 open tabs. Or just sit back and listen to some FLAC files, knowing that you could do any of this when you need to.

Playback and Streaming

AUDIO OUTPUTS

Digital Output Ultra Low Noise USB 2.0 supporting USB Audio Class 1, USB Audio Class 2 and DSD (Native & DoP)

TOSLink Optical SPDIF Port

Optional Flux Capacitor USB Card: 24MHz USB Clock (32/1,536KHz & DSD1024)

HDMI 2.0, Display Port 1.2b (Video Port)

CONNECTIVITY

Ethernet & WiFi 1 RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet – Network (Data & Audio)

802.11ac 867Mb/s WiFi + BT 4.2

USB 2x USB 3.0 (DAC), 6x USB 3.0 (Mass Storage) 1x USB Type C 3.1 – (Mass Storage & Future Module Connectivity)
Video 1x HDMI 2.0a – HDCP 2.2 and HDR, DisplayPort 1.4

PHYSICAL DISK FORMATS

Physical Disc Formats Red Book, DVD-A, DVD-V, BD-A, BD-V
Disc Compatibility CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-A, DVD-V, BD-R, BD-A, BD-V
Audio format for stored CDs FLAC (zero compression), WAV, ALAC, OGG, APE, MP3, MPC, MQA
Audio Formats Supported for streaming and playing WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, AAC, OGG, SHN, MP3, APE, APL, AC3, MPC, WMA, DSF, DFF, SACD, MQA

SAMPLE RATES

Sample Rates 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz. 192kHz, 352.8kHz, 384kHz, 768kHz

DSD64, DSD128, DSD256, DSD512, DSD1024 Native and DoP

Bit Depths 16bit, 24bit, 32bit

PHYSICAL MEDIA

Physical Disc Formats Red Book CD, DVD-A, DVD-V, BD-A, BD-V
Disc Compatibility CD, CD-R, CD-RW
Audio format for stored CDs FLAC (zero compression), WAV, ALAC, OGG, APE, MP3, MPC,
Audio Formats Supported for streaming and playing WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, AAC, MP3

SOFTWARE & SERVICES

Included Audio Software JRiver Media Center
Compatible Software (Additional License Cost) Roon, Audirvana, Amarra, HQPlayer
Streaming Services Qobuz, Tidal, ALL the rest

Software

Media Center, Roon and Audirvana - the holy trinity of Audio Applications fro Wolf Audio Systems servers. Between these three apps, you are able to do whatever it is you'd like to do.
It sounds better than Roon and can handle 20TB libraries.

JRiver Media Center

Media Center is the application we love. In its 24th version, Media Center is the gold standard application that will allow you to do almost everything you could imagine. Our optimizations and customizations let you skip over a year of trial and error and listen to your music right out of the box.

Roon

Roon is a newer app that some people prefer over Media Center. Featuring a great interface and Tidal and MQA integration, this is the app that is convincing people that digital audio has arrived.  A rich metadata repository gives listeners much more than album art.

Roon Artists View

Audirvana+

A brand new application that has us very excited. It looks great, sounds amazing, and has Tidal, MQA and Qobuz integrated right in. It also has a tablet app, just like Media Center and Roon, so running the system headless is a possibility. We are going to be taking a very hard look at customizing the application for our own purposes and to add some features specifically for Wolf customers.

The Alpha 3 in the wild

Soulution, Airtight and Piega, Oh My!
Stiullpoints, Viola Labs and Rockport Atria Speakers at AXPONA 2018
House Of Stereo's Ayre Room X-TWENTY rig with Magneplanar 3.7i's connected with Audience SX copper!

Additional information

Weight 27 lbs
Dimensions 23 × 15 × 7 in
Server

i7-8700 CPU, 32GB RAM, 1TB System Drive, 2TB Audio

Additional Audio Storage

2TB (No Upgrade), 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB

Color

Silver, Black

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