Skip to main content

Wrensilva Standard One Matches Modern Tech with a Classic Look

While a lot of modern audio gear is becoming smaller and more portable, that isn’t always the case.

As the resurgence in vinyl sales has shown, just because an idea is from the past, that doesn’t mean people aren’t interested. That is the idea behind Wrensilva’s Standard One, which aims to resurrect the record console of old, while throwing in a pinch of modern tech in the process.

Recommended Videos

This isn’t the first time Wrensilva — formerly Wren HiFi — has created this type of product. The Standard One is described by the company as a simplified version of its M1, a similar but larger product released last year. The Standard One is built with hand-selected woods, and is available in walnut or rift white oak finishes, and as they are built in-house, each model will be slightly different, making it as unique as hand-built furniture. The console even features a built-in storage compartment for your favorite vinyl records.

Looking at the actual sound components, the Standard One features a fully decoupled belt-driven turntable. This is run through a pair of 8-inch Wrensilva C80M 2-way speakers, with the company claiming up to 300 watts per channel of power. That might be impressive on its own, but the Standard One can do much more.

In addition to the analog tech, the Standard One features extended-range Bluetooth connectivity with aptX. This is joined by a 3.5mm audio in jack and three additional inputs to connect your favorite audio gear, whether analog or digital. If you like the look of the console, but would rather use your own high-end stereo gear, line-out jacks set before the pre-amp in the signal chain allow you to route the audio signal from the turntable anywhere you want.

This is a fairly narrow product category, but Wrensilva doesn’t have the market all to itself. Earlier this year, we reported on the Luno EGB2, which serves as a combination minibar and console stereo. That model is relatively rare, and the company won’t even talk pricing unless you ask via email.

At $6,900, the Wrensilva Standard One isn’t exactly an impulse purchase. It also isn’t something you can pick up at your local electronics retailer. All Wrensilva stereo consoles are built to order, with a lead time of 8 to 10 weeks, plus freight time for shipping. For more information, see the Wrensilva website.

A version of this article originally appeared at our “brother site,” Digital Trends.

Kris Wouk
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
Tony Soprano vs. Walter White: Who is the ultimate antihero?
TV's biggest heavyweights duke it out for the antihero crown
Breaking bad season 4 screen shot

Sports fans often debate between two heavyweight legends. For basketball, it's LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Switching to tennis, you have Roger Federer fans and Rafael Nadal diehards. Debates like these are ingrained in the culture of athletics, but TV fans have their own version of this sparring match.

Tony Soprano from The Sopranos and Walter White from Breaking Bad are the two characters who still send shockwaves through every drama in the 21st century. These men were the perfect mix of good and evil. They navigated family life and the criminal underworld with cunning intelligence and ruthless risk-taking. Every show with morally gray characters at the center owes its storyboard to Walter and Tony, but which character deserves the antihero crown? This is Tony Soprano vs. Walter White for all the marbles.
Who was the more complex character?

Read more
Learn how to smoke a pipe the proper way with our guide for beginners
Let us show you the classy way to smoke a pipe
Packing a pipe

Pipe smoking is the most aesthetically distinguished way to enjoy tobacco, but you lose the classy effect if you don’t know how to smoke a pipe properly. Smoking a pipe has become a lost art, and these days, most people who engage in pipe smoking do so to achieve a sense of nostalgia. Perhaps your grandfather enjoyed a puff now and again paired with a good stiff whiskey, or maybe your goal is to emulate a pipe-smoking artist.

I know that I enjoy a good puff on a pipe now and then, and knowing the right way to enjoy a pipe has made the experience much more pleasurable for for me. Whatever the case, if you intend to take up the time-honored tradition of unwinding with a pipe like me, you should learn how to smoke a pipe the right way. And smoking a pipe is very different than smoking a cigar (except you shouldn't be inhaling either).

Read more
Don’t ruin your cigars: here’s how to properly season a new humidor
Seasoning secrets every cigar lover could use
faceless man presenting a cigar humidor with cigars inside with gloved hands

If you're a newcomer to the world of cigars or just bought a brand-new humidor, you'll need to season it. And no, I'm not saying to add salt and pepper to it. If you've never heard of it, you might ask, "What is seasoning for a humidor?"

Don't think you need to flavor the box or anything — seasoning is really about getting the wood inside your humidor so as not to rob your cigars of precious moisture. Easy to understand, and getting it done is relatively straightforward as well. The trick is figuring out the "why," and we'll get into that in a bit. But let's first discuss seasoning a humidor.

Read more