Today I received my new Woo Audio 2 amp. I must admit that I have been aching for a Woo Audio product for over a month. The more I read about them, the more pictures I saw of them, the more I wanted one. I just recently bought a Darkvoice 332, which has been sold to another Head-Fi member. I had that amp for a few weeks when I could no longer resist the Siren call of the Woo Audio products. I think the thread that reviewed the Woo Audio 4, with some stunning pictures and positive narrative, pretty much pushed me over the edge.
I decided on the WA2. I selected this model because it could take up to 4 inputs and to me just seemed to have more muscle than any other amp in the Woo line short of the WA5 (which I thought about for a few minutes but decided that $3K was a bit more than I wanted to spend). So I went to the Woo Audio website and placed my order.
I received an order confirmation email from Jack, who explained that it would take about a week to ten days to build my amp, test it, and ship it out to me. I then inquired about possible tube upgrades, and he said he offered an upgrade from the 6AS7 to the Tung-Sol 5998 for $65. I snapped up that upgrade immediately, which brought the price of the WA2 as delivered to $1,055 shipped to my door.
When the package arrived I unpacked the amp and set it up on my stand, installing the tubes that Woo Audio supplied. I boxed up the Darkvoice 332 and got it ready to ship out to its new owner.
Let me tell you that the WA2, armed with the Tung-Sol 5998s, is one imposing through wonderfully elegant statement product that conveys quality long before you plug in your first set of cans. I could not help but sit in my chair and admire the look of this product.
I powered up the amp and the tubes lit up with a warm glow. I took my AKG K701 cans from their stand and plugged them into the WA2. I reached for my copy of Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else and it went into my Denon DVD-3910. My choice of recordings was deliberate. I know most of my favorite jazz recordings inside and out.
I loved the sound of this recording on the WA2 with stock tubes on my AKG K701s. The trumpets and sax featured an open, airy and enveloping property that I found to be entralling. Highs were well defined and clear, without being over powering. Notes on the horns were full bodied and had rich texture, much more so than the Darkvoice 332. Bass extension was also deeper on the WA2, and this amp held low frequencies together better than the Darkvoice as well.
Keep in mind that these are just some initial impressions based on an hour of listening to a new amp that still needs to be properly run in. I have some NOS Tung-Sol 6X4 rectifier tubes and a number of 6922/6DJ8 variants to try out, namely the Amperex 6DJ8 Orange Label NOS tubes. A few Head-fiers were kind enough to recommend some of the more affordable 6922 type tubes, such as the GE grey glass, which I have a pair of here. It is my intention to keep the stock tubes in for the first 40 to 60 hours of run in. I really want to get a good feel for the amp's character with stock tubes before I start tuberolling on this amp.
Expect to see some additional comments as I gather more listening experience. I would also like to say that Jack at Woo Audio is a class act. He very patiently and politely answered the many questions I asked, and was very much in step with my needs as an audiophile. I think the WA2 would disappoint very few owners, if any, right out of the box with stock tubes. I've only listened to a few jazz albums so far but I really like what I hear and expect it to only get better. I think the WA2 is the best thousand bucks I ever spent.
I also have a pair of Sennheiser HD650s and Grado RS-1s. I will be sure to discribe some of my listening experiences with these cans. Look for more details to come this weekend.
--Jerome