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Earmax Silver vs Raptor vs WA6E - Page 2

post #16 of 30
1/10/09 at 5:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philski View Post
Thanks again, all. It looks as if my choice is now (thankfully) just the Earmax Silver Edition or the WA2, unless someone tells me that either one or the other would be a mistake with the K701s. The WA2 might be the winner as it would be about £150 cheaper!

Again, tube rolling isn't really in the equation for me, not for now anyway. I'm amazed how fast I've been consumed by Head-Fi in just two short months, and tube rolling is a whole new world I want to stay away from. For now, anyway.
Then buy a solid state amp designed to work well with your 702's. Also you may want to look into what OTL means, Woo offers output transformers on the WA3+ so it is able to work well with low impedance headphones. The WA2 is OTL (Output Transformer Less), its better suited for high impedance headphones like the Senn 650.

"In this pairing I discovered that the Anniversary wasn't all that stereotypically "tubey" sounding, probably the reason it didn't fare as well here with the K701. It barely added any real emphasis to the mid-range and instead rounded out some other edges of the sonic image - specifically treble, layering, and soundstage. Consistent across all headphones including the K701, the Anniversary didn't offer anything in the area of treble, and in fact downright detracted from it. Leading edges got dulled and lost bite, and there was no shimmer or sparkle. Violins never really sang on it and cymbal strikes always sounded incomplete too."

http://www.stereomojo.com/Earmax%20A...eAmpReview.htm
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post #17 of 30
1/10/09 at 6:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by olblueyez View Post
Then buy a solid state amp designed to work well with your 702's. Also you may want to look into what OTL means, Woo offers output transformers on the WA3+ so it is able to work well with low impedance headphones.
The 3+ does not use output transformers. It's still an OLT design, but it uses a Choke to beef up the power supply to better it's low impedance power delivery.
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post #18 of 30
1/10/09 at 6:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by atbglenn View Post
The 3+ does not use output transformers. It's still an OLT design, but it uses a Choke to beef up the power supply to better it's low impedance power delivery.
And this changes things for the OP how?

WooAudio 3+ is an enhanced model of the WooAudio 3, featuring a filter choke in the power supply while removing the pre-amplifier output scheme. The WA3+ increases output power and thus better synergy with low impedance headphones than the WA3. This model retains sound signature of the WooAudio3 as it pushes to a higher performance horizon.

The WA2 have this feature?
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post #19 of 30
1/10/09 at 6:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philski View Post
Thanks again, all. It looks as if my choice is now (thankfully) just the Earmax Silver Edition or the WA2, unless someone tells me that either one or the other would be a mistake with the K701s. The WA2 might be the winner as it would be about £150 cheaper!
Do a search for WA2 on the forums. I recall reading a couple of comments that said the WA2 does not pair optimally with the K701/K702. Double check me on that. Also, email Jack for his feedback. While Woo products are superb, I'd hate for you to make a purchase you are not happy with.
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post #20 of 30
1/10/09 at 6:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by breakfastchef View Post
Do a search for WA2 on the forums. I recall reading a couple of comments that said the WA2 does not pair optimally with the K701/K702. Double check me on that. Also, email Jack for his feedback. While Woo products are superb, I'd hate for you to make a purchase you are not happy with.
My thoughts as well.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/abs...ml#post5269049
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post #21 of 30
1/10/09 at 7:09pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks, I appreciate that - I'll keep reading. BTW olblueyes, what is the 'Anniversary' referred to in your earlier quote?
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post #22 of 30
1/10/09 at 7:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philski View Post
Thanks, I appreciate that - I'll keep reading. BTW olblueyes, what is the 'Anniversary' referred to in your earlier quote?

I believe the Anniversary is the same as the Silver but has different tubes and color scheme and has a hard travel case. The Silver and Anniversary are higher power than the standard Earmax but we are splitting hairs, I don’t believe the difference is much at all. Where is the Eaxmax website, I can never find it searching for "Earmax".

As for the WA2 I would E-mail Jack and ask if it has the chokes and if it does indeed work well with the 702, if it doesnt then he will recommend another model. Im not sure if you were serious about not wanting to tube roll but if you are then the Graham Slee Solo w/PSU-1 would make a nice mate for the 702.
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post #23 of 30
1/10/09 at 7:27pm
I think many people think that because the 701 is very open and clean sounding that a warm tube amp will work well but I beleive the best route is a clean dynamic sounding solid state rig with lots of power as the 701/2 are power hungry.
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post #24 of 30
1/10/09 at 7:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by olblueyez View Post
And this changes things for the OP how?

WooAudio 3+ is an enhanced model of the WooAudio 3, featuring a filter choke in the power supply while removing the pre-amplifier output scheme. The WA3+ increases output power and thus better synergy with low impedance headphones than the WA3. This model retains sound signature of the WooAudio3 as it pushes to a higher performance horizon.

The WA2 have this feature?

The reason this changes things for the OP is a choke in the power supply does nothing to lower the amps output impedance .... which is the reason the Woo 3 and many other OTLs struggle with low impedance headphones. There is more potential power from the beefier power supply but the power cant get out of the tube and into the headphone. I have never understood how this would solve the 3s ability to drive a low impedance headphones and jamoto, the Woo expert, has commented on this as well.

The Woo 2 has the choke but the important difference is ther 2 adds a second 6as7/6080 output tube. The second output tube allows each of the tubes dual triodes to be paralleled cutting the Woo 2s output impedance in half and providing much more power into low impedances.
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post #25 of 30
1/10/09 at 7:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by olblueyez View Post
I think many people think that because the 701 is very open and clean sounding that a warm tube amp will work well but I beleive the best route is a clean dynamic sounding solid state rig with lots of power as the 701/2 are power hungry.
I would agree there seems to be the thought that a warm amp with a brighter headphone will give you some perfect synergy in the middle. What I usually get when I try this warm/ bright combo is the worst of both. In almost all cases going with the sound character, be it bright, dark or whatever, rather than against the sound character, has given me the best results.

I still think the 701 does best with tubes. You just need a tube amp that is inherently neutral to slightly warm or can be tuberolled to be so .... with lots of current delivery. The other option, I already mentioned, is a hybrid amp with a tube gain stage for the nice tone and freedom from harshness along with a SS output stage that can deliver a serious amount of current.
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post #26 of 30
1/10/09 at 7:49pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by olblueyez View Post
Where is the Eaxmax website, I can never find it searching for "Earmax".
Here you go: Earmax Homepage Seems the Audiophile Club and Earmax are pretty much one and the same... from a webpage point of view anyway.

I was worried that this discussion might get way too technical for me. If anyone can explain the difference in end-user experience it would be appreciated! I tend to get a bit blinded by science at this stage...
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post #27 of 30
1/11/09 at 3:53am
Thanks for the link, its been driving me nuts.
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post #28 of 30
1/11/09 at 7:05am
Thread Starter 
I think I'll call up the Audiophile Club and see if they have an Earmax Silver Edition for demo - they're only up the road from me, and at least that will give me a position to start from. Thanks for everyone's help so far.
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post #29 of 30
1/11/09 at 8:09am
The Silver and the Anniversay have the same tubes
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post #30 of 30
9/20/10 at 9:15pm

anyone compared the silver edition to V200????

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