Woo Audio Amp Owner Unite - Page 9

Black all the way!!!

Thanks, so many "Nice" Woo people.

olblueyez, I've seen many posts by you supporting Woo Amplifiers. So I'll also give you a pre-welcome to our Woo club, as long as you get SILVER of course.

My WA3 (to olbueyez ) was my first tube amp and I still love it to this day! It's my main amp, just love this thing.

I don't know all the information on the DAC. I do know that he is working on a tube output section on it.


I borrowed it at CanJam for a while and ran it on my system (on Jack's request). Ran it side by side with my Marantz in the following configuration.


Source Marantz SA-7S1 - > AQ Sky RCA -> WA5 (input 1) -> L3000

and

Source Marantz SA-7S1 - > S/PDIF -> Woo DAC - > AQ Anaconda RCA -> WA5 (input 2) -> L3000


It was hard to AB, since the outputs were different levels. But I did get a good impression of the DAC as it was.

First was a live recording - Frank Sinatra - Sinatra at the Sands.

First I noticed was the Woo DAC output was louder. So I had to keep adjusting the volume when switching from the Marantz DAC to the Woo DAC. Not a huge difference with this recording. The most telling feature was one that I very rarely have heard. The sound stage from the Woo got taller, yep, taller. All the other aspects seem to match up with the DAC of the Marantz. Soundstage width, resolution, balance, tone, were all very close out of both. So at the very least it is as good as the flagship Marantz player output.... it made no mistakes.

Next I listened to Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself. This is where the reported 120db S/N really came out.... The sound floor dropped to nothing, could not really notice this on the live recording... Notes came out of blackness. The Marantz output sounded dirty in comparison. People talk about a veil being removed. It was more like turning the sharpness and contrast up on your TV. At first I thought that it was resolution, but it was more that the lack of extra noise just made it so I could hear very minor details that were lost in noise. This allowed me to pickup on some spatial cues that I had missed otherwise... This might account for the soundstage growing taller on the live recording, I was picking up reflections that I could not hear before.

I was happy to report back to Jack that they were on the right direction with the new DAC.

Will be interested in the tube output section he is looking into. Also I would like multi inputs and both Balanced and SE outputs... But as far as the prototype DAC... it is sounding very good.

Cheers,

It is a media server that they are working on. And I believe they are looking to incorporate the prototype DAC into it as well. More to come on that one. It had very limited functionality at the show, it was running off of a flashcard with a couple of tracks on it. Gave it a quick listen, but nothing to report.

Cheers,

I think I can say I am an owner? lol Just have a 4-6 week wait until the WA5 arrives......in BLACK.

*edit* Mikey, I just realized that Macallan is in your sig. I just picked up a bottle of Macallan 12...great stuff.

Cheers -

WA6 maxxed w/PDPS and Sophia rectifier, Using Denon AH-D7000's and Senn HD650's. I love this amp. I am seriously considering upgrading to the WA5LE or maybe the new WES when available. The Stax stuff is incredible. More is better and too much is just right.

Another very happy Woo Audio owner!

I am wondering whether I should have gone for black but now I can call my amp the silver star!

Like them a lot. They have a small effect in grounding the very heavy Cary, but they look great as well. I noticed an all over cleaning up of the bass and a touch more clarity. Was going to try them under the WA5 - amp section to see the effects there as well. Important to keep vibrations away from the monster 300B's.

Thanks - The three brothers are still around the Cary is silent right now, but am working on fixing its voice.


Now we are talking... Team Silver WA5 in the house.... !!

Cheers,

Damn that's sexy.

looks like I have a WA3+ on the way. what do you guys think, will it drive the new Audeze planar cans well enough?

Here's my WA2...with stock drive and rectifier tubes. I'm now using Valvo ECC88 drive tubes and Tung Sol 6x4 rectifiers.



Here are my custom made MB300B mono blocks. All stock tubes are in the photos. The stock rectifiers and 300Bs are coming out this week and will be replaced with Sophia Princess 274B rectifiers and 300B mesh plate power tubes. The 6SN7 drive tubes are NOS Sylvania. I have a pair of early 60s vintage NOS Tung Sol tubes on the way.





These amps are used to drive my Omega MaxHemp alnico single driver hempcone loudspeakers.



The cables were a bit untidy when I took this pic. They are better managed now and out of the way.

--Jerome