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Woo Audio WA2 vs RSA The Raptor - Page 2

post #16 of 25
7/9/09 at 8:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by moonboy403 View Post
In short, I hated the HD650 when driven by HR-2, but love it when it's driven by Phoenix. Whether it's due to improvement of the amp or benefits from balanced, or a combination of both? I don't really care. All I know is that the HD650 is a different headphone now.
I would be inclined to think that it was going balanced that created the biggest improvement. HD650 seems to scale better with balanced drive than the HD600 does for some reason.

The only time I ever liked the HD650 as much as the HD600 was out of a balanced M^3 that was at the last Sydney meet.
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post #17 of 25
7/11/09 at 1:21am
Thread Starter 
I think the message is kinda clear to me now, with 13 votes against 2.

Somehow I would like to thank those who gave their views and reminded me not to invest too much on a 1st amp w/o knowing what I really wanted in the 1st place.

Will post some pics and impression once I secure my very 1st AMP! BRAVO HEAD-FIERS!
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post #18 of 25
7/13/09 at 8:55am
You have to remember that both amps are tubed and therefore the majority of people who have an opinion will be tube fans and therefore it stands to reason that most would favour the tube sound.
The Raptor is easily the LEAST tube sounding of the two and therefore was always going to be second best in this poll.
I havent heard either so won't vote but I am interested in buying a W6se in the future.
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post #19 of 25
7/13/09 at 10:18am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by nigeljames View Post
You have to remember that both amps are tubed and therefore the majority of people who have an opinion will be tube fans and therefore it stands to reason that most would favour the tube sound.
The Raptor is easily the LEAST tube sounding of the two and therefore was always going to be second best in this poll.
I havent heard either so won't vote but I am interested in buying a W6se in the future.
Yup, many have pointed out the Raptor sounded like solid state more than tube. I will go for WA2 because I'm one of them - The tube fans
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post #20 of 25
7/13/09 at 10:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SengChangKo View Post
Yup, many have pointed out the Raptor sounded like solid state more than tube. I will go for WA2 because I'm one of them - The tube fans
Raptor can sound tubey if you put in the right tube... Read on the Raptor topic..
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post #21 of 25
7/13/09 at 10:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by OutdoorXplorer View Post
Raptor can sound tubey if you put in the right tube... Read on the Raptor topic..
Probably, but I would wager not as tubey as a tubey amp with tubey tube
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post #22 of 25
7/13/09 at 11:04am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by OutdoorXplorer View Post
Raptor can sound tubey if you put in the right tube... Read on the Raptor topic..
I think for now what I intended is to go for a fairly basic system w/o investing on tubes or parts upgrade, which can be very costly to me. Even Jack Woo suggested me to go for the 7236 which I don't think I will go for it for now.

But don't get me wrong that I don't believe in different tubes, parts upgrade or cables can directly affect the quality of an output. I am a true believer in all these especially when I experienced the Zu's HD 650 cable together with APS V3 cable and all I can hear is both cables brought different presentation to the music I listened to. Same goes for the ipod LOD and the story goes on and on until once get his pocket hurts ...

So the point is I am making a comparison between 2 default system and it ended up WA2 brings more tubey sounds than The Raptor. There go my decision to burn my pocket

Hopefully I am not making The Raptor looks and sounds awful to the RSA owners here, I have my regret after I bought the D10 and found out RSA SR-71A sounded better as an amp which is what I really needed. The D10 has the additional features like DAC and opamp rolling functions but I rarely use/not using it at all.

BTW, can I have both? Anyone willing to donate a Raptor to me? The silver Raptor can be a perfect match for my silver MacBook Pro and Apogee Duet haha
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post #23 of 25
7/13/09 at 11:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nigeljames View Post
Probably, but I would wager not as tubey as a tubey amp with tubey tube
I agree

The Woo WA2 has tubed rectification, the Raptor doesn't. I'd venture to say the WA2 will be a lot more tube like than the Raptor.
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post #24 of 25
11/5/11 at 2:03pm

I have not heard a woo amp but i do have a raptor amplifier with the stock tubes and i have been very happy with the amplifiers performance.I also have a burson ha 160 amp and i have found it somewhat lacking in sound quality when compared to the raptor amplifier.The raptor amplifier is much more dimensional and has better tonal qualities.I have also found that it actually has superior bass definition when compared to the burson imho.I have heard the woo amps have a rounder tonal quality than the raptor but i can say that the raptors bass performance is quite exceptional for a tube amp.It also seems to drive my phones pretty well.I presently have three phones the akg 701,the grado rs1i and the audeze lcd-2 and it is able to drive all the phones well.I have to say that i have found the akg to pretty demanding of amplifiers and that the bass is somewhat rolled off.I am a recent audedze lcd-2 owner and the raptor is wonderfully matched with this phone.It has beautiful tonality and great bass when paired with the audeze lcd-2 rev 2.I have to add that i have replaced the stock fuse in the raptor with a hifi tuning fuse  to great effect,I am also using a kubala sosna emotion power cable with the raptor amp.                                             buson160man                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      


Edited by buson160man - 11/5/11 at 2:06pm
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post #25 of 25
11/10/11 at 9:06am

Raptor is a great amp - but y'all are right - it's got an SS/Tube sound, not a tube sound, which is what I like about it!

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