[Revogamer]

   
Just looked it up. What a great amp. Beautiful. You must be proud.
 
Interesting. I've been hovering around the Woo site for a while. So close to pushing go.
 
I would love to get the WA 22 however it is outside my price range. Just to much right now. The balance outputs would be fun to play with.
I am newish to this and I don't want to offend anyone, however does the balance outputs not make any difference unless the whole chain source to HP is also balanced?
I have the Oppo HA-1 and LCD-3 and tried the balance output from that. Other than a loudness gain I didn't notice much.
 
I am very close to pushing go on the WA2. I know there are comments that it is underpowered. I can't understand that myself. Why has Woo made something so big and not have power???

It has a 120W transformer so there must be some power in the unit somewhere.
The reasons why I'm looking at the WA2 is that I took a WA7 for a overnight trial (Thanks Computer Lounge. Very generous). I was very disappointed with the whole thing. Nearly threw away the whole getting a tube amp idea. It sounded like a solid state amp. I gave the edge to the Oppo. Better soundstage and mid-range. If I am going to buy a tube amp I want it to sound like a tube amp. Not accurate at all.
 
From what I have read the WA2 and 22 are the right type of amps. The WA6SE is the same price and a lot more powerful however the comments of brighter and not as smooth as the WA2 has put me off.
 
Being a Woo owner do you think I will be okay with the WA2?
 
 
Yes it does help a lot. So tubes don't dark up the LCD-3 too much.
 
I started with the Senny HD700. Gosh they were too bright. I then hunted down the LCD-3. Boom. I love the sound signature. I had all sorts of EQ on the HD700. Now I have turned it all off. Just enjoying the LCD-3 warmth. Guess my question came from fear that tubes might just push the LCD-3 into the too warm / dark area.
 
Thanks. Whatever tube amp I go for I will experiment with the tubes to get that quality.
 
I plan to send all my sources to the Oppo HA-1 (iPod, CD, SACD and DVD Audio), let the DAC decode then send on to a tube amp. Then I could pick and choose what amp to use depending on the music.

The WA2 really won't have enough power to drive the LCD's - it will sound mushy and uncontrolled really
 
They really do need that minimum 1W for them to perform well - you have a pre-fazor too which were 32Ohms intead of the newer 110ohms (a little easier to drive for OTL tube amps)

Edit: forgot to add..
 
The HD700 would peform better as well as the HD800's would be great with the WA2 - they are designed to work well with high impedance headphones~

 

[Badas]

  The WA2 really won't have enough power to drive the LCD's - it will sound mushy and uncontrolled really
 
They really do need that minimum 1W for them to perform well - you have a pre-fazor too which were 32Ohms intead of the newer 110ohms (a little easier to drive for OTL tube amps)

Edit: forgot to add..
 
The HD700 would peform better as well as the HD800's would be great with the WA2 - they are designed to work well with high impedance headphones~

 
Ooooh, Bum.

 
Back to the drawing board. I so want to experiment with tubes. They sound like fun (excuse the pun).
 
I might just leave the whole thing and stick with the Oppo HA-1. That has buckets of power.

 
I don't understand that ohms thing. So are mine are harder or easier to drive???

 

[kothganesh]

Is anyone using the LCD-3's with a tube amp?

If so what are they?

ZDSE

 

[Argo Duck]

Decware Taboo mk II and with the 110 ohms of the LCD-3F the OTL Decware CSP2+ becomes a possibility (but I still much prefer the Taboo).

Previously tried Schiit Lyr. Pretty good with my LCD2r1 but now retired from LCD duties. The best tubes became scarce and uber-expensive with this popular amp.

 

[aive]

I

Ooooh, Bum.

Back to the drawing board. I so want to experiment with tubes. They sound like fun (excuse the pun).

I might just leave the whole thing and stick with the Oppo HA-1. That has buckets of power.

I don't understand that ohms thing. So are mine are harder or easier to drive???

Id say hold off on the wa2 if you can and try to save up for something better. I just upgraded from my wa2 impressions here : http://www.head-fi.org/t/632948/the-headamp-gs-x-and-gs-x-mk2-thread/3510#post_10782072

 

[kkcc]

I would love to get the WA 22...

In my experience with the LCDs they benefit more from higher current output with the power tubes on wa22 (ts7236, ts5998, chatham 2399 types) and the balanced design allow sufficient output to drive LCD3 very well. Specs is just part of the story as my audio-gd amp which does 8W @40ohms didn't drive it better than my wa22.

Re the balanced design for wa22, the key is to use the balanced xlr inputs. The outputs are all the same and are there for convenient purpose. There is not really much to gain for using balanced or SE headphone cable from the WA22. Other amps could be different and require the balanced out to utilize the full balanced circuit. For the current wa22, while it will allow the use of its full circuitry and deliver full power with either the xlr or rca inputs, with rca single ended inputs the signal will be passed to a phase splitter circuit first and I find the xlr inputs more transparent sounding.

I haven't spent enough time with wa2 to recommend for/against it.

 

[Androb]

In my experience with the LCDs they benefit more from higher current output with the power tubes on wa22 (ts7236, ts5998, chatham 2399 types) and the balanced design allow sufficient output to drive LCD3 very well. Specs is just part of the story as my audio-gd amp which does 8W @40ohms didn't drive it better than my wa22.

Re the balanced design for wa22, the key is to use the balanced xlr inputs. The outputs are all the same and are there for convenient purpose. There is not really much to gain for using balanced or SE headphone cable from the WA22. Other amps could be different and require the balanced out to utilize the full balanced circuit. For the current wa22, while it will allow the use of its full circuitry and deliver full power with either the xlr or rca inputs, with rca single ended inputs the signal will be passed to a phase splitter circuit first and I find the xlr inputs more transparent sounding.

I haven't spent enough time with wa2 to recommend for/against it.

My balanced amp needs an xlr cable from the dac all the way to my headphones to sound the best. With normal SE cable it sounds real boring. But when using an xlr it's a whole other beast

 

[Badas]

I
Id say hold off on the wa2 if you can and try to save up for something better. I just upgraded from my wa2 impressions here : http://www.head-fi.org/t/632948/the-headamp-gs-x-and-gs-x-mk2-thread/3510#post_10782072

So what you said in that post is that you liked the SS better than the WA2 tube??
 
In ways your setup is not to dis similar to mine. Oppo HA-1.
 
Both are SS. Class A with plenty of power. Sure yours has a separate DAC, where mine is a all in one unit. So yours would have less supposed distortion.
 
Do I really need to look at tubes? What is to be gained from them?
 
So confused.

Everyone has told me that I haven't heard music until I've heard it using tubes. I feel like I'm missing something. Maybe I'm not. The Oppo HA-1 into LCD-3 sounds like a dream. Yet I'm still curious.
 
I've tried the Oppo Balanced output. Very nice. There is a large volume increase using it. I did some listening between Balance and 1/4 inch re-adjusting the volume. I couldn't hear a quality gain just the obvious volume gain. I decided just to use 1/4 inch.
 
Also last night I noticed when I was using my LCD-3's that on occasion when I turned my heads they were making a clicking sound. Not drivers. Something else. On inspection afterwards I noticed the key bolt that holds the black steel frame to the wood was lose on the left back side. I grabbed a key and tightened. Seemed to fix. However after checking the rest one is just spinning round and round and not tightening. Should I be concerned? The one that is spinning is not causing any problems and seems to connect well.
 

Decware Taboo mk II and with the 110 ohms of the LCD-3F the OTL Decware CSP2+ becomes a possibility (but I still much prefer the Taboo).

Previously tried Schiit Lyr. Pretty good with my LCD2r1 but now retired from LCD duties. The best tubes became scarce and uber-expensive with this popular amp.

 
Looked up that also. Some of you guys have some outstanding gear. I take my hat off to you all.

 

[Argo Duck]

Badas, best advice is ignore "everyone" and be patient. Your first set-up(s) will not be your last! You will discover you hear some things the same as others, some things different. And that in any case this will keep changing: your own listening discrimination, preferences and capabilities (= hearing + brain decoding) will change markedly.

There are outstanding tube amps, outstanding SS and outstanding hybrids. Which you will prefer cannot be predicted until you experience them. Heck, some of us are forced to own several (Sometimes I'm in the mood for my 'cleaner', less fussy, less exciting SS options though mostly the Decwares win my head-time hands down).

About your LCD3 problem, I'm not sure. But Audez'e's support (and usually their dealers' too) is outstanding.

 

[aive]

So what you said in that post is that you liked the SS better than the WA2 tube??

Nah what I'm saying is that I find considerable improvement upgrading from the WA2 - i.e the WA2 can be improved upon easily.

I'm not saying tubes are bad at all and I enjoyed the sound from my WA2 for a year - check out Eddie current tube amps, I don't think I've read a negative review of his amps yet... Tempted with the 4-45 amp.... Also check out David North tube amps.

Just saying again, if you can save a bit more, get a better amp than the wa2. Cus there is noticeably better amps out there for a little more money.

 

[Badas]

Badas, best advice is ignore "everyone" and be patient. Your first set-up(s) will not be your last! You will discover you hear some things the same as others, some things different. And that in any case this will keep changing: your own listening discrimination, preferences and capabilities (= hearing + brain decoding) will change markedly.

There are outstanding tube amps, outstanding SS and outstanding hybrids. Which you will prefer cannot be predicted until you experience them. Heck, some of us are forced to own several

(Sometimes I'm in the mood for my 'cleaner', less fussy, less exciting SS options though mostly the Decwares win my head-time hands down).

About your LCD3 problem, I'm not sure. But Audez'e's support (and usually their dealers' too) is outstanding.

 
Thanks. Nice advice. I have the chance to listen to a WA2 latter this week. I am excited to give a tube amp a good listen. It will be stock and new. So I know it could change in time. Kinda just making sure it will power my LCD-3 at a reasonable volume first.

Nah what I'm saying is that I find considerable improvement upgrading from the WA2 - i.e the WA2 can be improved upon easily.

I'm not saying tubes are bad at all and I enjoyed the sound from my WA2 for a year - check out Eddie current tube amps, I don't think I've read a negative review of his amps yet... Tempted with the 4-45 amp.... Also check out David North tube amps.

Just saying again, if you can save a bit more, get a better amp than the wa2. Cus there is noticeably better amps out there for a little more money.

Thanks,
 
It has to be Woo. I'm in New Zealand. Not many options here. Woo is sold and supported local to me. So if I go tubes it will be the obvious choice. I'm listening to the WA2 later this week.

 

[donlin]

So what you said in that post is that you liked the SS better than the WA2 tube??

In ways your setup is not to dis similar to mine. Oppo HA-1.

Both are SS. Class A with plenty of power. Sure yours has a separate DAC, where mine is a all in one unit. So yours would have less supposed distortion.

Do I really need to look at tubes? What is to be gained from them?

So confused. Everyone has told me that I haven't heard music until I've heard it using tubes. I feel like I'm missing something. Maybe I'm not. The Oppo HA-1 into LCD-3 sounds like a dream. Yet I'm still curious.

I've tried the Oppo Balanced output. Very nice. There is a large volume increase using it. I did some listening between Balance and 1/4 inch re-adjusting the volume. I couldn't hear a quality gain just the obvious volume gain. I decided just to use 1/4 inch.

I haven't heard the Oppo amp, but in my experience, the sound quality improvements from running the phones balanced have outweighed the benefits of tubes.

 

[LCfiner]

   
Thanks. Nice advice. I have the chance to listen to a WA2 latter this week. I am excited to give a tube amp a good listen. It will be stock and new. So I know it could change in time. Kinda just making sure it will power my LCD-3 at a reasonable volume first.
Thanks,
 
It has to be Woo. I'm in New Zealand. Not many options here. Woo is sold and supported local to me. So if I go tubes it will be the obvious choice. I'm listening to the WA2 later this week.

 
If you need to purchase a Woo and plan to use it with the LCD3, what about the WA6SE? It should mate better with the LCD3 than the WA2 and it’s the same price. It’s supposed to be less “gooey” than the WA2, as well.

 

[Badas]

   
If you need to purchase a Woo and plan to use it with the LCD3, what about the WA6SE? It should mate better with the LCD3 than the WA2 and it’s the same price. It’s supposed to be less “gooey” than the WA2, as well.

Yes. On my radar.
 
I'm not a fan of it's split platform. I actually want gooey. If I go Tube. I want it to sound like tubes. Some of the bright comments have put me off. If the WA2 doesn't drive the LCD-3 well. I will likely wait and save for the WA22.

 

[aive]

If you have the opportunity which is sounds like you do, listen to both wa2 and wa22.

I've never heard wa22 but if you can hear an improvement over wa2, best to save up for it instead