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Ken Rockwell's review of the Woo WA6SE and other audio gear

post #1 of 31
4/17/12 at 2:34am
Thread Starter 

Photo-reviewist Ken Rocwell has reviewed some audio gear, and also the Woo WA6SE. 

 

http://kenrockwell.com/audio/woo/wa6-se.htm

 

edit - he has actually done a lot of audio reviews:

 

http://kenrockwell.com/audio/index.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He has done a lot of measurments which might interest some. There are more in the review, I just did some copy paste:

 

 

 

 

HIGH output
At 0.1% THD
At 1% THD
At 10% THD
600 Ω
550 mV RMS
5.2 V RMS
21 V RMS
300 Ω
300 mV RMS
3.4 V RMS
20 V RMS
37.5 Ω
40 mV RMS
375 mV RMS
3.3 V RMS

 

LOW output
At 0.1% THD
At 1% THD
At 10% THD
600 Ω
440 mV RMS
4 V RMS
11.5 V RMS
300 Ω
350 mV RMS
3.5 V RMS
11.1 V RMS
37.5 Ω
90 mV RMS
880 mV RMS
6.2 V RMS

 

Output Source Impedances   measurements       top

Source Impedance
50 cps
1 kc
20 kc
LOW output
14.0 Ω
15.5 Ω
15.2 Ω
HIGH output
43.6 Ω
49.8 Ω
50.3 Ω

 

Gain   measurements       top

HIGH output
Maximum gain
600 Ω load
23.7 dB
300 Ω load
23.0 dB
37.5 Ω load
16.7 dB

 

LOW output
Maximum gain
600 Ω load
18.5 dB
300 Ω load
18.3 dB
37.5 Ω load
15.8 dB

 

Attenuation   measurements       top

Volume
Relative Attenuation
Maximum
0.0 dB
4 o'clock
-0.8 dB
3 o'clock
-3.7 dB
2 o'clock
-7.8 dB
1 o'clock
-13.2 dB
12 o'clock
-16.7 dB
11 o'clock
-22.1 dB
10 o'clock
-30.0 dB
9 o'clock
-38.2 dB
8 o'clock
-54.6 dB
minimum
-120 dB

 


Edited by ardilla - 4/18/12 at 3:22pm
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post #2 of 31
4/17/12 at 3:39am

Wow, I'm kind of shocked since he's primarily a camera reviewer but he's also a gear lover too so in ways, it's not so quite surprising. Anyway, he's a good reviewer over all with cameras and a good writer. The Woo 6 SE in my opinion is one of the best headphone amps out there and hopefully, it will have a place in hi fi history.

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post #3 of 31
4/17/12 at 4:36am
Thread Starter 

Kennyboy is kinda contreversial too - there are many who has doubts about his objectivity for different reasons. I think he does excellent work, however - and ALL reviewers are biased in one way or another - so all reviews should be taken with a grain of salt. 

 

I am impressed, however, with his thoroughness and all the measurements he did. Don't know much about the methods used etc - but I am sure others here on the forum can comment on that. 


Edited by ardilla - 4/17/12 at 12:13pm
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post #4 of 31
4/17/12 at 5:39am

I think Ken might have left a zero off his estimate of what it costs to build a Stax rig around a ToTL Woo amp.....

 

If you have $1,000 to spend, I know you're as crazy as I am, and therefore I know you really want the best, which is to buy the Stax and the appropriate amp from Woo Audio.

 

 

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post #5 of 31
4/17/12 at 8:12am

Ken always made some of the most fun to read and interesting photo gear reviews for a long time on the net. I especially like his first hand experience, special technique et gear usage and such. He is a complete Nikon fan boy though, but isn't when you buy into their system.

Anyway he is not that biased of a reviewer and one of the most helpfull out there imho.

Great read though!

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post #6 of 31
4/17/12 at 9:16pm

His reviews are fun too to read. I cannot say he is biased but indeed quite contreversial. His photographic reviews are actually very about specs and opinions. I usually found his reviews useful for getting the overall idea but never felt any is with depth. Specs are not spirits.

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post #7 of 31
4/18/12 at 7:57am

OMG! Ken's finally turned himself into an "audiophile".

 

For those in the know w.r.t. Nikon camera equipment, Ken has already acquired a bad rep in the photog circles.

Real Nikon reviewers are experts such as Thom Hogan.

Ken's shallow reviews are actually meant to collect revenue from encouraging others to buy equipment via links provided  on his website.

 

BTW, just for kicks, I read through his Head phone reviews.

As usual, just like his Nikon reviews, he contradicts himself because his real aim is to get you, the reader, to buy all the good stuff he has reviewed.

For example, he posts a very positive review of the Beyer DT880 (600 ohms) and claims that he bought this and this is his preferred set of everyday cans.

H/W, in another headphone review, he claims that he is using the DT990 instead.

He actually came up with a supposed life story about his "DT990" set of cans.

 

Duh!!?!?!?!?

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post #8 of 31
4/18/12 at 1:46pm


 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord Soth View Post

OMG! Ken's finally turned himself into an "audiophile".

 

For those in the know w.r.t. Nikon camera equipment, Ken has already acquired a bad rep in the photog circles.

Real Nikon reviewers are experts such as Thom Hogan.

Ken's shallow reviews are actually meant to collect revenue from encouraging others to buy equipment via links provided  on his website.

 

BTW, just for kicks, I read through his Head phone reviews.

As usual, just like his Nikon reviews, he contradicts himself because his real aim is to get you, the reader, to buy all the good stuff he has reviewed.

For example, he posts a very positive review of the Beyer DT880 (600 ohms) and claims that he bought this and this is his preferred set of everyday cans.

H/W, in another headphone review, he claims that he is using the DT990 instead.

He actually came up with a supposed life story about his "DT990" set of cans.

 

Duh!!?!?!?!?


I wasnt aware of his background, but it quickly became apparent that I was reading a 6Moons-style advertorial without the pretty pictures. Ken may not suffer from verbal diarrhea to the same extent as Srajan, but he is a lightweight nonetheless. Ironic that Ken is the photography geek but Srajan has much more attractive audio porn in his advertorials. All he needs to do now is reduce the word count by 75% and 6Moons will be a very nice e-brochure for many manufacturers who wouldnt otherwise be able to afford such luxuries. 

 

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post #9 of 31
4/18/12 at 1:56pm

As a long time Nikon user and fan: Ken Rockwell is a joke. For every correct insight he has he blabbers out ten insane things. I believe it says somewhere on his site that he makes a great reviewer of audio gear because his parents met in a choir group and thus their son (Ken) would be a very musical boy... rolleyes.gif

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post #10 of 31
4/18/12 at 2:25pm
Thread Starter 

Updated the first post:

 

 

edit - he has actually done a lot of audio reviews:

 

http://kenrockwell.com/audio/index.htm

 

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post #11 of 31
4/18/12 at 2:41pm

LMAO!!! I guess you know the man as well as I do. And don't forget to call Japanese people terrorists for attacking Pearl Harbor every year on the anniversary. The fact that he has branched out into audio gear reviews tells me his visitor count has been plunging, now that the photo community has completely ex-communicated him; he's trying to fool audiphiles. I wonder what's next if this ploy doesn't work? popcorn.gif

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by thenorwegian View Post

If anyone wants to make a Ben Suckwell review, all you do is look up a few facts on the net about something, then add your own thoughts. But instead of writing "I think", you always write "I know" or claim it to be a "fact". Doesn't matter if you've never even used the gear. And make sure to call it a REVIEW, even if you've never even touched or seen the gear in real life. Then add some links to where it can be bought and how you'd appriciate if people clicked the links so you can write more awesome reviews and help everyone out.



 

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post #12 of 31
4/18/12 at 2:50pm

I'm not that much for or against KR but I give him that he's pretty damn good at being the top of search results.

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post #13 of 31
4/18/12 at 3:15pm
Thread Starter 

He is indeed. And to his defence, his reviews are a hell of a lot easier to read than e.g. dpreviews. But then, he isn't going as d(ee)p
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.Sneis View Post

I'm not that much for or against KR but I give him that he's pretty damn good at being the top of search results.



 

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post #14 of 31
4/21/12 at 6:31am

I always found him entertaining, and I like some of what he's written, though I am cautious to buy into anything he says.  Didn't notice before that he reviews audio gear, so this should be interesting.

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post #15 of 31
4/21/12 at 6:34am

 

Broken watches are right twice a day.rolleyes.gif


Edited by obzilla - 4/21/12 at 7:34am
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Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphone Amps (full-size) › Ken Rockwell's review of the Woo WA6SE and other audio gear