[Greed]

   
where does WA22 / WA5 stand?
 
i personally did not like ECBA, though i did like its transparency and detail with hd 800. definitely TOTL.

 
I agree with Solude on this one. I've only heard the WA22 from the two mentioned but it sounded great with the T1, which is what was available at the time. No time with the HD800 unfortunately, but I've owned the WA2 and in comparison, there is an upgrade - but not as much as the increase in price would lead you on to believe. I don't want to speculate on the WA5, but from reviews it seems like an amp that is worthy of consideration. Overall it's still widely known as overpriced (new). If you can land one used for a good price, I'm sure it will impress you.  You seem to really enjoy the Woo signature sound and aesthetics (beautiful amps IMO), so I don't think it will disappoint. If you really enjoy tube rolling you might want to look at ZDSE or even a regular ZD. I really love Woo, but their prices are a bit steep for the performance you get stock. You have to front half the cost of another amp (tubes) to find the sweet spot. Maybe even give a go at a used LG if you can find one. 
 
PS: I agree, rolling 2A3's or 300Bs is too costly. I'm getting one set of upgraded tubes for the Stratus before I stop this madness. 

 

[Dubstep Girl]

   
I agree with Solude on this one. I've only heard the WA22 from the two mentioned but it sounded great with the T1, which is what was available at the time. No time with the HD800 unfortunately, but I've owned the WA2 and in comparison, there is an upgrade - but not as much as the increase in price would lead you on to believe. I don't want to speculate on the WA5, but from reviews it seems like an amp that is worthy of consideration. Overall it's still widely known as overpriced (new). If you can land one used for a good price, I'm sure it will impress you.  You seem to really enjoy the Woo signature sound and aesthetics (beautiful amps IMO), so I don't think it will disappoint. If you really enjoy tube rolling you might want to look at ZDSE or even a regular ZD. I really love Woo, but their prices are a bit steep for the performance you get stock. You have to front half the cost of another amp (tubes) to find the sweet spot. Maybe even give a go at a used LG if you can find one. 
 
PS: I agree, rolling 2A3's or 300Bs is too costly. I'm getting one set of upgraded tubes for the Stratus before I stop this madness. 

 
well a small upgrade would be nice with T1 with WA22. the T1/WA2 is very very close to perfect, its hard for me to find flaws, so i can imagine the improvements will be small. would be nice to have an amp that can sound just as good with T1 as WA2, since thats the main purpose of me buying the WA22, but also one that plays nice with HD 800 (which from what i've heard, the WA22 is a good upgrade from WA2 with HD 800, and of course, the WA22 can also work with low impedance unlike the WA2 which is strictly a HD800/T1 amp.
 
if of course the WA22 disappoints, i'll simply return to WA2 as i only mainly need it as a tube complement for HD 800 and as my main amp for T1. 
 
i'm excited to be able to roll my tubes with the WA22. i like that it uses the 5U4G rectifiers.
 
regardless of which amp i end up keeping, i'll be able to max out the tubes and get the top ones available. since i've found out woos sound the best when upgraded, when stock, they unfortunately, sometimes under-perform, the woos are made for tube rolling.

 

[XVampireX]

Does anyone in this forum ever talk On-Topic? you people are more concerned about the HD800 in this topic
Lets see the HD800 thread

 

[Zashoomin]

Ok back on topic than.  Schiit Mjolnir or AMB B22?  To try to keep the costs the same lets assume the B22 is only built with single ended configuration.  

 

[Greed]

  Ok back on topic than.  Schiit Mjolnir or AMB B22?  To try to keep the costs the same lets assume the B22 is only built with single ended configuration.  

 
MJ

 

[Zashoomin]

   
MJ

 
May I ask why?

 

[preproman]

For the LCD-3s better of going with the MJ over a SE B22. If other headphones are involved, may have to re think it.

 

[Solude]

  Ok back on topic than.  Schiit Mjolnir or AMB B22?  To try to keep the costs the same lets assume the B22 is only built with single ended configuration.  

 
B22 though unless used it will cost more than an MJ.  Parts alone on my two channel B22 came in at ~$900 if memory serves.  I found the MJ just too tonally tilted up.  It is aggressive but lacking in the bottom.  Staging is also 3 blob in comparison.  Both aren't terribly focused.  B22 slightly better separation and layering.  In that range I prefer the Soloist.

 

[dan.gheorghe]

Why is everybody talking only about amps?

preproman, have you you tried a 10k or 20k DAC to see which scales better with it? My guess is that HE6 would come out crying. And yes, you are the only one that understands

 
I have heard the HD800 and LCD3 with Msb Analog Dac (10k) and burson conductor as amp, also heard the msb diamond and signature (but with speakers unfortunately).
 
Both lcd3 and hd800 scaled wonderfully, but I have to say...HD800 scaled much more. 

I had no idea how much headphones can scale with a dac. (The difference from my system and msb was bigger than the difference from my system and fiio e17). 
 
So amplification isn't the only thing...unfortunately...

 

[BournePerfect]

   
 
Both lcd3 and hd800 scaled wonderfully, but I have to say...HD800 scaled much more. 

 

 

 

[spkrs01]

Better late than never!  
 
I bought a pair of LCD3 over the weekend and they should arrive later this week. I have cables ready and am very interested how much better(?) the LCD3 is over it's brother, the LCD2
 
It will be sourced and amp'ed by the Metrum Hex and the Cavalli LAu.
 
Very excited to hear the set up......................

 

[steve2151]

I'll have to second Dan's opinion on this one. The HD 800 does seem to scale higher and I'm not sure that I need my M8/Ref8 to get the most out of the LCD-3. Both require approximately the same amount of power from the M8 (8-10 on low gain), but I feel that the hyperdetailed nature of the HD 800 calls for a cleaner power supply and a better DAC.
 
I'm starting to think that DACs may be more important than amps for all but the most budget setups. The first chain that I really liked my HD 800 on was SA-1 -> Apex Arete/Volcano. I lent the SA-1 to a friend for a week and was not pleased with the DAC performance of the HUD-MX1 that I threw in to replace it (this was noticeable on HD 580, LCD-2, HE-6, and HD 800). The music sounded much flatter and the lows tended to blur into some sort of one note bass.
 
This is not a knock on the Audinst - it was my office unit for a long time and is quite admirable for a small budget all in one running off a wall wart. However, it cannot really compete with bulky dedicated units with overbuilt PSUs.

 

[preproman]

DACs more important than amps??  That's a hard one.

 

[dan.gheorghe]

  I'll have to second Dan's opinion on this one. The HD 800 does seem to scale higher and I'm not sure that I need my M8/Ref8 to get the most out of the LCD-3. Both require approximately the same amount of power from the M8 (8-10 on low gain), but I feel that the hyperdetailed nature of the HD 800 calls for a cleaner power supply and a better DAC.
 
I'm starting to think that DACs may be more important than amps for all but the most budget setups. The first chain that I really liked my HD 800 on was SA-1 -> Apex Arete/Volcano. I lent the SA-1 to a friend for a week and was not pleased with the DAC performance of the HUD-MX1 that I threw in to replace it (this was noticeable on HD 580, LCD-2, HE-6, and HD 800). The music sounded much flatter and the lows tended to blur into some sort of one note bass.
 
This is not a knock on the Audinst - it was my office unit for a long time and is quite admirable for a small budget all in one running off a wall wart. However, it cannot really compete with bulky dedicated units with overbuilt PSUs.

I have the same feeling.

 

[citraian]

It depends. If you have a pretty good amp then yes, a DAC upgrade will bring you better benefits than upgrading the amp. If you have a ****ty amp then I don't think even a DaVinci will work wonders.