[midoo1990]

Thanks HPA and hifidk for your help.I will keep the hd650 because I enjoy it's sound with wa6 and classical.I am not after hearing the last detail in classical music(hello k701?),I enjoy the laid back tone of hd650 especially when you are tired.I will sell my iems and get either jh13 or jh10x3 at the end of the month.

 

[jc9394]

Quote:

Thanks HPA and hifidk for your help.I will keep the hd650 because I enjoy it's sound with wa6 and classical.I am not after hearing the last detail in classical music(hello k701?),I enjoy the laid back tone of hd650 especially when you are tired.I will sell my iems and get either jh13 or jh10x3 at the end of the month.

You will bein for a treat with JH13, I love the WA6/Sophia/6EW7 with my JH13 more than my HD800.

 

[Ozer]

I have a question...
 
Is Woo Audio 6 warm sounding ? I have a La Figaro 332C amp now and I think it's too bright sounding.... La Figaro 332C is extremely bright, so if the WA6 is just a little bit on the warm side it will be a big difference....

 

[St3ve]

Quote:

I have a question...
 
Is Woo Audio 6 warm sounding ? I have a La Figaro 332C amp now and I think it's too bright sounding.... La Figaro 332C is extremely bright, so if the WA6 is just a little bit on the warm side it will be a big difference....

I wouldn't describe the WA6 as being particularly warm sounding, but it isn't overly bright either. I would characterize the sound of the WA6 as being really quite clean and clear. It sounds nice and responsive across the frequency board, but without seeming to place an emphasis on any one area. The tonality can be tweaked via tube rolling, and the sound can be warmed up to taste in that way.

 

[midoo1990]

i also wouldnt call it warm,but it is not bright.it is as st3ve said clean and clear with very big soundstage and airness.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

 
Yes I know you like your IEM. However I don't see what the IEM and the HD-800s have in common. The IEM is 28 ohms and the HD-800s are 300 ohms.
Anyway I didn't think you wanted to run the ZDT with the IEM because of the heat the ZDT gives off and the short cord 4 feet of the IEM.
I don't know if you are using a pot or stepped. I am running the DACT CT2 stepped attenuator I find it to be a very good match for my HD-800s

I'm very confused by the adversarial tone in your reply.  I have no idea what that's all about, or am I just misreading things?  To answer your question, the IEM and HD800 have nothing in common except that the WA6/Sophia does an excellent job driving both.  It doesn't require buying one specific amp for HD800 and another amp for JH13Pro.  While there are certainly better amps out there, I was just mentioning one that worked very well with both that didn't break the bank. And, I was simply putting in a disclaimer that just because the WA6/Sophia is good with both doesn't mean that the WA6SE is, because I haven't tried it.  I am using the normal pot with WA2, not a stepped attenuator which I would worry that the stepped might not let a person go low enough with IEM in a high gain amp.  Again, I don't have experience with the stepped attenuator to know if that's an issue with low volume IEM listening.
 
Yes, I don't like the heat coming off the ZDT and normally wont use IEM on it; but as hifidk said, I tried it out of curiosity.  I was reviewing the Luxman P-1u last week with everything from IEM to K1000, and using the ZDT as comparison - which meant trying everything with the ZDT as well.  That was actually the first time in almost a year of ownership that I tried the ZDT with my JH13Pro.  It did a fantastic job with them, but you'd have to have a longer cable to let you sit at least 5-6 feet away or you'll cook.  The Luxman P-1u runs nice and cool and is noticeably better than the WA6 with IEM or full size phones, but runs several times the cost of the WA6.

 
Quote:

I could still enjoy JH13 with WA6SE Maxxed. However, volume control was much easier with WA6 and yes I also agree that WA6SE would be overkill if you are only going to use JH13 with it. I would never recommend WA6SE to someone who is looking for an amp for JH13. Although I find JH13 balanced with Apache a little better (wider soundstage and better volume control) than Woo, WA6/Sophia would be a great match with JH13 price/performance ratio wise especially if you have full-size headphone like HD600/650 or other high-end headphones.

The Apache did sound very wide and spacious with JH13Pro at RMAF, but I thought it sounded a little too bright for my tastes, possibly a consequence of the aviation headset cable that was converted to the task just for RMAF.
 
Quote:

I bet he just tried JH13 with ZDT out of curiosity. I wouldn't imagine him using that amp with JH13 everyday

Yup!

 

[hifidk]

Very interesting. Apache has pretty balanced sound but if I have to say, it is closer to the warmer side of spectrum in my system. Little more so than the WA6 if I remember correctly. Anyway, I guess this would be an enough of off-topic. I would recommend WA6 for both IEMs and full-size and it is truly a great sounding amp with a nice price tag.

 

[Xcalibur255]

Quote:

I have a question...
 
Is Woo Audio 6 warm sounding ? I have a La Figaro 332C amp now and I think it's too bright sounding.... La Figaro 332C is extremely bright, so if the WA6 is just a little bit on the warm side it will be a big difference....

I would describe it as balanced.  There is actually a bit more treble energy in the WA6 than my VHP2 presents, but the character of the treble is so different it comes across as being more mellow in nearly all cases.  I would not call the Woo6 warm though, at least not by tube standards.  You can vary this quite a bit through tube rolling of course.  I run RCA tubes to bring more warmth and less treble sparkle to my setup.
 
The La Figaro amps were designed by their creator to be, at least in his view, an ideal match for the HD650 so I wouldn't be surprised if they lean in the bright direction to inject some air and energy into what is widely regarded as a dark and lush headphone.

 

[sillysally]

 
Quote:

I'm very confused by the adversarial tone in your reply.  I have no idea what that's all about, or am I just misreading things?  To answer your question, the IEM and HD800 have nothing in common except that the WA6/Sophia does an excellent job driving both.  It doesn't require buying one specific amp for HD800 and another amp for JH13Pro.  While there are certainly better amps out there, I was just mentioning one that worked very well with both that didn't break the bank. And, I was simply putting in a disclaimer that just because the WA6/Sophia is good with both doesn't mean that the WA6SE is, because I haven't tried it.  I am using the normal pot with WA2, not a stepped attenuator which I would worry that the stepped might not let a person go low enough with IEM in a high gain amp.  Again, I don't have experience with the stepped attenuator to know if that's an issue with low volume IEM listening.
 
Yes, I don't like the heat coming off the ZDT and normally wont use IEM on it; but as hifidk said, I tried it out of curiosity.  I was reviewing the Luxman P-1u last week with everything from IEM to K1000, and using the ZDT as comparison - which meant trying everything with the ZDT as well.  That was actually the first time in almost a year of ownership that I tried the ZDT with my JH13Pro.  It did a fantastic job with them, but you'd have to have a longer cable to let you sit at least 5-6 feet away or you'll cook.  The Luxman P-1u runs nice and cool and is noticeably better than the WA6 with IEM or full size phones, but runs several times the cost of the WA6.

 

The Apache did sound very wide and spacious with JH13Pro at RMAF, but I thought it sounded a little too bright for my tastes, possibly a consequence of the aviation headset cable that was converted to the task just for RMAF.
 

Yup!

Don't be confused I was not trying to be adversarial, just trying to claify.
 
I did look into the Luxman P-1u but it just isn't for me. I have never heard the Apache but I did spend some time with the B52 and I didn't find that amp very wide or spacious, RSA house sound Is just a little to boring for me.
 
ss

 

[K_19]

I just did something last night that I thought I'd never do again, and once again got a reminder of how a system set up is pretty much mostly about synergy rather than what's better "on paper".
 
On my standard (no PDPS) WA6/RCA 6DE7/Sophia Princess, the HD800 did sound great, but it just seemed to miss just that bit of bass impact and warmth as an all around headphone, as well as being just slightly too airy for my tastes.  Of course I do think that WA6 is a bare minimum that should be fed to this headphone and it lacks power (and hopefully have a WA6SE on the way soon), but I couldn't help but to think that with some adjustments of tubes, I can at least make it a better match for the HD800 for my ears.  So I ended up switching in a rectifier that I hadn't used since I switched it out for the Sophia; the stock Sovtek 5U4G.  As most of you in this thread would know, they're known for their overwhelming bass/warmth with most headphones and is typically relegated to being a "burn-in tube" by many. 
 
Not expecting much, I switched in the dusty Sovteks, and I was very pleasantly surprised to hear that I liked their synergy with the HD800 than the Sophia Princess (I'm sure a lot of you are going What by now

).  It definitely brought the boost in bass and warmth that I was looking for in HD800.  It of course lost a noticeable amount of detail, clarity and soundstage, but I personally find that HD800 on their own are proficient enough in these areas that a little bit lost here doesn't really hurt the overall sound by much.  Basically, I felt that the cost/benefit ratio favoured the Sovteks here for my particular taste in sound signature.  I'm going to hope that the 6SE supplies the bass slam/warmth that would enable me to switch back in the Sophia Princess, but until then I think I'll stick to the Sovteks for most of my listening.

 

[markmaxx]

I bought my WA22 used and the Sophia Princess Rectifier tube that came with the amp. was bad,   I bought a new one (Sophia Princess 274B/n)  right away (from Woo Audio) and tonight the new one is dead.
 
Any others have any problems with this tube?

 

[mikemalter]

Quote:

I bought my WA22 used and the Sophia Princess Rectifier tube that came with the amp. was bad,   I bought a new one (Sophia Princess 274B/n)  right away (from Woo Audio) and tonight the new one is dead.
 
Any others have any problems with this tube?

 
I have a WA22 on order with the Sophia upgrade.  It should be delivered this Wednesday.  Sorry to hear you are having problems.  Maybe there is something going on in the unit that is causing tubes to fail.  Did you talk to Jack about it?
 


 

 

[h.rav]

I have gone thru 2 newer Sophias, both of them died within 1-4 weeks. I would never buy another one. The construction itself looks quite cheap. It's not even a true mesh plate.

 

[sillysally]

Quote:

I bought my WA22 used and the Sophia Princess Rectifier tube that came with the amp. was bad,   I bought a new one (Sophia Princess 274B/n)  right away (from Woo Audio) and tonight the new one is dead.
 
Any others have any problems with this tube?

Have you talked to the guy that sold you this WA22. If the Princess that came with your used WA22 was DOA that's a red flag. I would open up your WA22 and look for anything that may have been tampered with.
 
ss

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I received my Sophia Princess 274b mesh plate the 1st week Aug 2008 and it's still running like a champ in my WA6.