My WA5-LE is by far the most expensive component in my system, but I can see why. The moment I un-packaged this very heavy piece of kit, I could tell I was in for a ride. By size alone it literally screamed quality. Then there is build. Without an industrial bender there is no way any part of the chassis bending at all. I have dealt with flimsy mass market chassis' before. I accidentally sat on my Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 chassis, and had to bend it back in shape in order to screw it back together.
The amp with stock tubes, is awesome in it's self. I was immediately treated to a sound that was superior my WA6/6GL7 in every way. The sound stage encompassing, the bass more heft, the treble sweeter, perhaps a little too sweet -- we'll get into that later. Also significant was the airy quality that was represented. Anything in the upper midrange was given a little boost, and I am nothing but happy because of this. The HD800s I use have a slightly recessed upper midrange. The boost compliments this unattractive trait nicely. The tubes I used to begin with were your Shuguang-98 300Bs, Shuguang 274B recitifiers, and your 7N7 -> 6SN7 adapters with the early GT style plate 7N7's.
Now for the not so good news. Out of greed, I figured I could just not do without more sound quality. After twiddling my thumbs for a few days, I decided I needed, more like wanted, some Sophia Princess 300B mesh plates. I put a few more hours on the stock tubes waiting for the Princesses to arrive. Upon delivery, I went back to bed. It was 9:00 in the morning and I was tired!!! After that I got over being groggy, and then plugged the Sophia's in for my first listen. Then came the bad news. I did not really appreciate these new tubes. Compared to the Shuguangs before, the Sophia's seemed hollow in the upper midrange. Maybe you could call them more neutral, but this is the very reason I liked the Shuguangs, and at this point preferred them more.
Strongly considering to send them back, I had an idea. I had other 7N7's, the newer GTB style, so why not give them a shot. It was a good thing I did, otherwise I would have sent back an awesome pair of tubes! That's right, with the newer GTB plate 7N7's the sound was, well, awesome. Instrument separation was the biggest improvement. What was slightly convoluted on the Shuguangs, was more detailed because the inner detail had increased. Bass was slightly more controlled, and while almost everything else bettered the Shuguangs, I noticed the upper midrange was slightly more recessed than the Shuguangs, but only slightly so. And as mentioned above, the Shuguangs were sweeter and had, slightly more treble detail, which I prefer. This sweetness however was sibilant at times, so I could do without it.
Bendix 6106:
I never figured different rectifier tubes offered any change is sound quality up until now. In my WA6, I started with the default NOS Russian. Then I tried the Valve Art 274B, no difference. I kept this one in a while, considering it was a 274B and dirt cheap if I ever needed more. The problem I had was the tube arcing, looked just like a lightning bolt. This could not have been a good thing, so I snagged a NOS Mullard 5AR4 off of ebay. I enjoyed this for a while, but mistakenly became neurotic, and bought a Bendix 6106. I figured, "designed for missiles," this tube will never break or arc. And so, it remained in my WA6 until I bought this WA5-LE. I just had a brief foray into this amp with Bendix 6106 though. These came at about at about 9:00AM too, and you guessed it: ANOTHER NAP! After this, I plopped the new rectifiers in and found a slight increase in treble and, bass. I wasn't too fond of the bass after about two hours as it was somewhat flabby. Nevertheless I was somewhat pleased for the rest of the day.
As I awoke, and did my daily routines, I went in for a another listening session. The WA5-LE was turned on, I let it sit for 5 minutes, and then I played a few tunes. What I did not expect was how displeasing this combo sounded this day. A reviewer on another site, mentioned he thought these tubes sounded "too hot." I would not say, hot, but I felt it sounded like the soundstage was struggling to come out, and that bass was even flabbier. It also sounded very grainy. Not to mention even though there was more treble, it sounded very hollow.
Disappointed, I did a swap back to the stock Shuguang 274B. Everything was alright again. After another double swap, I concluded these tubes weren't for me. I boxed these guys up, and sent them back. A shame really... I believe shipsupt asked if the B+ voltages are the reason. I don't know. They could be. All I know is there was an undeniable difference, although sometimes subtle, between the 2.
It goes to show. Don't dismiss unknowns as placebo unless you've actually given them a try. From now on, I intend to stick to my Shuguangs, until I can afford a relatively cheap matched pair of rectifiers. I intend on waiting a while though, I just bought a new WA5-LE!
Full Music 6SN7:
I just received a pair of Full Music 6SN7. My first impressions are: More treble, yay! It's a fair bit drier though, does not seem as lush and meaty as the 7N7's. It is however a bit more detailed with the slightly more treble. This kind of like taking a step back into using the Shuguang 300B-98. I will keep these in for a day, and then switch back to the 7N7's to compare.
Listening further today, songs with electronic high hats have more of a tizz to them. In fact most tracks have more sizzle to them. Songs with natural echo are more preserved. I also hear things never heard before, but that was the case with both the other 7N7's. Things are starting to feel a bit edgy, bright and spitty now, however, so I'm still going to wait a day, but I expect the 7N7's to come back on top.
Okay, I've waited a day. After listening to the Fullmusic for an hour this morning to burn their sound signature into my brain, I have now gone back to my 7N7's. It is confirmed. I like the 7N7's better. I tried explaining this before, but if I had to describe the 7N7 tubes in comparsion, in a few words, I'd say,"Crunchy, meaty, and extended." In fact almost everything seems better except for slightly less treble, which I know I've gotta get over!
Another thing I will say is, these tubes make the WA5-LE dead silent on both the HIGH Impedance and LOW Impedance jacks. With my previous 7N7's the LOW jack was dead silent upon arrival, but the HIGH impedance jack had a fair bit of hiss, and hum. Mike from Woo said there is no need to use the HIGH jack unless you need more volume. The HIGH Jack should be used for headphones with low sensitivity like the Abyss planars. Therefore up until about a week ago, I had been using the LOW setting since a few days after receiving the amp, but decided to try out the HIGH impedance jack just for kicks. Now I know this is very likely placebo, Mike already said there is no need, but I kinda think the HIGH output gives a beefier sound! Granted there is still a very mild, almost indistinguishable buzz and hiss from the 7N7's, most of the hum and buzz has gone away, but during any music it is inaudible. Apparently amp or tube break-in may not be placebo either.
Tripplite:
I just received a Tripplite IS250 Isolation Transformer in hopes that the left over noise from my 7N7's would go away. I cannot say that I notice any difference between the before and after. I also bought it special order from a store and can't return it. I'm considering opening it up and removing the output ground to neutral to see if there is any difference.
The amp with stock tubes, is awesome in it's self. I was immediately treated to a sound that was superior my WA6/6GL7 in every way. The sound stage encompassing, the bass more heft, the treble sweeter, perhaps a little too sweet -- we'll get into that later. Also significant was the airy quality that was represented. Anything in the upper midrange was given a little boost, and I am nothing but happy because of this. The HD800s I use have a slightly recessed upper midrange. The boost compliments this unattractive trait nicely. The tubes I used to begin with were your Shuguang-98 300Bs, Shuguang 274B recitifiers, and your 7N7 -> 6SN7 adapters with the early GT style plate 7N7's.
Now for the not so good news. Out of greed, I figured I could just not do without more sound quality. After twiddling my thumbs for a few days, I decided I needed, more like wanted, some Sophia Princess 300B mesh plates. I put a few more hours on the stock tubes waiting for the Princesses to arrive. Upon delivery, I went back to bed. It was 9:00 in the morning and I was tired!!! After that I got over being groggy, and then plugged the Sophia's in for my first listen. Then came the bad news. I did not really appreciate these new tubes. Compared to the Shuguangs before, the Sophia's seemed hollow in the upper midrange. Maybe you could call them more neutral, but this is the very reason I liked the Shuguangs, and at this point preferred them more.
Strongly considering to send them back, I had an idea. I had other 7N7's, the newer GTB style, so why not give them a shot. It was a good thing I did, otherwise I would have sent back an awesome pair of tubes! That's right, with the newer GTB plate 7N7's the sound was, well, awesome. Instrument separation was the biggest improvement. What was slightly convoluted on the Shuguangs, was more detailed because the inner detail had increased. Bass was slightly more controlled, and while almost everything else bettered the Shuguangs, I noticed the upper midrange was slightly more recessed than the Shuguangs, but only slightly so. And as mentioned above, the Shuguangs were sweeter and had, slightly more treble detail, which I prefer. This sweetness however was sibilant at times, so I could do without it.
Bendix 6106:
I never figured different rectifier tubes offered any change is sound quality up until now. In my WA6, I started with the default NOS Russian. Then I tried the Valve Art 274B, no difference. I kept this one in a while, considering it was a 274B and dirt cheap if I ever needed more. The problem I had was the tube arcing, looked just like a lightning bolt. This could not have been a good thing, so I snagged a NOS Mullard 5AR4 off of ebay. I enjoyed this for a while, but mistakenly became neurotic, and bought a Bendix 6106. I figured, "designed for missiles," this tube will never break or arc. And so, it remained in my WA6 until I bought this WA5-LE. I just had a brief foray into this amp with Bendix 6106 though. These came at about at about 9:00AM too, and you guessed it: ANOTHER NAP! After this, I plopped the new rectifiers in and found a slight increase in treble and, bass. I wasn't too fond of the bass after about two hours as it was somewhat flabby. Nevertheless I was somewhat pleased for the rest of the day.
As I awoke, and did my daily routines, I went in for a another listening session. The WA5-LE was turned on, I let it sit for 5 minutes, and then I played a few tunes. What I did not expect was how displeasing this combo sounded this day. A reviewer on another site, mentioned he thought these tubes sounded "too hot." I would not say, hot, but I felt it sounded like the soundstage was struggling to come out, and that bass was even flabbier. It also sounded very grainy. Not to mention even though there was more treble, it sounded very hollow.
Disappointed, I did a swap back to the stock Shuguang 274B. Everything was alright again. After another double swap, I concluded these tubes weren't for me. I boxed these guys up, and sent them back. A shame really... I believe shipsupt asked if the B+ voltages are the reason. I don't know. They could be. All I know is there was an undeniable difference, although sometimes subtle, between the 2.
It goes to show. Don't dismiss unknowns as placebo unless you've actually given them a try. From now on, I intend to stick to my Shuguangs, until I can afford a relatively cheap matched pair of rectifiers. I intend on waiting a while though, I just bought a new WA5-LE!
Full Music 6SN7:
I just received a pair of Full Music 6SN7. My first impressions are: More treble, yay! It's a fair bit drier though, does not seem as lush and meaty as the 7N7's. It is however a bit more detailed with the slightly more treble. This kind of like taking a step back into using the Shuguang 300B-98. I will keep these in for a day, and then switch back to the 7N7's to compare.
Listening further today, songs with electronic high hats have more of a tizz to them. In fact most tracks have more sizzle to them. Songs with natural echo are more preserved. I also hear things never heard before, but that was the case with both the other 7N7's. Things are starting to feel a bit edgy, bright and spitty now, however, so I'm still going to wait a day, but I expect the 7N7's to come back on top.
Okay, I've waited a day. After listening to the Fullmusic for an hour this morning to burn their sound signature into my brain, I have now gone back to my 7N7's. It is confirmed. I like the 7N7's better. I tried explaining this before, but if I had to describe the 7N7 tubes in comparsion, in a few words, I'd say,"Crunchy, meaty, and extended." In fact almost everything seems better except for slightly less treble, which I know I've gotta get over!
Another thing I will say is, these tubes make the WA5-LE dead silent on both the HIGH Impedance and LOW Impedance jacks. With my previous 7N7's the LOW jack was dead silent upon arrival, but the HIGH impedance jack had a fair bit of hiss, and hum. Mike from Woo said there is no need to use the HIGH jack unless you need more volume. The HIGH Jack should be used for headphones with low sensitivity like the Abyss planars. Therefore up until about a week ago, I had been using the LOW setting since a few days after receiving the amp, but decided to try out the HIGH impedance jack just for kicks. Now I know this is very likely placebo, Mike already said there is no need, but I kinda think the HIGH output gives a beefier sound! Granted there is still a very mild, almost indistinguishable buzz and hiss from the 7N7's, most of the hum and buzz has gone away, but during any music it is inaudible. Apparently amp or tube break-in may not be placebo either.
Tripplite:
I just received a Tripplite IS250 Isolation Transformer in hopes that the left over noise from my 7N7's would go away. I cannot say that I notice any difference between the before and after. I also bought it special order from a store and can't return it. I'm considering opening it up and removing the output ground to neutral to see if there is any difference.
