[donunus]

I was just wondering if a wa3+ is a good upgrade from a Little dot mk2 or does the little dot just have so much more bang for the buck in terms of sound quality

 

[CQ DX]

Excellent question. I actually wondered the same thing today, but with the LD MKIII vs. the Woo 3. Hopefully, someone that used both can chime in with an answer.

 

[donunus]

Anyone?

 

[koven]

i upgraded from a ld mkiii to a wa6.. long story short, the difference wasn't what i expected.. i was not wow'd

sure it was an improvement, but is it worth over double the price? to me it wasn't.. little dot tube amps are a great value, works very well with grado/senn

anyway, i sold the wa6 and the rest of my rig a while ago... but if i ever go back to headphones, little dot is what i'm getting

ymmv though

 

[donunus]

very interesting. So what were the differences between the ld 3 and the wa6's sound?

 

[koven]

going from memory, the wa6 did have a bigger soundstage and that bit of extra air/detail/clarity... however, the tone/timbre from both amps are very similar... they both sound very lush/honey smooth. the wa6 might have had a little better bass impact/extension.. but in the end, i got the ld for ~200, i paid ~750 for the wa6 with sophia.

put it this way, if i went from a wa6 to a ld mkiii, i wouldn't be disappointed.. instead, i would be rather happy to save ~500 and not sacrifice much sound

again, YMMV, im sure many would disagree and defend their woo amps, but... this is just my opinion, take it for what it's worth. if you got money to spend, definitely get the wa6. if you're looking for the point of diminishing return, little dot is the last stop imo

here's my amp journey:

ibasso d2 boa - meh, i haven't heard better so i thought it was okay.
hifiman ef2 - first tube experience and i loved it. sounds so much better than the ibasso
little dot mkiii (w/ Pico DAC) - wow, definite improvement from the ef2.. officially in love with tubes
woo audio 6 (w/ Pico DAC) - sounds good but not wow'd, i tried hard to justify my purchase but couldn't.. it does easily win in build quality/aesthetics though, the sophia is a real pretty tube

listening was mainly done with a woody/recabled sr225 and hd600 w/ blue dragon

 

[MomijiTMO]

I think you'll find that with everything. You pay double and you don't expect a doubling in performance but you expect something sizable. Then you hear a small improvement and wonder if it was a good decision. Thank you Koven for being honest because some people exaggerate this improvement as justification of their purchase - they need to in order to not doubt the decision.

 

[donunus]

Since the LD mk2 and mk3 have the same circuit design and the only difference being some better parts on the latter... I think i'll wait until I can audition them before buying some Woo amps I guess.

 

[koven]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MomijiTMO /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think you'll find that with everything. You pay double and you don't expect a doubling in performance but you expect something sizable. Then you hear a small improvement and wonder if it was a good decision. Thank you Koven for being honest because some people exaggerate this improvement as justification of their purchase - they need to in order to not doubt the decision.

exactly. too many people on this forum exaggerate their findings, most likely to justify their purchase.

i bought the wa6 purely based on the reviews here. all the buzz words and cliches about how great the wa6 is.. etc etc, i couldn't resist.

trust me, i tried hard to justify the cost. i clearly remember a/b'ing with the mkiii and listening hard for differences.

however, in retrospect, that was the problem. i had to try/listen hard to find the improvements. considering the price difference, i should have been instantly satisfied, like i was when i went from ef2 to mkiii... but that was not the case

obviously i've learned my lesson... take everything you read online w/ a grain of salt, and your ears are the only ones to trust

i dont mean to talk down on the wa6's sound, it really has an amazing sound signature.. but i gotta put it into perspective, and it's definitely past the point of diminishing return and not the best bang for buck

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Since the LD mk2 and mk3 have the same circuit design and the only difference being some better parts on the latter... I think i'll wait until I can audition them before buying some Woo amps I guess.

you should definitely listen first.. or maybe pick up a used one that you can resell without losing money

 

[ygm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by koven /img/forum/go_quote.gif exactly. too many people on this forum exaggerate their findings, most likely to justify their purchase. i bought the wa6 purely based on the reviews here. all the buzz words and cliches about how great the wa6 is.. etc etc, i couldn't resist. trust me, i tried hard to justify the cost. i clearly remember a/b'ing with the mkiii and listening hard for differences. however, in retrospect, that was the problem. i had to try/listen hard to find the improvements. considering the price difference, i should have been instantly satisfied, like i was when i went from ef2 to mkiii... but that was not the case obviously i've learned my lesson... take everything you read online w/ a grain of salt, and your ears are the only ones to trust i dont mean to talk down on the wa6's sound, it really is great.. but definitely past the point of diminishing return and not the best bang for buck

IMHO It is also entirely possible that the Pico DAC was not the best device to reveal the capabilities of the wa6 .

 

[koven]

lol, sure, that could definitely be the case. the pico is no slouch though.. and my main point was about the diminishing returns.

yeah, i could have bought a benchmark/lavry/ps audio/bel canto/etc.. but i was already kind of disappointed with the wa6... i paid good money(to me) for the wa6, and now i would have to pay even more just so i'd feel satisfied?

think about this.. a pico + mkiii is ~550

the wa6 and a, for example, dac1 is almost 2k

will the wa6 + dac1 sound amazing? yes i'm sure it would. but, would it sound 3-4 times better than a pico + mkiii ? i highly doubt it

so for the "money is no object" people, go crazy.... however, for the average person that's looking for value, i would not recommend the wa6.. but AGAIN, that's just me

 

[h.rav]

^ I like the way to describe the differences and your honesty.
It's rare to find the kind of comments that Koven made, I usually skip reading most of over-hyped impressions.

Back to the topic, I'm not that impressed with WA6, IMO it's not the best choice for an amp under $600, I'd rather build a decent SS amp like a M^3 which cost a little over $200 with decent parts.

 

[koven]

Quote:

Originally Posted by h.rav /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^ I like the way to describe the differences and your honesty. It's rare to find the kind of comments that Koven made, I usually skip reading most of over-hyped impressions. Back to the topic, I'm not that impressed with WA6, IMO it's not the best choice for an amp under $600, I'd rather build a decent SS amp like a M^3 which cost a little over $200 with decent parts.

thanks

it's kind of weird, because when i owned the wa6, i could tell i felt this way.. but regardless, i still tried to justify the purchase by noticing subtle improvements and admiring the build quality/beautiful sophia tube

but now that i'm done with headphones and sold everything, it's much easier to look back and put things into perspective...

 

[Henerenry]

Yeah, the other problem is, the upgrade cycle, it becomes just as much apart of the head-fi hobby as the sound reproduction itself.

Normally people start out somewhere else then jump into headphones, the eventually out. If you are the kind of person that does this very often, then perhaps go for the smaller cost outlay and see if your new hobby has any staying power. That being said, you can always choose to start closer to the end, so that you aren't as badly infected by upgraditis.

I guess the biggest positive is that head-fi equipment seems to hold its value better than other hobbies.

 

[the_equalizer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by koven /img/forum/go_quote.gif <snip> listening was mainly done with a woody/recabled sr225 and hd600 w/ blue dragon

The price/performance curve is a well known fact and applies not only to amps. In the end it all comes down to what you like/want/need/can afford.

For example: I'm sure your HD600 did not sound 2x better than your SR-225's yet it seems to me that you did not struggle to justify that purchase.

cheers!