[K_19]

Hey all,
 
I've been happy with my HD800 and WA6 (Stock, no PDPS or cap upgrades but with Sophia Princess 274B and RCA 6DE7), but I realize that this is more or less the bare minimum of an amp for what the HD800 actually deserves.  I now have about ~$1000 to play around with which I assume would get me to the solid middle range of amps for it (not gonna be able to afford anything like a B22 or WA5LE anytime soon folks, so don't bother with those).  The top two on my list are these:
 
1) WA6SE: I love my WA6 as far as their synergy with HD800 is concerned, and I'm assuming that SE will bring about much of the same while delivering the power that the HD800 needs for boosts in soundstage, speed, and impact.  A nice bonus is that I already have the WA6 tubes that I can carry over for it since they share the same ones (SP, and the RCA). 
 
2) MAD Ear HD Super II: I was more or less set on the SE when I saw this amp for about full $200 cheaper.  Besides the price, they seem to also have the separate power supply unit as the WA6SE does.  Another good thing about them is that Mapletree is Canadian, which means that I won't have to deal with any possible custom hold ups/fees and delays in shipping, and better convenience in case I need some maintenance done for it.  The risk here is that there are no reviews for this amp yet (just came out IIRC), much less a review for them with the HD800.  I know a few people here that have MAD amps matched with the HD800 and love it (machero comes to mind), but they're the standard edition and not the Super II.  So there's bit of a gamble here in trade for convenience/price.  Is it worth it? Any opinions or suggestions on the choice between the two would be greatly appreciated.
 
Now, I welcome for you fine posters here on head-fi to play the role of those little devils on my shoulders and offer more suggestions in the price range

.  Ideally around $1000, absolute max about $1200.  I'd ideally like a transformer coupled tube amp but I'd definitely consider a good matching OTL or warmer SS ones as well.  Keep in mind that my main concern is the HD800 only (I got my Gilmore Lite for my other cans).  And my matching source will be Stello DA100 if that helps.
 
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[musicman59]

If you will consider a SS amp I would take a look at the Violectric V200. I bought the V100 based on reading about it and conversations with Fried from Violectric directly.
People has said here in Headfi that an engineer from Sennheiser who was part of the HD800 development team actually runs them with the Violectric amplifier. When I received the V100 I was gladly surprised by it sound and power driving the HD800 and the diffcult to drive T1. I personally think the V100 drives the T1 better than my Apache and RP010B. I was so happy with Violectric that i sold the V100 to upgrade to the V200 which I am receiving today.
 
Robert form www.AphroditeCu29.com is the US official distributor for Violectric.

 

[myk7000]

I  absolutely loved my hd800s with my WA6SE. I sold the hd800 and am now selling the wa6se for financial reasons but I'd say that combination has kept me afloat for the longest during my whole headphone craze. I have also heard the hd800 on the dna sonnett and thats is another worthy combination as well.
 
 
For me, hands down its between the wa6se and dna sonnett.

 

[classakg]

you can't go wrong with the Burson HA-160.  http://www.bursonaudio.com/burson_headamp_160.htm
 
My is around a month old and I am using it with my AKG K702. It has the power to drive almost anything and its sound is simply superb. 

 

[Pricklely Peete]

I'd consider keeping the Woo and upgrade your DAC .......the Stello is damn good but I think an Audio-gd DAC19DSP would really knock you socks off in conjunction with the 6SE and the HD800's...take the money left over from the DAC purchase and sink that into a custom HD800 cable upgrade. IMO anyway.
 
I know the A-gd recommendations are getting monotonous around here but in all honesty there is nothing that competes with these units (A-gd R2R/pcm1704K ladder based DACs) in it's price range (save for vintage gear like the Parasound HD1100 or Sonic Frontiers stuff of similar construction).
 
Bottom line your cans and amp are already top notch choices with the only weak link in your system (IMO) the source (DAC).
 
Peete.

 

[K_19]

Quote:

I  absolutely loved my hd800s with my WA6SE. I sold the hd800 and am now selling the wa6se for financial reasons but I'd say that combination has kept me afloat for the longest during my whole headphone craze. I have also heard the hd800 on the dna sonnett and thats is another worthy combination as well.
 
 
For me, hands down its between the wa6se and dna sonnett.

Yeah, I saw your ad.  It's too bad that the tubes are part of the package (I don't really need them since I have them and it raises the price), or else I would have been all over it... 

 
Quote:

I'd consider keeping the Woo and upgrade your DAC .......the Stello is damn good but I think an Audio-gd DAC19DSP would really knock you socks off in conjunction with the 6SE and the HD800's...take the money left over from the DAC purchase and sink that into a custom HD800 cable upgrade. IMO anyway.
 
I know the A-gd recommendations are getting monotonous around here but in all honesty there is nothing that competes with these units (A-gd R2R/pcm1704K ladder based DACs) in it's price range (save for vintage gear like the Parasound HD1100 or Sonic Frontiers stuff of similar construction).
 
Bottom line your cans and amp are already top notch choices with the only weak link in your system (IMO) the source (DAC).
 
Peete.

 
Just to clear it up, I only have the standard old WA6 right now (no PDPS either) and was looking to get WA6SE.  If I get the WA6SE I definitely wouldn't have any money left over for anything else (well, I could sell my RS1/GLite, but I don't think I want to ever do that... I love that combo also).   
 
Surprised that you would think that the Stello is the weak link though... I really like it due to its musical nature and slight warmness that complements the HD800's well.  Figured that while it's not the best DAC (at best, mid range DAC) it's decent enough for the ~$1000 amps that I am looking at.  Nevertheless, it's something to think about for the future when I'm better off. 

 

 

[jc9394]

How about replace your 6DE7 with 6FD7? I really love the WA6/Sophia/6FD7 combo with my HD800. I do have the newer WA6 fully maxxed out.

 

[kinghook]

I agree with jc9394's idea, i love it .

 

[jc9394]

With both 6de7 and 6ew7, I feel something missing but don't know what until I purchased the 6fd7.

 

[Olias of Sunhillow]

I just had the same decision to make, and I ended up ordering the Super II. I'm in a bit of a different situation, as I have a good collection of EL84s and 12AX7s from previous amp setups (in addition to a few decent 6DE7s and such from a recently sold WA6). I also coveted the new passive preamp option and three-way selectable inputs, which will simplify my signal path somewhat.
 
Really, I came to the conclusion that there's no wrong answer to the question you ask.