[superjohny]

i am really wondering why WA5 still doesn't have a balanced ver. and dat's what prevents me from getting it.

 

[Skylab]

Beautiful amp, man.  Congrats.  The one time I heard it it sounded amazing.

 

[monsieurguzel]

Don't let the whole balanced hype prevent you from getting an amp like this.  I have auditioned a lot of amps through the years and its hard to find an amp as good sounding as this one.  At Canjam I treid out a lot of balanced amps and wasn't very impressed with the sound of many of them.  To me many of these very powerful amps with oversized power supplies have much more current than necessary to drive a lot of the harder headphones out there, meaning that the increased current gained from balanced drive doesn't really do much for me.  At this level of high end amps, I look more for the amp's sound signature, transparency, and ability to realistically convey a holographic soundstage.  To me the WA5 does all those very well, with the added benefit of tube rolling based on the different headphone's characteristics.
 
Quote:

i am really wondering why WA5 still doesn't have a balanced ver. and dat's what prevents me from getting it.

 

[Shahrose]

Congrats man. The amp's a beauty. I'd like to hear your impressions after you get the correct tubes from Jack.

 

[musicman59]

Quote:

Congrats on the amp!  I've come to love my WA5 (similar spec as yours) very much over time.  It will be quite a journey burning in all the tubes and caps. Mine sounded much better a few months later after the vcaps and blackgates burned in.  Your tubes also seem quite good...I had a pair of EML 300B mesh tubes but subbed them out for Shuguang 300B treasures and found the sound to have a little more attach and bass in sound compared to the very transparent sound of the EMLs.  CV181s are also great, but the TS 6SN7GTs are another option to think about with slightly more punch to the sound.  Most of all, have fun with you amp and enjoy it for a long time to come!  The beauty of this amp is that it sounds pretty killer with just about anything I throw at it (HD800, T1, LCD-2) and the WA5 is extremely versatile with speaker outputs to listen to K1000s, HE-6 and stats from the WEE.

Thanks monsieurguzel. I already have in the "bullpen" a pair of TS Black Glass Round Plates 6SNtGT and also a pair of TS Black Glass Round Plates 6F8G with adapters. I will start rolling a little bit later.

 

[Spareribs]

Congrats! Pop open the champagne bottle! It's a fabulous amp. One of the best amps out there. It's a serious tank. Load it with military tubes and you will be ready for battle. Congrats on a fine work of art.

 

[musicman59]

Quote:

Don't let the whole balanced hype prevent you from getting an amp like this.  I have auditioned a lot of amps through the years and its hard to find an amp as good sounding as this one.  At Canjam I treid out a lot of balanced amps and wasn't very impressed with the sound of many of them.  To me many of these very powerful amps with oversized power supplies have much more current than necessary to drive a lot of the harder headphones out there, meaning that the increased current gained from balanced drive doesn't really do much for me.  At this level of high end amps, I look more for the amp's sound signature, transparency, and ability to realistically convey a holographic soundstage.  To me the WA5 does all those very well, with the added benefit of tube rolling based on the different headphone's characteristics.
 

 

I agree with you monsieurguzel. I went balanced with my solid state amplifiers about 1 1/2 years ago and they made a huge difference in my headphone collection. I still have the Rudistor RP010B MkII and used to have the Apache. When I was thinking about trying out tubes I was originally obsessed looking for a balanced one. I was taking a look at the Balancing Act and also the WA22. I even discussed with Jack about building a custom made WA5=LE balanced. In order to do it a power supply unit and 2 amplification units were needed so cost was more than 3 times of the standard WA5-LE due to all the custom modifications.
 
Jack convinced me that due to the high power of the WA5-LE a balance amplifier was not needed and it was better to spend the money in the upgrades. Listening to the WA22 and the WA5-LE in the same room at Canjam using my T1 (with the SE to balanced adapter) confirmed Jack's suggestions and the WA5-LE fully loaded end up costing about 60% of the WA5'LE balanced project.
 
Last Saturday made a quick comparison between the WA5-LE and the RP010B. The audio chain for the WA5-LE was Squeezebox-Monarchy Audio DIP-PwefectWave (The Upgrade Company Signature upgrade)-WA5-LE-T1 and for the RP010B was Squeezebox-Genesis Time Lens-Wadia 27-RP010B-T1. IMO the sound of the system with the WA5-LE sounded better. A lot more clarity and body in the sound.
 

 

[TheAudioDude]

Congrats, dude!  I bet the glow looks incredible at night... and I bet it sounds amazing too.

 

[monsieurguzel]

Haha, unfortunately, most of the tubes in the WA5 don't glow very much.  In general, the 300B or 6SN7 tube emits very faint glows but nothing too beautiful.  The rectifiers on the other hand are much nicer to look at in the dark
 
Quote:

Congrats, dude!  I bet the glow looks incredible at night... and I bet it sounds amazing too.

 

[kboe]

Black is back baby.  I seem to recall a commercial that went...  "Mm, mm, mm, mm, mm... TOASTY!"

 

[TheAudioDude]

Quote:

Haha, unfortunately, most of the tubes in the WA5 don't glow very much.  In general, the 300B or 6SN7 tube emits very faint glows but nothing too beautiful.  The rectifiers on the other hand are much nicer to look at in the dark
 

 

Oh yeah, I'll bet.  I have an EML 5U4G mesh and it looks so beautiful.  I couldn't imagine having two of them (or in your case, two Sophias).

 

[Clayton SF]

Quote:

Oh yeah, I'll bet.  I have an EML 5U4G mesh and it looks so beautiful.  I couldn't imagine having two of them (or in your case, two Sophias).

You! Put the EML 5U4G down and step away from the Woo. You. Step away from the Woo.
The rest of yous. Move along. There's nothing to see except a beautiful BLACK BEAUTY in all is glowing glory!
 
sorry....

 

[yukechuuka]

that looks truly insane! congratulations.

 

[TheAudioDude]

Quote:

You! Put the EML 5U4G down and step away from the Woo. You. Step away from the Woo.
The rest of yous. Move along. There's nothing to see except a beautiful BLACK BEAUTY in all is glowing glory!
 
sorry....

No... please... no... no... naa. nnaa. .... nayyyyyy. nayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.... NAYYYYYYYYYYYY
 

 
broooouuuuusphsphshshpshs
 

 

[sillysally]

Congrats, the WA5LE is truly a work of art both in sound and looks.
 
I heard Ray's RSA B52 (balanced amp) at his house and using his very rare tubes source player and balanced HD-800's. All be it a great amp the WA5LE is better.

 
Looks like you got the same rack as I did.
 
ss