[whatdidyoulearnabout]

I love using this unit as a pre-amp, balanced, to my topping pa5

That's ironic, as I'm doing Topping → Fireflies rather than the other way around.

Upgrade what? Don't you have the gen3?

Upgrade to another tube amp model (or make) entirely of course .

I'm figuring that for around the same price as the WA7s, if I purchased a tube amp that didn't also have an internal DAC, I could have overall higher quality.

 

[searchingtom]

Upgrade what? Don't you have the gen3?

I am the guy that bought the $1050 amp and believe it or not I no longer need it as I bought another amp in the meantime. Are you still interested in it?

 

[1-MiC]

Upgrade to another tube amp model (or make) entirely of course .

I'm figuring that for around the same price as the WA7s, if I purchased a tube amp that didn't also have an internal DAC, I could have overall higher quality.

Ahh I see. I’ve had the ZMF pendant / ampsandsounds leelo, and it was indeed a better amp. The soundstage was more holographic. I don’t remember much else to really do much as far as a comparison. I can say that amp was the best I’ve ever heard my eikons , and this wa7 is in second place. The kicker, is I didn’t have as resolving of a dac at the time. So I still could have squeaked out a little more performance.

What makes me happy about this amp is the size. I’m able to keep my desk fairly tidy, and still meaningfully tune my tube experiences with tube rolling. I don’t need longer headphone cables because my big ol tube amp is on a side table. It also isn’t a space heater, and I’m in Texas, so that Pendant wasn’t always pleasurable to have on. So I feel like I’m getting 85% of the “full size tube amp” performance without some of the bigger drawbacks.

 

[royiko]

any one tried use WA7 gen3 to power IEMs? Is it overpowered and with hiss?

 

[Lakerfreak]

Has anyone tried WA7 with Final D8000 (not the Pro version)? How does that combo sound?

 

[RJHD3]

Question for WA7 mk3 owners who use them with Abyss Diana TCs or Sennheiser HD800s.

Where is your volume knob typically at for loud but not obnoxious volume?

In my case as sourced from USB and a Sony Walkman set to act as a level output as well as analog from a Topping D60s. I can handily hit max volume and still crave more.

Almost all of my listening with mine is done at between three and five o’clock and it has left me wondering if I have a poor match in headphones or if something in the amp might be amiss.

Thanks!

 

[eloom123]

Question for WA7 mk3 owners who use them with Abyss Diana TCs or Sennheiser HD800s.

Where is your volume knob typically at for loud but not obnoxious volume?

In my case as sourced from USB and a Sony Walkman set to act as a level output as well as analog from a Topping D60s. I can handily hit max volume and still crave more.

Almost all of my listening with mine is done at between three and five o’clock and it has left me wondering if I have a poor match in headphones or if something in the amp might be amiss.

Thanks!

With a pair of Sennheiser HD800s I find the volume at 11 o'clock is quite loud and 12 o'clock is obnoxiously loud. I don't have a pair of Abyss Diana TC's but do have a pair of Abyss Diana V2's which are only slightly more efficient, on them 12 o'clock is quite loud and 2 o'clock is obnoxiously loud. Audio is sourced from my Mac via USB. So I agree something is amiss but I don't think its the headphone amp pairing.

I'd suggest checking your source doesn't have some setting lowering the input signal volume, but you've tried 3 sources so seems unlikely it's that. Reach out to Woo Audio support and see what they suggest?

 

[RJHD3]

With a pair of Sennheiser HD800s I find the volume at 11 o'clock is quite loud and 12 o'clock is obnoxiously loud. I don't have a pair of Abyss Diana TC's but do have a pair of Abyss Diana V2's which are only slightly more efficient, on them 12 o'clock is quite loud and 2 o'clock is obnoxiously loud. Audio is sourced from my Mac via USB. So I agree something is amiss but I don't think its the headphone amp pairing.

I'd suggest checking your source doesn't have some setting lowering the input signal volume, but you've tried 3 sources so seems unlikely it's that. Reach out to Woo Audio support and see what they suggest?

Thx. At least confirms something is awry. I’ll start troubleshooting.

 

[Spyder15]

I just purchased a WA7 prior to reading this thread. Now that I have, I'm a little worried that I'm going to deal with this low hiss due to wireless interference. I live in an apartment so tons of interference everywhere. My router is also currently setup less than three feet away from where I planned to keep the WA7. Would a purchase of an upgraded power cord help to eliminate that? I'm currently looking at this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V75CYL0?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image&th=1

 

[Spyder15]

I just purchased a WA7 prior to reading this thread. Now that I have, I'm a little worried that I'm going to deal with this low hiss due to wireless interference. I live in an apartment so tons of interference everywhere. My router is also currently setup less than three feet away from where I planned to keep the WA7. Would a purchase of an upgraded power cord help to eliminate that? I'm currently looking at this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V75CYL0?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image&th=1

I'm happy to report that there is no major audible hiss. There is a slight noise floor with the few IEMs I have, but hardly noticeable and goes away with music playing. I can't hear anything in my headphones. I am using the power cord mentioned above. Did not even try the stock cable as it was insanely short.

I will say, my DCA Aeon Noire 2 requires me to go to 80-90% volume to have a reasonable listening volume for me. I do have slight hearing damage from subs in my car growing up, so take note of that.

First impressions are this thing is wonderful for listening to music.

 

[RJHD3]

I'd suggest checking your source doesn't have some setting lowering the input signal volume, but you've tried 3 sources so seems unlikely it's that. Reach out to Woo Audio support and see what they suggest?

Mucking about with Sony’s audio output fixed it well enough for the HD800S. Now closer to your experience. Anything much over noon on the dial is obnoxiously loud. Thanks for that!

However the improvement with the Diana is far less evident. Still needs to push to 4 o’clock and above to barely match the 11 o’clock position of the Sennheisers.

I’m concluding that despite Woo marketing and website claims the Abyss Diana TC are not a great match for the Woo WA7 Mk.3.

Pitty and a shame when companies do that sort of thing. That aside, it’s a gorgeous nightstand accessory and the quality of sound is rather lovely on the 800S.

 

[RJHD3]

I'm happy to report that there is no major audible hiss.

Same as org mine. Although I don’t use it with IEMs. I tend to restrict their use to portable scenarios.

I will say, my DCA Aeon Noire 2 requires me to go to 80-90% volume to have a reasonable listening volume for me. I do have slight hearing damage from subs in my car growing up, so take note of that.

Old school Rockford Fosgate user; but I don’t think my ears suffered terribly. Still, I’m at an age where there is definitely some loss. That saiid my experience with the Diana TC sounds close to yours with the Noire 2. In my case running all my cans through the 4.4 output.

Even at max volume it feels like the amp isn’t really able to extract the most out of these headphones. Both in terms of control and volume. It seems clear that the Woo WA7 is far more finicky about what it’s driving than I expected.

First impressions are this thing is wonderful for listening to music.

Agree. They sound quite fabulous with a good matching pair of headphones. I just wish the “oomph” was better.

 

[eloom123]

However the improvement with the Diana is far less evident. Still needs to push to 4 o’clock and above to barely match the 11 o’clock position of the Sennheisers.

Just checking, are you using the balanced output? It will give you a bit more volume compared to the single ended output.

 

[RJHD3]

Just checking, are you using the balanced output?

Yep. All headphones on the 4.4.

 

[vishweshji]

How are you connecting DAPs to wa7? Just via USB?