[h.rav]

^ There were premium parts upgrade package and teflon tube sockets upgrade, I guess they prioritize the parts for their more expensive models. Don't bother with Teflon sockets, the stock sockets on newer models are perfectly fine.

 

[ultraman9000]

Not sure if this has been noted elsewhere, but I just noted that partsconnexion is having some sort of Black Friday sale through midnight this evening (eConneXion November 2009 Newsletter). I am in no way affiliated with the business, but noticed that they have some fair deals on blackgates and such, and have seen a lot of the mod-it-yourself Woo owners mention those... now if only I had any idea about all this, I could invest in some possible upgrades for my soon-to-arrive WA6

 

[ultraman9000]

D'oh! That link, as it was supposed to show up, is:
eConneXion November 2009 Newsletter
Sorry 'bout that!

 

[RockinCannoisseur]

nice review bump

 

[Xcalibur255]

Since this thread was bumped again recently I just wanted to say I've found it invaluable, both for future tube rolling advice and to get a feel on what I'd be gaining from going to a Woo amp in the first place.

I already own a Channel Islands VHP2 which is well regarded and a very competent SS amp. It won't run with the best, but then again it isn't priced up there with them either. Trouble is I find everything to sound a bit dry and thin on it, and my K701s are flat out unenjoyable to listen to at all. I really don't think the amp is to blame, it is very dynamic and transparent as it should be. My hearing is very sensitive in the upper midrange and lower treble so things that should sound balanced seem thin and bright to me.

I recently found bliss in a tripath based integrated amp for my speaker setup, it has all the qualities of a good SS amp, but there is just a little something extra there..... something hard to describe that makes it sound musical and euphoric. I'm basically trying to gain this for my headphone setup as well. I don't necessarily want a glowing super "tubey" sound per se because I value the good dynamics and speed of a quality amp in general. I just want to mix some of that sense of euphoria in that makes the sound feel effortless..... like you want to sink into your chair when you listen. After reading literally hundreds of pages of posts my gut tells me a WA6 /w PDPS is the right ticket for me, probably with a tube roll to RCA 6FD7s once it breaks in and an eventual upgrade to the Sophia Princess.

I'd love to hear opinions from others though. My greatest fear is that I'll get the Woo and it will sound very similar to my VHP2 overall. That wouldn't be a negative towards the Woo since it just means it is a very competent amp that isn't sucking the dynamics and detail out of the presentation with an overly syrupy sound. I just want to feel certain that I'm going to hear that extra little bit of magic I'm looking for. I don't make a lot of money these days so I have to plan my hobby purchases carefully. Do you guys think the Woo6 is the ticket for me?

 

[tosehee]

If you can find the local meetup to try out the Woo, that's the best way to find out for yourself.

Other than that, SS and Tube amps have a different sound signature. I used to own pretty good SS amps, but I also find it little dry and edgy at mid to treble area. I am now switching back to tube amp for the very same reason.

Good thing with the tube is, you can tailor to your own taste by tube rolling, but then again, you need to spend more to play around with those..

 

[regal]

The most important upgrade going to the SE model is the better powersupply allows then to eliminate the Whites Cathode Follower. Google WCF, general consensus is the stage hurts SQ.


Does anyone know the gain of the SE with the 32 ohm out and Grados?

 

[Xcalibur255]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tosehee /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you can find the local meetup to try out the Woo, that's the best way to find out for yourself.

A major disadvantage of living in south dakota is not being able to hear any of this gear in person before buying. Everything is just too far away for a demo to be practical.

 

[Xcalibur255]

Judging by the deafening silence it seems I just need to make up my own mind about this.

A question for Woo 6 owners though: how do you like piano on your amp? I'm wondering how the weight of the hammer strike and the decay of a sustain note sound on it. This one thing probably matters more to me than anything else.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xcalibur255 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Judging by the deafening silence it seems I just need to make up my own mind about this. A question for Woo 6 owners though: how do you like piano on your amp? I'm wondering how the weight of the hammer strike and the decay of a sustain note sound on it. This one thing probably matters more to me than anything else.

I am very happy with it - pianos, drums, strings, vocals - you name it and I like the way it does them.

 

[Suprfly2k]

Everything is broken in and sounding fantastic!

 

[buson160man]

It looks like a Cyrus to me.

Sclamb, are those Herbies Audio Lab dampers on your tubes? They look like a pretty cool little tweak. Have you noticed any sound improvement from using them?

 I have some experience with the rx-9 tube dampers from herbies audio labs. They do work and I got a noticeable improvement when using them. Things tightened up and there was definitely an improvement in the sound of my amp. By the way I have a ray samuels raptor otl and I am using the tube dampers on the output tubes of my raptor. I am using a eat tube damper on the input tube of the raptor as well.
  I believe them to be a worthwhile upgrade for tube amps.

 

[seldenr]

All: I think this thread has not been posted for some time, but I stumbled across it while researching, with an intent to purchase the WA6SE.  Reason for posting:  I once owned an Art Audio PX25 amplifier (single ended, using the PX25 tube for 6 whopping glorious watts).  It shipped with a pair of Sophia 274B tubes as rectifiers.  However, at their suggestion, I had them ship a pair of CV378 rectifier tubes, and WOW, the improvement was fantastic, and very unexpected.  I would not have dreamed that a pair of rectifier tubes could make such an improvement to sound.  
 
So I asked Jack if the WA6 SE would accept the CV378 rectifier tube as a replacement.  He said yes, it would.  So maybe some of you with either version of the WA6 might want to try the CV378 and report back?