[SpitxFire22]

There's a nice review here where they do direct comparisons of the T1 and HD800 with the WA7.
http://www.magazine-audio.com/2013/wa7-woo-audio/

 

[desertblues]

There's a nice review here where they do direct comparisons of the T1 and HD800 with the WA7.
http://www.magazine-audio.com/2013/wa7-woo-audio/

Looks like a great review (if you read French) lol

 

[SpitxFire22]

Just use google chrome to translate it into English.  I don't speak French and I can read most of it when translated.

 

[groovyd]

Quote:

Looks like a great review (if you read French) lol

 
He doesn't really get into the details of the differences in sound but is thoroughly impressed by everything and all.  Here is the translation...
 
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.magazine-audio.com%2F2013%2Fwa7-woo-audio%2F

 

[V-Duh]

Quote:

Perhaps I was a little poetic in that statement .
I have found it difficult to find data on the EH tube , there is a factory spec sheet for the Sovtek tube which lists a period of 3000 hours within operational parameters.
Looking at similar Russian tubes the shortest life span I could find was 2000 hours for a tube used in high voltage switching.
Life for similar tubes in general seems to be in the range of 3000 to 5000 hours with ruggedized versions rated up to 10000 hours.
So although you have my sympathy in component failure is always a pain in the *^#@ I really hope you have just been unlucky.
My experience with gold pin tubes of the ef95 type for my La Figaro amp is that they tend to be more prone to gas leakage than standard tubes from the same manufacturer , this may prove to be true for the EH tube.
Time will tell.

Thanks for the reply.  I suspect you're correct in that it's poor luck.  The Sovteks are not bad actually, I just prefer the brighter, more open EH tube signature a bit more.  $85 - $100 more?  Hmmmmm...

 

[olegausany]

Using EH right now with HD650 and not going back

 

[atomicbob]

Quote:

 
Has anyone had their EH tubes go outta wack?  Mine developed a serious channel imbalance which seemed to be more evident when switched to high impedence.  I swapped in the Sovteks and the imbalance is gone.  I've been using my WA7 with the EH's at work nearly every workday since late February but in reality I don't think that represents more than 500 hours on the tubes.

 
One of the EH tubes has probably experienced a change in its transconductance. If you swap channels with the EH tubes, you should hear the imbalance change from side to side. The side with the lower output is most likely the bad one. It is also possible that one of the EH tubes has a little oxidation on its pins. Removing and re-inserting would fix the imbalance if oxidation were the cause.

 

[desertblues]

Using EH right now with HD650 and not going back

+1 (with RS1i + PS500). While the EH were good right out of the box they improved greatly after 50-55 hours.

 

[groovyd]

Quote:

+1 (with RS1i + PS500). While the EH were good right out of the box they improved greatly after 50-55 hours.

 
I really wish he would throw either the same DAC or a Sabre into his WES might push me to upgrading to a Stax setup at home.  Thing is I need something that outputs to 2 amps, one for my MilleniaOneCT setup and one for the headphone amp.  Currently I use the HeadRoom Desktop Amp

 

[Leliana]

Congrats! Liking it a lot with DT880s so far (running the Electro Harmonix tubes now). Must try T90 or T1 one day... . Anyone compared T90/T1 to DT880 (on WA7) by any chance?

I feel that the t1 blew away my dt880 250 ohms.The DT 880 treble was far more tizzy and unnatural while the t1 has a fuller midrange and bass response. Similarly the t1 had better soundstage and imaging. Although it is not 800 dollars better. I got the t1 for $750 personally. Mind you this is mainly coming from rock listening so YMMV.

The 250 ohms BTW was the later version which I have heard conflicting reports on.

Either way the WA7 was an improvement over their NFB 5 with both phones.

 

[nicky123]

Since the WA7's volume dial is inactive in USB DAC mode, is it OK to add a stereo preamp between the WA7 and the active studio monitors?

 

[olegausany]

Since the WA7's volume dial is inactive in USB DAC mode, is it OK to add a stereo preamp between the WA7 and the active studio monitors?

Don't they have their own one ?

 

[BDM-Fi]

Quote:

I feel that the t1 blew away my dt880 250 ohms.The DT 880 treble was far more tizzy and unnatural while the t1 has a fuller midrange and bass response. Similarly the t1 had better soundstage and imaging. Although it is not 800 dollars better. I got the t1 for $750 personally. Mind you this is mainly coming from rock listening so YMMV.

The 250 ohms BTW was the later version which I have heard conflicting reports on.

Either way the WA7 was an improvement over their NFB 5 with both phones.

Thanks for the heads up on T1, will definitely try a pair some day... . 

 

[desertblues]

So I plugged my RS1i's into the WA7 today to listen to some recently released acoustic gems (Martin Simpson, Guy Clark) and spent several hours deep in the music. My PS500's have been getting the most head time lately, but this amp seems to bring out the best of whichever Hp I choose. If you like the Grados you really need to hear them with this amp!

 

[Kevin Brown]

Quote:

So I plugged my RS1i's into the WA7 today to listen to some recently released acoustic gems (Martin Simpson, Guy Clark) and spent several hours deep in the music. My PS500's have been getting the most head time lately, but this amp seems to bring out the best of whichever Hp I choose. If you like the Grados you really need to hear them with this amp!

 
Bam! 

  I am back to my RS2i's after having spent some time with my DT880/250's, AKG Q701's, and AD900x's, with the WA7.