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The (new) HD800 Impressions Thread
Feb 13, 2014 at 2:59 PM Post #8,131 of 29,010
62ohm said:
WA7 sounds like a damn good price/performance dac/amp contender for HD800.. Should I abandon my plan of getting the WA2 and get the WA7 instead?
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I would go w/ the Wa2. It sound way more solid compared to the Wa7.
 
Feb 13, 2014 at 3:00 PM Post #8,132 of 29,010
pdrm360 said:
Yep the gold plated ones. 
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How is the WA5 for the HD800?
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The hd800 + Wa5 is incredible.
 
Feb 13, 2014 at 3:15 PM Post #8,134 of 29,010
62ohm said:
WA7 sounds like a damn good price/performance dac/amp contender for HD800.. Should I abandon my plan of getting the WA2 and get the WA7 instead?
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You pay for ease of use and versatility with the WA7. It's good with all headphones from sensitive IEMs, to high impedance dynamics like HD800, to some planers, but not really excellent for anything. The WA2 sucks for IEMs and planers and low impedance headphones in general, but is excellent for high impedance headphones like HD800. Also the DAC in the WA7 is comparable to a $200-300 DAC. If you plan to use only for HD800, I'd get the WA2.
 
Feb 13, 2014 at 3:18 PM Post #8,135 of 29,010
Here is the deal. I have both amps and all upgraded tubes for all. The wa22 is just the best with headphones. Not so with iems . And not for the HE6. I bought the WA5 for the HE6.

Hands down the 22 beats with the hd800. But the wa7 has it all in one. And sounds good with everything. So looking for -a two in one the wa7 is it. And you can use a seperate dac as well .
But the only way to use the wa22 is in balanced mode. It makes a big difference .

Al
 
Feb 13, 2014 at 3:42 PM Post #8,136 of 29,010
alrainbow said:
Here is the deal. I have both amps and all upgraded tubes for all. The wa22 is just the best with headphones. Not so with iems . And not for the HE6. I bought the WA5 for the HE6.

Hands down the 22 beats with the hd800. But the wa7 has it all in one. And sounds good with everything. So looking for -a two in one the wa7 is it. And you can use a seperate dac as well .
But the only way to use the wa22 is in balanced mode. It makes a big difference .

Al
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So for the HD800: WA22 > WA5 > WA2 > WA7, correct? 
 
Feb 13, 2014 at 3:50 PM Post #8,137 of 29,010
This just shows how much subjectivity matters. Koiloco has WA22 running with balanced HD800 as well, yet he still shares his head time with the HE-500 and Emotiva MiniX. I have the HE-500 and MiniX as well, yet I haven't touched it in weeks, and I'm running the HD800 through merely a Crack.
 
Feb 13, 2014 at 3:51 PM Post #8,138 of 29,010
alrainbow said:
Here is the deal. I have both amps and all upgraded tubes for all. The wa22 is just the best with headphones. Not so with iems . And not for the HE6. I bought the WA5 for the HE6.

Hands down the 22 beats with the hd800. But the wa7 has it all in one. And sounds good with everything. So looking for -a two in one the wa7 is it. And you can use a seperate dac as well .
But the only way to use the wa22 is in balanced mode. It makes a big difference .

Al
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+1
and it's not about balanced vs unbalanced here.  The WA22 is just designed in a way that unbalanced connection doesn't give you 100% potential of the amp.  Go with some other cheaper Woo if you don't plan to run the WA22 balanced.
 
Feb 13, 2014 at 4:07 PM Post #8,141 of 29,010
He is correct. The wa5 is fine but the wa22 is better. I have owned all at the same time. I did go back and forth.

Wa5' wa22 , and wa 7. I also own the WES. but that is another story.

For the money the WA7 is fine. And the dac is not so great but you can feed the amp separately. So in the end it's by far the best deal. But the WA22. Is not cool with iems,s either. Only the wa7 is all around.

Now the HE6 and most headphones and the wa22 is good with most headphones but not so with iems. And like others said wa22 balanced only. That is it's virtue. I think this is why the wa5 is not as good.

Ask questions there seems to be some people that know about these amps pretty good as much as we all don't say the exactly the same I still agree with them all.
Al
 
Feb 13, 2014 at 4:08 PM Post #8,142 of 29,010
pdrm360 said:
  I guess you use it in balanced mode, correct?  
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Yes.
As you know, I bought a turntable recently that of course only has RCA out.  Hooking up the TT to WA22's unbalanced input directly = not so good.  For now, I have to route the TT's USB output through my computer => DAC=> WA22's balanced input when listening to vinyl.  However, this chain is not 100% analog.  I have purchased a preamp that has balanced out and phono in so I can do TT => pre-amp=> WA22.  The preamp is coming next Monday. 
I was seriously considering selling the WA22 and go for either WA2 or WA6SE to avoid the balanced requirement of the WA22 but I really love the WA22/HD800 combo therefore I went the preamp route instead.  The preamp will give me much flexibility in routing signal from computer and my other sources as well.
 
http://www.parasound.com/vintage/p3.php
 
They have a newer model P5 but I got too good of a deal on the P3 to pass it up.
 
Feb 13, 2014 at 4:18 PM Post #8,143 of 29,010
koiloco said:
 
Yes.
As you know, I bought a turntable recently that of course only has RCA out.  Hooking up the TT to WA22's unbalanced input directly = not so good.  For now, I have to route the TT's USB output through my computer => DAC=> WA22's balanced input when listening to vinyl.  However, this chain is not 100% analog.  I have purchased a preamp that has balanced out and phono in so I can do TT => pre-amp=> WA22.  The preamp is coming next Monday. 
I was seriously considering selling the WA22 and go for either WA2 or WA6SE to avoid the balanced requirement of the WA22 but I really love the WA22/HD800 combo therefore I went the preamp route instead.  The preamp will give me much flexibility in routing signal from computer and my other sources as well.
 
http://www.parasound.com/vintage/p3.php
 
They have a newer model P5 but I got too good of a deal on the P3 to pass it up.
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Oh, I see. 
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