[thecrow]

I bought the pair off a member at stereonet here in Australia.

They are used but for $200 (aud) for the pair I thought it would be a good introduction to them as opposed to forking over $800-$900.

I'll pop them in tonight/tomorrow

 

[devilboy]

I see. ............. now you have me thinking.

 

[thecrow]

I know I'm preaching to the believers but I am soooooo loving the wa2 that I picked up early this week.

Never expected it to be so good.

Here's a little pic. A little tedeschi/trucks action from the crossroads DVD from some years back. With a few tubes glowing in the bottom left doing their magic.

Derek trucks never sounded so good!!!

Johnny winter is on stage next.

 

[thecrow]

question re the stock tubes of the wa2 for experienced owners..........
 
 
what should i do with the stock tubes?
 
these include the ge jan 6080wc and the philips ECG jan 6922
 
i only received tham last week and have bought other tubes that sound better to these (amperex pqs and siemens ccas and some used gec 6as7gs)
 
particularly as I have bought two different pairs of 6dj8s I cant see myself going back to these stock tubes.
some members here dismiss them immediately - are they really THAT ordinary? has anyone actually properly burnt them in to see how they evolve? 
 
if there is no need for them would i be looking at something like $40 for each of the pairs
 
what have you found you have done with them?
 
thanks
peter t

 

[StanT]

Mine are sitting at the bottom of box. If I ever decide to sell the amp. they will go to the next owner.
 
Ordinary is exactly the adjective that I'd use.

 

[thecrow]

 
Based on my experience with the WA2 I'd say that sounds like good advice!  What you don't want is something that's too dry and analytical, and with the hd800 you're better off to error slightly on the warm side.

I waited. After receiving my wa2 early last week and from my understanding of what the questyle cas192d offers i'd agree these two are not the best together, particularly for the hd800s.
 
Since then i picked up a second hand metrum hex (1 year old about 40% off), which arrived today and that combo is working great. Now that has what you too mentioned - great detail, openness, great tone, "organic" (whatever that means ), layers and i fell this is going to grow more on me
 
i think i'm now set!!!!
 
at least for quite a while
 
good times!!!

 

[ru4music]

 
I waited. After receiving my wa2 early last week and from my understanding of what the questyle cas192d offers i'd agree these two are not the best together, particularly for the hd800s.
 
Since then i picked up a second hand metrum hex (1 year old about 40% off), which arrived today and that combo is working great. Now that has what you too mentioned - great detail, openness, great tone, "organic" (whatever that means ), layers and i fell this is going to grow more on me
 
i think i'm now set!!!!
 
at least for quite a while
 
good times!!!

Great, let me know what you think after it settles-in a bit and also what tube combos are working for you!

 

[thecrow]

 
Great, let me know what you think after it settles-in a bit and also what tube combos are working for you!

it's all settling in very well. So am I.
 
Moving to a dac at the level of the hex and not ever having heard a dac at this price point before I did need to mix and match my gear (with older gear) to understand better what i was getting.
 
I initially thought I was getting recessed vocals and quite a bit of (overly-) full bottom end. But using it with my soloist amp that I'm used to i realised the dac is quite neutral, perhaps a small touch of warmth, and the layering of detail presents something quite new to me. Broader stage as these layers are not clustered and hence so much more is presented and apparent and I'm thinking that made me feel the vocals were not as upfront as I was previously used to with the rich mids of the burson as there is now so much more going on (if that makes sense).
 
tubes used are the gec 6as7g (picked up some used ones) and boy did the detail increase so much from the stock tubes and the overall tone is so rich. it's great reading comments on 6080 and other 6as7g tubes here in case i wanted a little change.
 
then there is the  6922 amperex pq (usa) that are described at joe's tube lore as "Amperex 6922, PQ, white label, US (shield, gold pins) Another very good Amperex tube. Warm yet lively, focused, grainless and transparent. A winner one of the best. Dynamic with punchy bass to boot...." I agree. I can't add more. And these could well be opening up a bit more as that feeling of recessed vocals I mentioned earlier is leaving me and if the mids come up a little more that will be even better.
 
And also picked up some Siemens CCas from 1974 on ebay which have a solid state sound with real smoothness on my hd800s and a very good extended, tight and detailed bottom end. Perhaps a little dry and a little too analytical in my first impressions but these impressions might be changing a little. I have only put in about 5 hours on these so I'm looking forward to see what may lie ahead as they are losing their "dryness" tonight - but then again maybe I'm adjusting too.
 
And then there is the rft ez80 rectifiers I thought I'd grab based on members' views here
 
Certainly enjoying my combos and helped I've received along the way from a number of members including DubStep Girl, Badas and Brent jesse tubes.
 
Some great write ups on Joe's Tube Lore and Brent Jesse's website to act as a guide.
I only wish there was just as an extensive a list on the tubes for the 6080 tubes.
 
It's certainly been a good move picking up the wa2 - detail and tone that has seriously exceeded my expectaions
 
It's weird not needing any gear (at the moment) as hard as i might try to find something I'd want. Might be time to spend more time listening to music as crazy as that sounds

 

[Thenewguy007]

   
tubes used are the gec 6as7g (picked up some used ones) and boy did the detail increase so much from the stock tubes and the overall tone is so rich. it's great reading comments on 6080 and other 6as7g tubes here in case i wanted a little change.
 
then there is the  6922 amperex pq (usa) that are described at joe's tube lore as "Amperex 6922, PQ, white label, US (shield, gold pins) Another very good Amperex tube. Warm yet lively, focused, grainless and transparent. A winner one of the best. Dynamic with punchy bass to boot...." I agree. I can't add more. And these could well be opening up a bit more as that feeling of recessed vocals I mentioned earlier is leaving me and if the mids come up a little more that will be even better.
 
And also picked up some Siemens CCas from 1974 on ebay which have a solid state sound with real smoothness on my hd800s and a very good extended, tight and detailed bottom end. Perhaps a little dry and a little too analytical in my first impressions but these impressions might be changing a little. I have only put in about 5 hours on these so I'm looking forward to see what may lie ahead as they are losing their "dryness" tonight - but then again maybe I'm adjusting too.
 
And then there is the rft ez80 rectifiers I thought I'd grab based on members' views here

 
Out of the tubes you used so far, which one are you using the most?
Is the gec 6as7g the best one by far? The price is super crazy compared to everything else.

 

[gahung]

Is the official upgrade tubes the best for the price? Since I have some drive tubes left I don't need to find the ECC88, but I have a hard time finding NOS matched paired 6080 and EZ80 tubes.

 

[thecrow]

Out of the tubes you used so far, which one are you using the most?
Is the gec 6as7g the best one by far? The price is super crazy compared to everything else.

I was lucky enough to get 3 used Gec 6as7gs from a member of another forum here in Australia that I had been chatting to at a fair price. About a 1/4 of the usual asking price for 2. It was a good way for me to try them and they have been no problem at all. He didn't need them anymore after selling his wa2. So apart from the stock tubes that are nowhere near the same tone and warmth straight out of the box these are the only ones I've heard.

If I was to try another 6080 pair I would want something with very good detail but closer to neutral with perhaps a touch of warmth. Not sure if tung sol 5998s cover that but I'll keep reading opinions.

And with respect to the 6922s I've been preferring the Amperex but I'm going to leave the Siemens in for now to see how they evolve.

I'm enjoying the difference in these two offerings.

I must add the led remastered double album has never sounded as good before. Using the Amperex on that.

Overall with the dac I now have guitars (acoustic) and cymbals sound exceptional. And piano.

What are your findings in your setup with tubes? You have the X sabre dac, right?

 

[thecrow]

Is the official upgrade tubes the best for the price? Since I have some drive tubes left I don't need to find the ECC88, but I have a hard time finding NOS matched paired 6080 and EZ80 tubes.

I wouldn't limit myself to liking at just their tubes. And I'm not sure how good their pricing is.

I have bought some tubes from Brent Jesse and he's been really helpful and insightful. And his service had been great.

Badas here seems to be one member that has had quite a but if experience on 6080 tubes too. He's been quite helpful to me too.

 

[Thenewguy007]

Read through a few other tube rolling threads & still so confused on what path to upgrade.
 
Would just upgrading the power tubes without touching the Rectifier or Driver tubes be enough to get a huge improvement?
 
 
Is there a huge disparity in 5998 tube quality?
Like is the difference between a Sylvania, Chatham, Amperex or Tung-Sol branded 5998 big or small, like a 5% margin in difference?

 

[jhljhl]

  Read through a few other tube rolling threads & still so confused on what path to upgrade.
 
Would just upgrading the power tubes without touching the Rectifier or Driver tubes be enough to get a huge improvement?
 
 
Is there a huge disparity in 5998 tube quality?
Like is the difference between a Sylvania, Chatham, Amperex or Tung-Sol branded 5998 big or small, like a 5% margin in difference?

I don't think there is a difference between 5998's but the Western Electric 421a is a bit better.

 

[MIKELAP]

  Read through a few other tube rolling threads & still so confused on what path to upgrade.
 
Would just upgrading the power tubes without touching the Rectifier or Driver tubes be enough to get a huge improvement?
 
 
Is there a huge disparity in 5998 tube quality?
Like is the difference between a Sylvania, Chatham, Amperex or Tung-Sol branded 5998 big or small, like a 5% margin in difference?

Speaking for myself  HUGE is a word that i dont use often in tubes SUBTIL alot more