[cddc]

I researched these white coupling caps and they are actually 'suppression film' capacitors, meant to reduce emission and increase the immunity of radio and electromagnetic interference. Thus i'm not sure how much of an impact they have on SQ.

Perhaps replacing the 'output' coupling caps instead would yield more SQ improvement, but i'm just guessing at this point. I believe this amp has been around since 2008, surely there MUST be someone who tinkered/upgraded the caps who could speak for the results...

https://www.mouser.com/new/vishay/vishay-f1773-x2-capacitors/

These are marketing gimmicks, just because those caps possibly have some ability to suppress some interference. Manufacturers can call them heat resistance caps, snow-white caps, gold poo poo caps, or whatever they like. But these are not main functionalities of caps. The main functionality of the 2 white caps is inter-stage coupling.

There are audible differences, as I said earlier, but rolling passive components, such as caps, won't be as significant as rolling tubes. So rolling caps is a very bad idea, as lots of caps are way overpriced IMHO. Unless you think this is gonna be your final amp and you want to max it out, rolling some $60-$200 cap is a bad option.

I think it could be dangerous for you to replace the caps from the questions you asked. If something goes wrong (for example forget to discharge the caps), you might damage your amp...better stay put.

 

[jonathan c]

An amazing combination: Audeze LCD-4 (200 ohms) & Woo WA2 OTL (Mullard EZ81, GEC CV2984, Brimar CV455 KB/FB Footscray):

 

[Bonddam]

I had wa2 now I’m stuck with the drivers and rectifiers. Both are purchased from Woo Audio. Ez Mullard 81and Amperex 6922 gold pins. If not Amperex I have a good amount of 6dj8 tubes, ec88 as well from philips, bel, any interest pm me thanks.

 

[Onik]

An amazing combination: Audeze LCD-4 (200 ohms) & Woo WA2 OTL (Mullard EZ81, GEC CV2984, Brimar CV455 KB/FB Footscray):

Did you try LCD-2 with WA 2?

 

[jonathan c]

Did you try LCD-2 with WA 2?

I do not own LCD-2…

 

[bpiotrow13]

If Anyone is considering a sale of wa2 i would be interested in black version.

 

[Onik]

What kind of Toggle Switch the old/preamp version WA 2 has?

Is it DPDT?

 

[cddc]

What kind of Toggle Switch the old/preamp version WA 2 has?

Is it DPDT?

If you just want to toggle the output signal between headphone-out and pre-out, then DPDT should be good enough (4PDT is even better).

But sometimes there can be different circuits between the headphone-out and pre-out, then it's no longer a problem a simple DPDT/4PDT can resolve.

I haven't seen the old version, so don't know how Woo implements its pre-out.

 

[Onik]

If you just want to toggle the output signal between headphone-out and pre-out, then DPDT should be good enough (4PDT is even better).

But sometimes there can be different circuits between the headphone-out and pre-out, then it's no longer a problem a simple DPDT/4PDT can resolve.

I haven't seen the old version, so don't know how Woo implements its pre-out.

I ordered 4PDT from ebay.

 

[bpiotrow13]

These are marketing gimmicks, just because those caps possibly have some ability to suppress some interference. Manufacturers can call them heat resistance caps, snow-white caps, gold poo poo caps, or whatever they like. But these are not main functionalities of caps. The main functionality of the 2 white caps is inter-stage coupling.

There are audible differences, as I said earlier, but rolling passive components, such as caps, won't be as significant as rolling tubes. So rolling caps is a very bad idea, as lots of caps are way overpriced IMHO. Unless you think this is gonna be your final amp and you want to max it out, rolling some $60-$200 cap is a bad option.

I think it could be dangerous for you to replace the caps from the questions you asked. If something goes wrong (for example forget to discharge the caps), you might damage your amp...better stay put.

Hi, just wanted to follow this discussion a bit. I have just bought wa2 (4 years old, with preamp and the preamp switch at the back). The seller says wa2 has no upgrades. I will have it next week but as i would like wa2 to be my ultimate amp i wonder if to make any upgrades.

For now i see it may be worth to change output cap. I see wa2 has teflon wiring. Would it make sense to change into copper? Has anybody tried this?

Many thanks for any thoughts/experiences.

 

[thecrow]

Hi, just wanted to follow this discussion a bit. I have just bought wa2 (4 years old, with preamp and the preamp switch at the back). The seller says wa2 has no upgrades. I will have it next week but as i would like wa2 to be my ultimate amp i wonder if to make any upgrades.

For now i see it may be worth to change output cap. I see wa2 has teflon wiring. Would it make sense to change into copper? Has anybody tried this?

Many thanks for any thoughts/experiences.

Aren’t upgrades thru tubes enough?

 

[bpiotrow13]

Aren’t upgrades thru tubes enough?

Maybe I just want to

Aren’t upgrades thru tubes enough?

Maybe just wanted to check with others experience. How do i know if this is enogh without checking it may well be such upgrades do not make sense, but i do not know.

 

[cddc]

Hi, just wanted to follow this discussion a bit. I have just bought wa2 (4 years old, with preamp and the preamp switch at the back). The seller says wa2 has no upgrades. I will have it next week but as i would like wa2 to be my ultimate amp i wonder if to make any upgrades.

For now i see it may be worth to change output cap. I see wa2 has teflon wiring. Would it make sense to change into copper? Has anybody tried this?

Many thanks for any thoughts/experiences.

Sorry, I am not a believer in cables.

The metal inside Woo's Teflon insulator is most likely copper already, same as most wires inside modern electronic devices. Copper is a very good conductor of electricity, silver is slightly better in terms of conductivity, so some guys do use silver wires instead of copper wires in their amps, but silver wires might sound too bright, that's what I heard.

The change of different wires inside the amp might be hard to discern, the change will be even smaller than changing caps, not to mention tubes.

 

[bpiotrow13]

Sorry, I am not a believer in cables.

The metal inside Woo's Teflon insulator is most likely copper already, same as most wires inside modern electronic devices. Copper is a very good conductor of electricity, silver is slightly better in terms of conductivity, so some guys do use silver wires instead of copper wires in their amps, but silver wires might sound too bright, that's what I heard.

The change of different wires inside the amp might be hard to discern, the change will be even smaller than changing caps, not to mention tubes.

Thanks, i would not like to change just to change. Do You have any experience with changing caps and can suggest something? I guess Woo itself offered Black Gate caps upgrade.

 

[cddc]

Thanks, i would not like to change just to change. Do You have any experience with changing caps and can suggest something? I guess Woo itself offered Black Gate caps upgrade.

Although the changes that caps bring will be much smaller than tubes, caps do have their own sound characteristics. I don't know the brand behind Woo's Black Gate caps, Mundorf/Audio Note/Jensen/etc are normally considered "premium" caps, and are outrageously expensive - very low performance/price ratios.

For more sound characteristics of caps, I recommend you read the following thread, and see if you can find some caps that suit your need.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/orgy-of-capacitors-the-cap-thread.284863/