[MC Jeff D]

Hey troops:

Just got the new Woo 5 last friday and now that it is broken in I can say it is incredibly good!

It is a two chassis amp that sells for $3000. The good news is that you can use it with high imped. and low imped. phones as well as a set of speakers!

A 9 watt per channel, 300B based SET, it also has four inputs so you can use it as an integrated amp too...

Jack will have it at the national meet (I'm bringing it down to hand deliver, if I don't fail the trust excersize and show up, heheheh)

I encourage you to stop by his table and check it out!!!

 

[jmmtn4aj]

:O 3... thousand.. :O

Pics!

 

[granodemostasa]

well, i'll be at the international meet... so we'll soon find out how good it is. i'm keeping my eye on it, as a possible upgrade from my ZD.

 

[humanflyz]

@MC Jeff D:

Will Tone Audio be covering the Head-Fi international meet? And can you spill any beans on the technical aspects of the amp, like what kind of transformers are used?

 

[humanflyz]

Images courtesy of WooAudio's website.

 

[MC Jeff D]

Hi there:

Yes, I will be there. From what I can see the amplifier has a pair of 5U4 rectifiers that are on a seperate chassis, that weighs as much as the amplifier chassis!!

The actual amplifier has a pair of 300B's driven by a pair of 6SN7's...
I swapped the Chinese tubes for a pair of Western Electric 300B's and
it is sheer heaven. I was really excited by the guy that had that sweet copper chassis 300B at the NY natl. meet last year!

This is more of the same, SET goodness.

I've been listening to it in my living room with a pair of B&W 805S speakers
and at modest levels it is doing quite well.

I've had so much fun listening to speakers, I've only done a quick test with phones, but I have a pair of GS1000s, HD650's and AKG 701's as my reference phones and just as far as casual listening goes, thanks to the high and low imped. settings, it's all good so far, but I need to really do some serious listening.

We will have a full review in the April issue, that is due out around the 6th of April.

I am very excited about this amp. I know it is kind of expensive and if you add a pair of NOS 6SN7's (about $150-200), a pair of NOS rectifier tubes (another $200) and a pair of current WE 300B's it adds up pretty quick.

However if you are in the market for that mega headphone amp of your dreams and also make use of it for powering a second system or perhaps a high efficiency set of speakers, it's not as crazy as it sounds.

Besides, you guys on head-fi are the one that turned me into a monster!!

It's your fault

Looking forward to seeing you guys at the meet!

 

[guzziguy]

It's a gorgeous amp. Unfortunately $3k (which is not unreasonable for such an amp) is just the start. Wait until you price a nice pair of 300Bs.

 

[MC Jeff D]

I have WE's which I really like and they are (I think) about 1250 a pair these days, but they do last forever. NOS ones are 2-3 times that. I've heard 300B's from many different vintages at my pal Steve Hoffman's house, but honestly they don't sound that much different than the current production ones.

I had a long chat with the head guy at WE and he feels that the current ones sound even BETTER, so go figure.

However, if you are on a tighter budget, the Sophia 300B's are about 450 a pair and pretty nice too. A bit brighter on top and not quite as much midrange magic, but that's just in my WAVAC. Every 300B amp sounds different, so you might like the Sophias better in your setup!

Also would probably depend on which phones are your favorite too! I think the HD650's might even sound a bit better with the Sophia tubes to give them a bit of an extra bump!

 

[humanflyz]

So the amp comes with stock Chinese 300Bs? I assume it's Shuguang?

 

[vcoheda]

that thing is crazy. a separate jack for the k1000.

 

[MC Jeff D]

Yep Shungyang tubes. Not bad with the stock tubes, but a lot better with NOS and upgraded 300B's!

I wish I had a pair of K1000's to try with it! That is one of my all time favorite phones!!

 

[cotdt]

how does the 300B compare to the smaller tubes like EL84 or 6AS7?

 

[penguindude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif that thing is crazy. a separate jack for the k1000.

WOW. The designer expects you to have the best set of headphone to pair his amp with.

 

[MC Jeff D]

I think the 300B is much more organic, because of the single ended nature...
Some of the best midrange you will ever hear, and thanks to the HUGE power supply, very deep bass that is tight and well defined too.

Full review in about two weeks!! Make sure to download the April issue!

 

[cotdt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MC Jeff D /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think the 300B is much more organic, because of the single ended nature... Some of the best midrange you will ever hear, and thanks to the HUGE power supply, very deep bass that is tight and well defined too. Full review in about two weeks!! Make sure to download the April issue!

does the 300B have punchy bass like some of the small tubes?