Woo Audio 234 MONO monoblock amplifier official release
Sep 13, 2013 at 8:42 PM Post #31 of 122
   
This is not just an amp, this is suppose to be a piece of furniture/art in your living room. A lot of thing dont make sense in our audio world  but it is there for those who want it.
 
We are still seen heated debate on whether opamp can make a difference. 
 
But once again woo-audio has other product that follows the part of our hobby world which makes a little more sense.
 
All and all in the world of solid state vaccum tube make no sense at all but still we will see tube that sale for 400-500 or even up to 1K which measure  and objectively perform worst than their 50 cent counterpart replacement.
 
I guess it is a journey that our ear must experience.

 
 
Even though I agree with what you wrote, I'd appreciate a way to regulate botch channels with one knob, via remote controler or something else. It's not about the sound I believe, but about ease of use of such thing. And to me folks here have a point, that separately matching volume levels is going to be pain in the "a". Serious turn down for me, but I guess usability is also subjective.
 
I like this "piece of furniture", whole black would be a beast.
 
Sep 13, 2013 at 8:52 PM Post #32 of 122
   
 
Even though I agree with what you wrote, I'd appreciate a way to regulate botch channels with one knob, via remote controler or something else. It's not about the sound I believe, but about ease of use of such thing. And to me folks here have a point, that separately matching volume levels is going to be pain in the "a". Serious turn down for me, but I guess usability is also subjective.
 
I like this "piece of furniture", whole black would be a beast.

If think the aim of this is to give complete control for those who want it. There is no gear on earth that can have both channel complete cloned without any volume decrease and I guess for those who have fancy 5K headphone that case is still true that is why i see why they would want mono blocks but once again at 15K I will be interested to see who buys it and with what are they going to compare it against.
 
I respect such designs, I respect what they are trying to accomplish and I need to admit I own no gear from woo-audio and I do not own any tube based gears.
 
I just hope the sound they produce is something incredible so hopefully it gives a new reference for other gears try to copy just like what k3003 did for the hybrid world. Arguably k3003 is another statement product that is perhaps over-priced but it gave rise to products which try to copy their sound while not really copying their objective performance at 1/4 of the cost. 
 
Sep 13, 2013 at 9:12 PM Post #34 of 122
I am also curious about the volume thing. Will one amp be able to operate as a "master" volume when using headphones or is there a digital volume control with remote? If not will there be a matching preamp?
 
Sep 14, 2013 at 1:18 AM Post #37 of 122
I am also curious about the volume thing. Will one amp be able to operate as a "master" volume when using headphones or is there a digital volume control with remote? If not will there be a matching preamp?

 
I think it will just run as a dual mono amp like the Woo WA2, DarkVoice 337 or LaFigaro 339
 
Sep 14, 2013 at 2:49 AM Post #40 of 122
For some reason I think these amps are "trying too hard."  It will be interesting to see how this "output switching key" works.  I would think for this to be at all effective, the amp would have to be a lot bigger and a lot more expensive (basically three amps in one, which does not seem to be what is happening here, but maybe it is).  I also think putting attenuators and headphone outputs on monoblocs does not make any sense whatsoever. 
 
Sep 14, 2013 at 3:05 AM Post #41 of 122
People seems to forget these are (honestly) speaker amps. It's made for people that have a really nice speaker setup that also wants headphone compatibility from the same end level gear to keep the same sound. Also, tube switching on the go is a big reason behind the price.
 
Sep 14, 2013 at 4:43 AM Post #42 of 122
Gulp.  I don't think they'll fit on my desk!  
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Sep 14, 2013 at 8:17 AM Post #43 of 122
  People seems to forget these are (honestly) speaker amps. It's made for people that have a really nice speaker setup that also wants headphone compatibility from the same end level gear to keep the same sound. Also, tube switching on the go is a big reason behind the price.

 
Since monobloc amplifiers are typically situated as close to the speaker as possible, the traditional headphone cable won't really work.  What is needed is something along the line of the Zeus cable design which runs independent cables for the two channel. 
 
I wonder how this amplifier compares to what was released 2 years ago and RMAF?  It originally came out at $10K but I thought for awhile the price actually dropped.  I look forward to seeing and more importantly, hearing it at this years RMAF.
 
Sep 14, 2013 at 10:18 AM Post #44 of 122
1) For the money, those output switching keys should be engraved. The website shows that they are labelled with cheap looking white stickers that aren't even centered consistently.

2) The separate volume controls would drive me absolutely insane. I'd be wondering whether I was off a step or two whenever the music itself had some asymmetrical stereo information. 

3) I'm sure it sounds lovely. 
 
Sep 14, 2013 at 12:01 PM Post #45 of 122
   
Since monobloc amplifiers are typically situated as close to the speaker as possible, the traditional headphone cable won't really work.  What is needed is something along the line of the Zeus cable design which runs independent cables for the two channel. 
 
I wonder how this amplifier compares to what was released 2 years ago and RMAF?  It originally came out at $10K but I thought for awhile the price actually dropped.  I look forward to seeing and more importantly, hearing it at this years RMAF.

 
Previously, neither the design or price had gone final. The prototype had an estimate of $10K.
 

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