Woo Audio 3 vs Woo Audio 6

[SteveFord]

I'm looking to buy a headphone amp in the near future and am considering both the WA3 and the WA6.
Headphones will be either AKG 701s or Beyerdynamic 880s (250 Ohm) and the source will be a tube FM tuner.
I know that this is a difficult question to answer but is it worth springing for the extra bucks for the 6?

 

[fatcat28037]

Go with the 6, it's the more dynamic of the two and will suite your needs for a longer time. here's on used at a good price.
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/534175/several-amps-for-sale-rsa-hornet-m-rsa-sr-71-headamp-ae-2-woo-audio-wa6-purity-audio-k-i-c-a-s-caliente-millett-hybrid-little-dot-micro 

 

[SteveFord]

Thanks, that's pretty much what I suspected.
I've wanted one of those for years now so I think it's time to get off the fence and do it!

 

[skeptic]

 
Quote:

I'm looking to buy a headphone amp in the near future and am considering both the WA3 and the WA6.
Headphones will be either AKG 701s or Beyerdynamic 880s (250 Ohm) and the source will be a tube FM tuner.
I know that this is a difficult question to answer but is it worth springing for the extra bucks for the 6?

If you're going with the K701's, you will definitely want the WA6.  The WA3 is an OTL amp that was not designed with low impedance headphones in mind.  However, if you have selected the Beyers as your headphones, the WA3 is a great match for them.  
 
As a output transformer coupled amp, the WA6 can also drive high impedance phones with ease, but it will be a little more "tubey" sounding.  The WA3 will be a little faster/closer to solid state in its sound signature.  Both are great amps, particularly if you drop in some nice NOS tubes.  
 

 

[orkney]

Quote:

 
Quote:

I'm looking to buy a headphone amp in the near future and am considering both the WA3 and the WA6.
Headphones will be either AKG 701s or Beyerdynamic 880s (250 Ohm) and the source will be a tube FM tuner.
I know that this is a difficult question to answer but is it worth springing for the extra bucks for the 6?

If you're going with the K701's, you will definitely want the WA6.  The WA3 is an OTL amp that was not designed with low impedance headphones in mind.  However, if you have selected the Beyers as your headphones, the WA3 is a great match for them.  
 
As a output transformer coupled amp, the WA6 can also drive high impedance phones with ease, but it will be a little more "tubey" sounding.  The WA3 will be a little faster/closer to solid state in its sound signature.  Both are great amps, particularly if you drop in some nice NOS tubes.  
 

I prefer the 3. It's simple, beautifully clean-sounding and a tube-roller's dream. And it works well with the 64-ohm ATs I have as well as the 32-ohm Grados -- even the D7000s I'm using at the mo sound more than decent. The 6 is certainly more flexible but for me it lacked the magic sound-wise. YMMV.
 
o
 
 

 

[TheAnalogman]

 
Quote:

 
As a output transformer coupled amp, the WA6 can also drive high impedance phones with ease, but it will be a little more "tubey" sounding.  The WA3 will be a little faster/closer to solid state in its sound signature.  Both are great amps, particularly if you drop in some nice NOS tubes.  
 

I think you may have those switched around. The 6 has usually been described as having more of a Solid State sound compared to the 3. I have both, and that's my experience as well. To answer the OPs question, I recommend the 6 over the 3 with the cans you mentioned.

 

[skeptic]

 
Quote:

 
Quote:

 
As a output transformer coupled amp, the WA6 can also drive high impedance phones with ease, but it will be a little more "tubey" sounding.  The WA3 will be a little faster/closer to solid state in its sound signature.  Both are great amps, particularly if you drop in some nice NOS tubes.  
 

I think you may have those switched around. The 6 has usually been described as having more of a Solid State sound compared to the 3. I have both, and that's my experience as well. To answer the OPs question, I recommend the 6 over the 3 with the cans you mentioned.

Actually, to the contrary, you have it completely backwards.  See Uncle Eriks post in: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/388373/can-someone-explain-what-otl-means  The output transformer is what results in the "tubey" sound. 
 
If you go down the line of amps at Woo Audio's table at one of the meets, you will easily hear that the OTL amps, the WA2 and WA3 sound much more solid state than the WA6, WA22, etc.  It is not a subtle difference.  
 
[Edit] Further supporting this are the stated THD numbers on Woo Audio's site.  Compare the WA3 to the WA6.

 

[revolink24]

 
Quote:

 
Quote:

 
As a output transformer coupled amp, the WA6 can also drive high impedance phones with ease, but it will be a little more "tubey" sounding.  The WA3 will be a little faster/closer to solid state in its sound signature.  Both are great amps, particularly if you drop in some nice NOS tubes.  
 

I think you may have those switched around. The 6 has usually been described as having more of a Solid State sound compared to the 3. I have both, and that's my experience as well. To answer the OPs question, I recommend the 6 over the 3 with the cans you mentioned.

Actually, to the contrary, you have it completely backwards.  See Uncle Eriks post in: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/388373/can-someone-explain-what-otl-means  The output transformer is what results in the "tubey" sound. 
 
If you go down the line of amps at Woo Audio's table at one of the meets, you will easily hear that the OTL amps, the WA2 and WA3 sound much more solid state than the WA6, WA22, etc.  It is not a subtle difference.

He said he has both, though, so I don't think going to a meet will help him.

 

[skeptic]

Quote:

He said he has both, though, so I don't think going to a meet will help him.

Heh - I missed that.  All the same, maybe comparing Woo's other OTL vs. transformer-coupled amps would help put things in perspective.  In any event, as noted in my edit above, the THD figures provided on Woo Audio's site should put this issue to rest. 

 

[TheAnalogman]

Hey skeptic, thanks for your input here. It sure sounds like I need a "re-listen" to say the least. When I was thinking of upgrading to the 2 or 6SE, I emailed Jack about the sonic differences between the two. He replied:
 
"Here is some brief notes:

WA2 - smooth, full body, and more relaxed.
WA6-SE - dynamic, speed, great attack, and forward.

Thanks,
Jack"
 
 
Quote:

Actually, to the contrary, you have it completely backwards.  See Uncle Eriks post in: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/388373/can-someone-explain-what-otl-means  The output transformer is what results in the "tubey" sound. 
 
If you go down the line of amps at Woo Audio's table at one of the meets, you will easily hear that the OTL amps, the WA2 and WA3 sound much more solid state than the WA6, WA22, etc.  It is not a subtle difference.  
 
[Edit] Further supporting this are the stated THD numbers on Woo Audio's site.  Compare the WA3 to the WA6.

 

[skeptic]

Quote:

Hey skeptic, thanks for your input here. It sure sounds like I need a "re-listen" to say the least. When I was thinking of upgrading to the 2 or 6SE, I emailed Jack about the sonic differences between the two. He replied:
 
"Here is some brief notes:

WA2 - smooth, full body, and more relaxed.
WA6-SE - dynamic, speed, great attack, and forward.

Thanks,
Jack"
 

 

Thanks for your reply and for sharing the message from Jack.  Sounds like I should give the Woo line-up another listen myself given the sonic differences Jack expects a customer to hear in his OTL vs. transformer coupled amps. 
 
My distinct impression at the meet I attended (and I loitered around the Woo table for quite a while) was that the WA6, SE, and WA22 shared a "tubey" warmth that was a different flavor from what I was accustomed to with my WA3.  The WA2, by contrast, sounded like a higher resolution version of the WA3.  This perception seemed consistent with my understanding about the stated THD's, and some of the posts I had read on head-fi, but maybe it caused me to overlook the speed and attack of the transformer coupled-amps. 
 
It also occurs to me that I was carrying around a CD of live choral music that afternoon as my reference.  I was in the chorus when the recording was made (in a beautiful chapel with great acoustics), so I love it for assessing how close a given rig sounds to live.  But it probably was not the best option in terms of evaluating the comparative speed of the amps.  I may be completely off on that.  I'll look forward to giving them another go with a different sample sometime down the road. 
 
 

 

[Skylab]

I do think the WA3 is a little "tubier" than the WA6. But regardless of this, if you wand to drive AKG or Grados or other low impedance headphones, I would for sure go with the WA6. The transformer coupling really makes a difference for low impedance cans. There is more to making a good match than how warm the sound is

 

[skeptic]

Quote:

I do think the WA3 is a little "tubier" than the WA6. But regardless of this, if you wand to drive AKG or Grados or other low impedance headphones, I would for sure go with the WA6. The transformer coupling really makes a difference for low impedance cans. There is more to making a good match than how warm the sound is

Out of curiosity - how would you characterize your WA2 on this issue?  "Tubier" or less "Tubey" than the WA6?  And how does it stack up on speed? 

 

[Skylab]

The WA2 is slightly tubier than the WA6, but it's also better overall, IMO.  The WA2 is a very underrated amp around here, IMO.  It's a very powerful, excellent sounding amp.

 

[nigeljames]

'W6-SE - dynamic, speed, great attack, and forward.' - Absolutely agree with this 

 
People need to stop comparing the Woo6 with the Woo2 though.
 
The Woo2 is a higher class amp at a dearer price.  Compare the Woo2 with the Woo6se .
 
The Woo6 vs Woo2 comparison is pretty meaningless IMO