[San Raal]

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Im thinking about getting a WA5 as well but I'm not exactly sure how the parts upgrade effect the amp, anyone care to way in?

 
Currently burning in Mundorf Gold Silver in Oil coupling caps and Audionote tantulum resistors in my already Woo trixed WA5. Ill let you know in a few weeks
 
One word of caution on the WA5 and its price, unless you plan to run stock don't forget to factor in a 300B upgrade when you buy, they don't come cheap!

 

[fhuang]

Quote:

musicman59 went further, having his WA5-LE internally custom wired with Neotech wiring...he'll be along sometime in the morning. 

 
i got the wa5 with no upgrade because not that i don't believe in the parts or wiring or anything like that, it's only because a)my source is far from perfect so i'll use the money to upgrade the source first, the tubes as well and b)the dealer here told me i can always upgrade later

 

[fhuang]

Quote:

One word of caution on the WA5 and its price, unless you plan to run stock don't forget to factor in a 300B upgrade when you buy, they don't come cheap!

 
 
it's true but, i thought, most nos tubes, 6080 for example is much more expensive these days. or all tubes are expensive overall. 

 

[San Raal]

Quote:

 
 
it's true but, i thought, most nos tubes, 6080 for example is much more expensive these days. or all tubes are expensive overall. 

 
NOS 300B redefine the class "expensive" but yeah agree its down to dwindling supply and increasing demand.

 

[Redcarmoose]

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Looking at buying another woo amp a WA5 LE what are your thoughts, i will be keeping the WA6 SE.  What is the main difference do you think between the two is it the correct next step up?

They do sound grooovy!

 

[MomijiTMO]

I've got enough money aside for amp sized tube purchases .

 

[musicman59]

[size=medium]I have not made a direct comparison between a stock WA5-LE and an upgraded one.[/size]
[size=medium]When I was looking at buying a Woo amp I was thinking on the WA22 since my system is fully balanced. I had the opportunity to compare the WA22 and WA5-LE with my own T1 headphones at the 2010 CanJam.[/size]
 
[size=medium]After listening to them and talking to Jack it was clear to me that the WA5-LE was the way to go.[/size]
 
[size=medium]I have always been a believer that your sound will be as good as the weakest link in your system chain. I do believe quality parts and wiring make a difference so I decided to go all out with the exception of the RK50 pot since it was another $700.[/size]
 
[size=medium]I went with the Teflon sockets, parts upgrade and I convinced Jack to let me send him the Neotech OCC Copper wire and Cardas Eutectic solder. I also upgraded the RCA connectors to WBT Nextgen.[/size]
 
[size=medium]The tubes I ordered from Jack a pair of EML 300B Mesh, a pair of EML 5U4G Mesh and a pair of the Treasures CV181Z drivers. I did not like the Treasures and sold them.[/size]
 
[size=medium]Right now my favorite combination of tubes is the EML 300B Mesh, USAF 596 and 6F8G round plates/black glass.[/size]
 
[size=medium]The last upgrade I have done is the umbilical cord. I went from the stock to one made for me by our friend Keph based on Neotech OCC solid copper wire. I was able to notice and increase in dynamics and cleanness in the sound with the new cord. [/size]
 
[size=medium]Looking in retrospective I would have been probably better getting the WA5 instead of the LE but back them the HE-6 were not out yet. The LE does a good job with the HE-6 out of the High Impedance output (it probably has more current) but I truly believe they will benefit from the extra power out of the K1000 output of the WA5. [/size]
 
[size=medium]I love my WA5-LE the way it is now. Last night I listened to it and my HD800 and switch to my SRM-727II and SR-009. To be honest IMO the WA5-LE/HD800 combo is very close to the level of detail and soundstage of the electrostatic rig and probably has deeper bass.[/size]
 
[size=medium]If you would have to sacrifice the upgrades to go to the WA5 then then the LE with upgrades but if you have the money to do all and you own or thinking about getting the HE-6, LCD2/3 or any other inefficient headphones I would go with the WA5 with the upgrades.[/size]
 
[size=medium]I hope this helps.[/size]

 

[DarknightDK]

Why would the WA5LE be a better choice over the WA22 for a fully balanced configuration? I don't believe the WA5LE is balanced?

 

[musicman59]

Quote:

Why would the WA5LE be a better choice over the WA22 for a fully balanced configuration? I don't believe the WA5LE is balanced?

No the WA5-LE is not balanced but it is a better amplifier and to me it sounded better than the WA22 then in a comversation with Jack he confirmed the WA5-LE is a better sounding amp. He mentioned the reasons but it was 2 years ago so I can not rember them clearly. Not becuase an amp is balanced means it will be better than a sigle ended amp. It all depends of the design and its implementation.
 
One thing I can tell you, I was going for a balance amp and end up buying a single ended one not careing it was more expensive because the sound was that much better IMO. My amp end up costing about $5,500 plus the Neotech wire and Cards solder.

 

[MomijiTMO]

Balanced amps get way too much of a rev up here.

 

[188479]

Currently burning in Mundorf Gold Silver in Oil coupling caps and Audionote tantulum resistors in my already Woo trixed WA5.

 
So for you guys that go for an aftermarket upgrade of caps, who do you get to do the work?  Is it something you do yourselves?  I would be very interested in getting some Mundorf Silver (or gold silver) caps in my WA6SE...but I really don't think I'm up to installing them myself!

 

[188479]

The last upgrade I have done is the umbilical cord. I went from the stock to one made for me by our friend Keph based on Neotech OCC solid copper wire. I was able to notice and increase in dynamics and cleanness in the sound with the new cord.

Was just talking to Keph today and he is going to make one for me.  Also ended up getting a few NOS tubes from him (as if I needed any more)...looking forward to trying it out.

 

[musicman59]

Quote:

Was just talking to Keph today and he is going to make one for me.  Also ended up getting a few NOS tubes from him (as if I needed any more)...looking forward to trying it out.

You will be pleasantly surprised. I got he OCC Neotech first in my Dark Star and then in my WA5-LE. In both it was an improvement in dynamics and clarity of sound.

 

[grokit]

Love my WA-22, but I'd upgrade to a WA-5 in a heartbeat. And I'd rather have a stock WA-5 than an upgraded WA-5LE.

 

[jc9394]

Quote:

Love my WA-22, but I'd upgrade to a WA-5 in a heartbeat. And I'd rather have a stock WA-5 than an upgraded WA-5LE.

 
X2, I even considered sell both WA22 and beta22 for WA5.