[reeltime]

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While chasing ground loops and induced power supply noise from other devices, I found a computer power cord with a ferrite noise block on it worked well to keep interference from my CFL and LED table lamps out of my WA3. I'm not a believer in exotic power supply cables....the power generated from the plant traverses the country on unshielded naked cables of copper, aluminum, and gets switched through buzzing arcing knife switches at every street corner. When it finally comes into the house it rides hundreds of feet of unshielded parallel 14ga romex throughout all the walls with other stuff on the circuit generating spikes and noise. There is nothing clean or sacred about the power at the wall. The most impactful thing you can do is keep the noise out using a power conditioner, filter, or at least a choke. WA3 ties signal ground to chassis ground and it goes through the power cable to earth ground....it needs to be filtered. As for silver unobtanium power cables......what about the other 60 miles of the circuit?

Isolation is the key.
 

 
This makes total sense to me.  And particularly on my phono stage-- it's why I'm going to power it off of a battery (my phono stage manufacturer makes a battery specifically for this purpose).  It makes sense-- and it is 'perfect' isolation.  Will it improve bass or imaging or soundstage?  I don't know.  I suspect it won't.  But I do know it will eliminate hum.   And that in and of itself will improve the sound.  I'm not changing the power cable.

 

[Wapiti]

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I am not sure about this whole placebo/reality effect from cables.

This is, of course, a significant issue and may well explain the preferences some have for various cables.  As already observed, it does not matter however.  If you hear an improvement, there is an improvement. 
 
Additionally, this is a hobby.  Its very purpose is to waste time and money.
 
Thank you for the effort you put into your posts and your separate 5LE review.

 

[JonasRas]

Maybe a little off-topic, but how long does it take before Jack replies to emails. It's been a few days now.

 

[JonasRas]

Maybe you guys can help me answer my questions? What tubes would be good for getting more low-end? And for you Europeans out there, what did you pay for shipping?

 

[fhuang]

Quote:

This is, of course, a significant issue and may well explain the preferences some have for various cables.  As already observed, it does not matter however.  If you hear an improvement, there is an improvement. 
 
Additionally, this is a hobby.  Its very purpose is to waste time and money.
 
Thank you for the effort you put into your posts and your separate 5LE review.

 
 
very true, yea it does sound silly(no dis), but this headphone thing/hobby is to waste time and money, and effort too.  using some gears to make the music we like more enjoyable. 
 
 
for those who want to try cables, get used.  always the best value.
 
 
and redcarmoose, i'm using a voodoo black diamond dragon cable with my wa5.  very nice with a very dark background.
 
http://www.voodoocable.net/VBDDPC.html

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

Maybe a little off-topic, but how long does it take before Jack replies to emails. It's been a few days now.

 
Like running water, it will vary. Currently, he's busy preparing for the New York Audio Show, among other things.
 

 

[LionTamer]

A quick update on the WA6-se that I purchased a few weeks back - the tubes that I ordered from Jack when buying the amp arrived last week.  I have to say - 596 + 6GL7 (with Woo adapters) sounds absolutely fantastic with my LCD's, just a stunning improvement over the (already very good) stock tubes.
 
As my journey continues, my next step will be to get a longer cable for my phones since the stock LCD cable doesn't reach my listening chair...I'd presume that I can also get a sonic improvement without spending a fortune as well, something like Moon Audio or Q Cable.  But I guess that's a discussion for another day.
 
Back to the discussion at hand...anybody with LCD's pondering this tube combo, I echo Dubstep's enthusiastic response to these tubes.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Quote:

A quick update on the WA6-se that I purchased a few weeks back - the tubes that I ordered from Jack when buying the amp arrived last week.  I have to say - 596 + 6GL7 (with Woo adapters) sounds absolutely fantastic with my LCD's, just a stunning improvement over the (already very good) stock tubes.
 
As my journey continues, my next step will be to get a longer cable for my phones since the stock LCD cable doesn't reach my listening chair...I'd presume that I can also get a sonic improvement without spending a fortune as well, something like Moon Audio or Q Cable.  But I guess that's a discussion for another day.
 
Back to the discussion at hand...anybody with LCD's pondering this tube combo, I echo Dubstep's enthusiastic response to these tubes.

 

 
my reference tubes for the LCD-2/WA6-SE (i'm really liking them with the HD 800 as well!)

 

[GloryUprising]

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my reference tubes for the LCD-2/WA6-SE (i'm really liking them with the HD 800 as well!)

 
Have you herd the 6EM7?  How do they compare vs 6GL7?

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Have you herd the 6EM7?  How do they compare vs 6GL7?

Nope =[


Might try and find a pair if theyre different enuf from 6gl7

 

[apollo11]

my reference tubes for the LCD-2/WA6-SE (i'm really liking them with the HD 800 as well!)

Hope to have that system setup!

 

[GloryUprising]

Quote:

Nope =[


Might try and find a pair if theyre different enuf from 6gl7

 
Just got a response from one of my tube vendors and here's what he had to say about 6EM7 vs 6GL7 in case anyone is wondering:
 
 
 

The 6GL7 is almost identical to a 6EA7, which has two triodes with gains of 66 and 5.5.

The triodes of the 6GL7 have gains of 66 and 5.0.

Other characteristics between the 6GL7 and 6EA7 are identical.

The 6EM7 has gains of 64 and 5.4, with a filament current of 925mA. The filament current of the 6GL7 and 6EA7 is 1050mA
 

 
Any tube gurus want to help us interpret that? =)

 

[Dubstep Girl]

thanks for checking with your vendor! 
 
 
^ i think they're basically the same then. would be nice to hear from an expert though.
 
i know theres some impressons on 6EM7 in the WA6-SE/WA6 discussion thread, and they described the tube the same way i described the 6GL7, so maybe they're extremely similar. their construction looks the same too. 
 
it seems the other WA6-SE tubes are similar (6EW7, 6FD7, 6CY7, 6DN7, 6FQ7, 6DR7, 6DE7, and a few others out there...). there was a post somewhere that also talked a bit about each of them, no-1 seems to have found a perfect WA6-SE tube yet though. (except maybe silent one with his 6sn7's 

)
 
i might get a pair of 6CY7 and 6DE7 soon to try them out as well, they're fairly cheap (like 30$ shipped gets me a pair of each)

 

[GloryUprising]

Quote:

thanks for checking with your vendor! 
 
 
^ i think they're basically the same then. would be nice to hear from an expert though.
 
i know theres some impressons on 6EM7 in the WA6-SE/WA6 discussion thread, and they described the tube the same way i described the 6GL7, so maybe they're extremely similar. their construction looks the same too. 
 
it seems the other WA6-SE tubes are similar (6EW7, 6FD7, 6CY7, 6DN7, 6FQ7, 6DR7, 6DE7, and a few others out there...). there was a post somewhere that also talked a bit about each of them, no-1 seems to have found a perfect WA6-SE tube yet though. (except maybe silent one with his 6sn7's 

)
 
i might get a pair of 6CY7 and 6DE7 soon to try them out as well, they're fairly cheap (like 30$ shipped gets me a pair of each)

 
I thought the 6SN7 were not compatible?!!?  
 
I'm tempted to buy a boat load of tubes too to try... =x

 

[Dubstep Girl]

^ they aren't compatible with WA6-SE, but silent one got an adapter that works with it (needs a resistor and some other things, more than just a pin adapter). of course, that would allow for much more tube rolling, CV 181, 6SN7, 6F8G, etc.....