[Angelbelow]

Definitely enjoyed the WA5 immensely with just stock tubes. As for upgrades, I do have the 6sn7 sylvania bad boys (took a few times though because I kept getting bad tubes) but the one I finally got to work is getting kind of noisy. Perhaps its dying out. For the 300bs I have stock but just purchased some psvane treasures but they have not arrived yet. I also have the brimar rectifiers.
 
Currently I dont detect any major changes in sound when using stock tubes for the 300b and 6sn7 and switching out the stock rectifiers with the Brimars but I havent done any comparisons either. I can say with confidence that I'm loving the current sound and content with not spending big bucks for major upgrades just yet.
 
Ofcousre... the curiosity is always there with some of the more expensive tubes.

 

[Krutsch]

  Obligatory pictures:
 

 
Nice pics and rig. I need to acquire some tube dampers; I have a couple of tubes that present microphonics during playback that I can attenuate simply by holding a metal pen against the glass.

 

[TonyNewman]

  Definitely enjoyed the WA5 immensely with just stock tubes. ...

 
The good thing about the stock tubes is that just about anything you do from there is going to offer significantly better SQ than what you are currently getting. Come to think of it, that is probably the only good thing about the stock tubes that I can come up with - they set the baseline of the worst that the WA5 can perform.
 
Modestly priced NOS driver and rectifier options that offer significant SQ improvement are out there. Perhaps the biggest challenge is the 300B upgrade options - decent sounding 300Bs are expensive.
 
Good luck and enjoy the WA5

 

[Angelbelow]

   
The good thing about the stock tubes is that just about anything you do from there is going to offer significantly better SQ than what you are currently getting. Come to think of it, that is probably the only good thing about the stock tubes that I can come up with - they set the baseline of the worst that the WA5 can perform.
 
Modestly priced NOS driver and rectifier options that offer significant SQ improvement are out there. Perhaps the biggest challenge is the 300B upgrade options - decent sounding 300Bs are expensive.
 
Good luck and enjoy the WA5

 
I just bought a pair of Psvane Hifi 300bs to test the waters. Not expensive but hopefully an upgrade over the stock.

 

[Fatsosixsixsix]

I read somewhere that tubes for the WA6SE were harder to find compared to the WA6, is that still the case? Currently looking to buy my first tube amp and trying to decide between the WA6 and WA6SE

 

[TonyNewman]

   
I just bought a pair of Psvane Hifi 300bs to test the waters. Not expensive but hopefully an upgrade over the stock.

 
I have used the HiFi series 845 tubes. Decent quality for the money - should definitely be a step up from stock.

 

[joseph69]

  I read somewhere that tubes for the WA6SE were harder to find compared to the WA6, is that still the case? Currently looking to buy my first tube amp and trying to decide between the WA6 and WA6SE

WA6!  

Had both…the WA6 first, sold it, bought the 6-SE, sold it to buy another WA6…couldn't be happier!!!

 

[Fatsosixsixsix]

  WA6!  

Had both…the WA6 first, sold it, bought the 6-SE, sold it to buy another WA6…couldn't be happier!!!

I read your post in the other thread it seemed like you preferred the WA6 due to the incompatibility of 6SN7 tubes with the WA6SE however

 

[Angelbelow]

   
I have used the HiFi series 845 tubes. Decent quality for the money - should definitely be a step up from stock.

 
I mentioned that I never A/Bed the Brimar vs the stock before and was previously unsure if I noticed any significant differences. Just did a blind test with a friend of mine and the Brimar's are definitely the clear winner. Basically we left the volume knob and demoed 3 preselected songs each. Definitely great value on the Brimars rectifiers.
 
Most noticable change was that the Brimar's did a better job with the bass and the instrument separation. With the stock, some of the songs I choose sounded a little congested. I'm sure there are more but thats what stood out to me.
 
Looking forward to trying out the hifi series for the 300bs!

 

[joseph69]

  I read your post in the other thread it seemed like you preferred the WA6 due to the incompatibility of 6SN7 tubes with the WA6SE however

Yes, this is the reason, but also too me the WA6 sounded much warmer than the 6-SE and I didn't like any tube combo as much as I liked the 596/6SN7 in it. I actually felt like I took a step backwards after hearing/having the 6-SE. Yes the 6-SE had more power, but IMO that was all it had over the WA6. Tube wise, the WA6 suites my tastes much better, and has more than enough power at a less expensive price.

 

[Porteroso]

The WA6 can drive most cans, and joseph has put to rest the idea, for many of us, that there are other tube options that will make you forget about the 6sn7 (6f8g). I am willing to trust him on that, after hearing the best of the 6f8g. Hard to beat, and totally worth it.

One small note, try to get a newer WA6 with the bigger driver cutouts. Using extenders on the older ones is a pain, especially when you have 2 sets of adapters as well.

 

[Fririce0003]

Speaking of the wa5 tubes, I remember someone saying the wa234 stock is better than the wa5 maxed. Is that really true for a wa5 with takatsuki/eltog, truly maxed? Just curious.

Given how terrible the stock tubes are, I'm kinda curious about this too. The WA5 scales enormously with better glass.

I didn't have the takatsuki's and elrogs at the time of the comparison. But the stock 234 easily bested my maxed wa5 which had KR300b's, Full Music 274b/n/+ and sylvania bad boys in it. If I had to quantify it was about a 10-20% increase in overall technical prowess and musical enjoyment. And now that I've got the takatsuki 300b's, 274b's and TSRP in the 234, it's no competition. Haven't finished burning them in yet and I've already been loosing sleep from late night/early morning listening.... Listening until 3-4am isn't good when you start work at 6am :S

 

[Porteroso]

Hm. Well. The 234 is an unfortunate amount of long ways off for me.

 

[joseph69]

The WA6 can drive most cans, and joseph has put to rest the idea, for many of us, that there are other tube options that will make you forget about the 6sn7 (6f8g). I am willing to trust him on that, after hearing the best of the 6f8g. Hard to beat, and totally worth it.

One small note, try to get a newer WA6 with the bigger driver cutouts. Using extenders on the older ones is a pain, especially when you have 2 sets of adapters as well.

Which combo/s do you prefer in your WA6?
I've only heard of the 6F8G recently from @TonyNewman. 

 

[TonyNewman]

I didn't have the takatsuki's and elrogs at the time of the comparison. But the stock 234 easily bested my maxed wa5 which had KR300b's, Full Music 274b/n/+ and sylvania bad boys in it. If I had to quantify it was about a 10-20% increase in overall technical prowess and musical enjoyment. And now that I've got the takatsuki 300b's, 274b's and TSRP in the 234, it's no competition. Haven't finished burning them in yet and I've already been loosing sleep from late night/early morning listening.... Listening until 3-4am isn't good when you start work at 6am :S

 
Interesting.
 
I am not a big fan of Sylvania drivers - to me they are bright, to the point of harshness in some tube combinations. I have tried the TJ Full Music 6SN7 and didn't like that tube much either.
 
The KR300Bs and TJ Full Music rectifiers I have never heard.
 
Just my 2 cents, but I think there might be plenty of scope for better glass in the WA5 than the above example. Best combination I have had in mine (waiting on a pair of Elrog 300Bs as I type this) is SERP 300Bs / NU 6F8Gs (tried the TS RP - prefer the NU) / Brimar rectifiers.
 
Not saying that the stock WA234 won't beat a maxed WA5, just that the tube example above is not taking the WA5 as far as it can go and perhaps there is quite a bit of scope for better glass in the WA5.
 
I do get what you are saying on the addictive sound. Once you have a tube combination that works for you the hours just float by - the "just one more song" syndrome