I have the standard edition with the RK50 volume pot. Running EML 2A3, Tak 274B, and 6C45Pi Electro Harmonix gold pin tubes.There my next moveI saw one on the classifieds recently (may still be there) with Taks I believe, going forward something like $7k and was very tempted, but not quite there yet, financially. Did you get the maxed out WA33 or the “base”? What tubes are you running and what’s a quick take on comparing to the WA5? Was it worth it for you?
Woo Audio Amp Owner Unite
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I always liked the WA5le. The sound stage and timbre were very good. Layering was also excellent. The WA33 improves on the speed and accuracy. Kind of like a good SS with the advantages of tubes. To me it was worth it. The EE I'm sure is even better, I just couldn't justify the extra cost. The WA33 is also a very good preamp, so that is an extra bonus.
George Chronis
100+ Head-Fier
Excellent setup you have there. Thank you for the info. Very helpful in my quest.
davehg
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Wish the WA33 had speaker outs - my WA5 is really great with efficient speakers.
George Chronis
100+ Head-Fier
Man, I was expecting an upgrade form the Mjolnir 2, but this thing is a beast. The seller had the Sophia Royal Princess 300B and Sophia Royal rectifiers and some Sylvania JAN on there. This has been my dream amp for over a decade. I used to have a WA6 and WA6-SE, but this is a different beast. Unreal. I'm so loving this amp right now.
Was looking at some Psvane ACME 300B and 274Bs along with their UK-6SN7, but I don't think it's necessary. How much better can it get
Btw, does anyone know if a UK-6SN7 would even fit next to any 300B on the WA5? They seem awfully close.
Was looking at some Psvane ACME 300B and 274Bs along with their UK-6SN7, but I don't think it's necessary. How much better can it get
Btw, does anyone know if a UK-6SN7 would even fit next to any 300B on the WA5? They seem awfully close.
That doesn’t sound right to me
George Chronis
100+ Head-Fier
Sorted it out. It wasn't right. The rear transformers were loose at the bottom. Both nuts. They were wiggling on the long screws from the bottom of the case. I'm a bit concerned about how the heck that happened, since Woo has some split washers in there on all nuts, but whatever. Everything works great as far as I can tell and it's a marvel to listen to. Hopefully it'll last
Package didn't look banged up, but it is a heavy amp. Who knows how they threw it around or if it was like that before it shipped.Well as
Well as long as you figured it out and fixed it, thats what’s important, Im very happy with the one I have and I just finish maxing out the tubes, so nothing left but to relax and enjoy the music.Sorted it out. It wasn't right. The rear transformers were loose at the bottom. Both nuts. They were wiggling on the long screws from the bottom of the case. I'm a bit concerned about how the heck that happened, since Woo has some split washers in there on all nuts, but whatever. Everything works great as far as I can tell and it's a marvel to listen to. Hopefully it'll last
George Chronis
100+ Head-Fier
Can you define maxing out for me, please? It came with Sophia Royal Princess and Sophia Princess rectifiers and what looks like a Sylvania brown base JAN for drivers. I was looking at Psvane ACME 300B and 247B and probably their UK-6SN7 drivers, if they fit. Can you share what you have on yours?
Max out for me is I am not putting anymore money into this system (for now) I did the best I can do based on what I read in theses pages. I believe I have a very good tube amp and all I need to do now is enjoy it. As far as the tubes go I have takatsuki ta-274b, takatsuki ta-300b and a pair of CBS Hytron 5692s the 274s & 5692s have around 100 hours on them, so I will not comment on how they sound yet, but they do sound better than what came with the amp.
George Chronis
100+ Head-Fier
Tried to search for this noise adjustment attenuator under the handles of the WA5. I see in the manual that if there is hum on the headphones, you can fix it with this. I have a Stelia, which is fairly low impedance connected to the Low input (this is a Gen 1 WA5-LE). After about 11 o' clock I can hear noise, if no music is playing. I can't play louder than 9 o' clock, so it's not a real issue. I expect tubes to have noise past a certain dB level. However, is there a way to optimize the attenuator setting? Do you plug a headphone in without music playing, adjust the pot to say 12 o' clock or some high number, then adjust the noise attenuator until you hear no noise or what?
Pretty hard to get rid of all noise on a tube amp. Especially with sensitive headphones. If you can’t hear any at normal listening levels without music playing, I would leave it alone. Even SS will have some noise at high volume with sensitive iems.
Another 300B to consider is the EML 300B mesh. I ran those in my WA5le with good results. The Taks are probably better, but the EML’s are about $800 for a pair. So much more affordable. Also the EML 5U4G mesh are very nice upgrade.
George Chronis
100+ Head-Fier
Agreed. No such aspirations. Just looking to see if there is a process for optimization as far as noise goes and use of these attenuators. I haven't had them on any other amps I've owned, so not sure how everyone uses them. But correct, I have no noise at normal listening levels even with sensitive headphones.
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