[BIG POPPA]

Just bought a set of Herbie's Tube Dampers for my Woo in Waiting. Who knows all the stuff I will have for the amp by the time it gets here?

 

[Redcarmoose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RayfromTX /img/forum/go_quote.gif At 7am I picked up my WA6SE maxxed from the usps. The wait was 6 weeks. I told all my crews to not bother showing up today since it was going to rain all day. The good news was the notice when I got home that said the woo was at the po. Up at 5:30, reloaded squeezebox server to take care of that problem, out the door at 20 to seven to be at the post office when they opened. Detoured around the flooded creeks. I guess the historic drought is over. I hooked it up to my modded PSAudio DL3. It's fed by the squeezebox and a sony transport. Plugged in the GS1000i and gave a listen. First the bad part, just to get it out of the way. After all the comments about great build quality, I have to say it just aint so. Thick pieces of aluminum do not equal great build quality. I mean it can't just stop there. I am in the business of building perfection. My stainless countertops are perfect. My trim work is perfect. My tile work is perfect. This amp is just ok. The back plate has a ding in one corner where it was probably dropped prior to assembly. There are tiny nicks or possibly inclusions in the surfaces of the top plates. The back plates meet the sides inconsistently with reveals that vary by perhaps .040. All this is superficial and is not to be judged as poor quality. It just isn't great. The PSA DL3 sitting next to it has better detailing. So does the Sony cd transport for that matter. What the Woo has is big heavy chunks of aluminum that have been nicely milled by a cnc or mill. The last gripe is that the cut outs around the output tubes aren't even close to centered on the tube sockets. They missed this by perhaps 1/8" or 1/16" center to center. Stand back and look and it is very nice to look at. It is only up close that the nits can be picked. Now to the sound. I like it. I'm using stock tubes for the break in. On first power up, it was not at all impressive, but that was not surprising. After an hour it was very enjoyable but not mindblowing. After 4 hours it is starting to open up a little and is approaching the level of my speaker setup. It can only get better from here. I'll be running it hard for 8 hours at a stretch until I get around 600 hours on it before I spring for a Sophia Princess. The upsides so far with the Grados are well managed bass, highs that are clear but not overly bright and a very well balanced presentation in the midrange. One very very nice thing about this setup is how good it sounds at low listening levels. It doesn't get all washed out when the volume knob is below 9:00. This measures at around 70db and even at that level the sound is still full and complete and involving. That's the good and the bad so far. Pictures to follow. I'm really liking it so far.

I am not familiar with the burn-in on the 6le, I have a 5le and a 3 and both really changed after time. I would say they got 1/3 better in sound after burn-in. They get better in the bass dept., more detail and lower bass. The sound just gets more warm overall. Hope you enjoy yours.

 

[Covenant]

Here's something odd. Have any of you tried Senn HD6x0's out of the low impedance jack of the WA6SE?

For some odd reason, it seems to be cleaner/clearer than the high impedance jack. Shellyh commented on this with her HD800 a while ago, and I just never got around to trying it, but I'm listening out of the low impedance jack at the moment and methinks there's an improvement.

Why would that be?

 

[Clayton SF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Covenant /img/forum/go_quote.gif Here's something odd. Have any of you tried Senn HD6x0's out of the low impedance jack of the WA6SE? For some odd reason, it seems to be cleaner/clearer than the high impedance jack. Shellyh commented on this with her HD800 a while ago, and I just never got around to trying it, but I'm listening out of the low impedance jack at the moment and methinks there's an improvement. Why would that be?

I had never thought of trying that with my HD650s on my WA6. I always listen to the HD650 on high. Mehopes for an improvement too. Always trying to squeeze more out of what Igots! Thanks.

 

[TheAudioDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clayton SF /img/forum/go_quote.gif At least until I accept another tube delivery from the UPS guy.

Dude that sounds so wrong...

I'm picking up my amp in about ten minutes! Luckily the post office is only a few miles away from my apartment. I'll post pictures and first impressions once I get out of my music coma.

BTW, nice review, Ray. Very honest and straight-forward. It makes me look forward to hearing how the WA22 changes over time. With a solid state amp, what you hear is what you get. But with a tube amp you can almost tailor the sound to your liking. Long live tubes!

 

[dannie01]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Covenant /img/forum/go_quote.gif Here's something odd. Have any of you tried Senn HD6x0's out of the low impedance jack of the WA6SE? For some odd reason, it seems to be cleaner/clearer than the high impedance jack. Shellyh commented on this with her HD800 a while ago, and I just never got around to trying it, but I'm listening out of the low impedance jack at the moment and methinks there's an improvement. Why would that be?

Will give it a try tonight and see if the HD650's have an improvement through the low impedance jack.

 

[Clayton SF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clayton SF /img/forum/go_quote.gif *** When it arrives I will lock myself in my room and never come out. At least until I accept another tube delivery from the UPS guy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheAudioDude /img/forum/go_quote.gif Dude that sounds so wrong...

I didn't understand what you meant when you said it "sounds so wrong" until I re-read that line for the 3rd time. You're right, it does sound a bit twisted--so I shall rewrite it!

"When [my WA22] arrives I will lock myself in my room and never come out. At least until I [size=small]sign for another package of valves from the mail woman."[/size]

Oops. I think that's worse.

 

[atbglenn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clayton SF /img/forum/go_quote.gif I didn't understand what you meant when you said it "sounds so wrong" until I re-read that line for the 3rd time. You're right, it does sound a bit twisted--so I shall rewrite it! "When [my WA22] arrives I will lock myself in my room and never come out. At least until I [size=small]sign for another package of valves from the mail woman."[/size] Oops. I think that's worse.

Holy moly! A mail woman huh? I'll keep my comments to myself.

 

[TheAudioDude]

It's here! Man, this thing is heavier than I expected. It was packed very well; I'd expect it to be in perfect condition if the mailperson accidentally dropped it

I took some pictures and made an album:

Woo Audio WA22 :: Box picture by theaudiodude - Photobucket

Impressions will be written sometime today...

 

[atbglenn]

AudioDudePerson,

All I can say is WOW!! Thanks for taking internal shots. Looks fantastic!! I'm sure you'll love it

Glenn

 

[Clayton SF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atbglenn /img/forum/go_quote.gif AudioDudePerson, All I can say is WOW!! Thanks for taking internal shots. Looks fantastic!! I'm sure you'll love it Glenn

O M G
O M G
O M G
O M G
I T h a n k you TOO
for the internal shots!!! x1000.

 

[dannie01]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atbglenn /img/forum/go_quote.gif AudioDudePerson, All I can say is WOW!! Thanks for taking internal shots. Looks fantastic!! I'm sure you'll love it Glenn

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clayton SF /img/forum/go_quote.gif O M G O M G O M G O M G I T h a n k you TOO for the internal shots!!! x1000.

X 2, thanks for the shots, AudioDude.

 

[TheAudioDude]

Well I've been listening for a little while and I'll give my initial impressions.

First off, I think this amp has a little ways to go (burn-in wise) before it sounds absolutely perfect. Don't get me wrong, it sounds extraordinary; but any amp you buy won't exceed your expectations the first time you power it on. I really want to buy new tubes now!

There is actually a tiny bit of hum, barely even perceptible. If I turn the volume to the max, I can hear it more clearly but I have heard people say that certain tubes can cause this.

I'm itching to go balanced as soon as possible. Listening to my first few songs, it sounded like the right channel was a tad bit louder than the left channel. This could be a few things; my ear is clogged with wax, I'm used to my old stereo amp (which actually has the right channel cutting out very frequently, therefore the left channel was probably always a bit louder than the right), or that my ears just need to adjust to how the music really is (again, my old stereo amp is what I'm used to and coming from). It is definitely not the WA22 that is at fault. As I continued to listen, it seemed to 'balance' out a bit. Perhaps the tubes themselves just needed to warm up for a little while and my ears had to adjust.

The very next thing I noticed was how incredibly smooth the music is. It's as if the amp added a layer of emotion around everything. Now, I'm going to say that the music sounds like it has slowed down a bit, but don't take this the wrong way (all you people who like to hear that an amp is fast or quick). This is slow in a good way. Every instrument sounds like it should; drums are 'quick' and guitars are the same (Dream Theater is nicely handled), but it's as if the music is just flowing out of my headphones rather than being pushed out. On very emotional and smooth songs, this is just freaking amazing. Brain Damage by Pink Floyd sent shivers up my spine. The bass line was extremely well controlled and 'hidden' in the music... but when it was brought forward, it was really something incredible.

I think this amp is very well suited for a laid-back type of music. I hate to say this, but listening to something like Rush didn't impress me the way that the Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd did. I'm sure different tubes will remedy that.

Coming from my old solid state amp, the bass is more defined and the voices are no longer in-your-face type of loud. I wouldn't describe the sound as mellow or laid back, just more even and a bit smoothed out. I am looking forward to hearing what this amp sounds like after it's been played for many hours.

 

[pedalhead]

Thanks for the internal shots, I haven't been brave enough to open mine up yet (too busy listening!). Some really tidy work there, which I understand is par for the course with Woo.

 

[TheAudioDude]

Alright, I think I've determined what the problem is with the left and right channel. If I plug the amp into one surge protector, the right channel is a bit louder than the left and there's basically no hum. If I plug it into the other surge protector, there is more hum but the channels are equal. Hmmmm