[Angelbelow]

  I just passed 50 hours on my WA5 today. I haven't got that much time to listen in the last few weeks but the amp sounds amazing now and still with stock tubes! 
 
How good does this thing get with better tubes? I'm happy enough with the sound right now........ 

 
I know what you mean, very happy with what I've heard as well. The upgraded 6sn7 tubes I had to send back due to defect but just got the Brimars and loving them so far (only about 4 hours of listenning though.) The other tubes are stock. Can only imagine how good it'll get with upgrades.

 

[Angelbelow]

Just received my replacement Sylvania 6SN7GT (1952 vintage ONLY/bad boys tall). First pair had a dead tube on arrival. I've never really been good at A/Bing things because I don't take note of what I'm hearing and I immediate dive into the upgraded components. With the Brimars and the new Sylvanias installed, I'm absolutely loving what I'm hearing. The music is very forward, lively, and engaging. Lots of details flying everywhere and presented in a very holographic way.

 

[isquirrel]

  I meant the big Wilson Alexandras. Was wondering if they were high efficiency and if he WA234 could power them but I suppose if it could you would of posted about that already. 

The big Wilson's are 95dB/1W so yep they will power them but not to satisfying levels. Haven't tried them.

 

[magiccabbage]

 
The big Wilson's are 95dB/1W so yep they will power them but not to satisfying levels. Haven't tried them.

When you say satisfying levels do you mean in terms of sound quality or Volume? I would of thought that 8-10 watts is enough to get volume from a 95db speaker. 

 

[Justin_Time]

  I meant the big Wilson Alexandras. Was wondering if they were high efficiency and if he WA234 could power them but I suppose if it could you would of posted about that already. 

I do not know about the Wilson Alexandria and the WA234, but I have tried on a less grand scale the WA5 with the WATT/Puppy 8 (similar to the Sasha) and the sound is excellent on the midrange and treble but 8 watts were clearly not enough to produce a satisfying bass. I would say that the set up is OK for low- to moderately-low level listening.  I was able to drive the WATT/Puppy fine with 25 watts using the First Watt.

 

[isquirrel]

  When you say satisfying levels do you mean in terms of sound quality or Volume? I would of thought that 8-10 watts is enough to get volume from a 95db speaker. 

Volume yes, but distinct lack of anything resembling decent bass. I would think current ability and damping factor of the amp is the limiting factor.

 

[isquirrel]

In other news, the 234's drive the KEF's okay and are sounding much better now and sound much smoother, its recommended to give them at least 200 hours of burn in, so that has me swapping tubes every 5 hours or so. PITA. I hate burn in.
 
Really impressed and happy with the Brimars.
 
I was an idiot as I was unplugging the speaker cables every time I listened to headphones until Matt pointed out that when you change the output key it it disabled the speaker output or vice versa.
 
He couldn't wait to try the Takatsukis so he took them into the dealer and stuck them in a WA5 and reports very promising things.
 
 
Roll on Monday, we have 2 days of playing with Tubes, headphones etc 

 

[musicman59]

  Got a note today from Marc at True Audiophile.  He said his new shipment of Elrogs have arrived and mine will be going out as soon as they test them.  
 
Here's the interesting part-- he said there's a problem in shipping and he's going to have to change to FedEx, and his import costs are going up.  He will be bumping up the price of the tubes.  
 
Get 'em now!

I was on the fence since I have a pair of EML 300B Mesh, a pair of EAT and a pair of AVVT but your post pushed me to the other side. Now my wallet is really mad at you!! 

I placed my order and jot an email from Marc letting me know all the ones that just arrived were pre-ordered and the next shipment is expected at the end of the month.
At least I still got them at the current $1,095 price.
 
Now I might sell EAT.

 

[Badas]

What a album. Kicking back and listening to it.

WA22 with Brimar 5Z4 Rectifier, Russian power tubes and RCA Greyglass 6SN7's. By the way the sound from these tubes tick all my Wishlist and cost under $100 for the complete set.

 

[Krutsch]

What a album. Kicking back and listening to it.

WA22 with Brimar 5Z4 Rectifier, Russian power tubes and RCA Greyglass 6SN7's. By the way the sound from these tubes tick all my Wishlist and cost under $100 for the complete set.

Beauty! Congrats on your tube acquisitions.

 

[isquirrel]

What a album. Kicking back and listening to it.

WA22 with Brimar 5Z4 Rectifier, Russian power tubes and RCA Greyglass 6SN7's. By the way the sound from these tubes tick all my Wishlist and cost under $100 for the complete set.

 
Great job ! Really enjoying the Brimar's. RCA Grey Glass is a lovely tube. Must sound good.

 

[Badas]

Great job ! Really enjoying the Brimar's. RCA Grey Glass is a lovely tube. Must sound good.

Sounds fabulous. I wouldn't change or crave a difference in the sound signature.

I have a hard choice. Do I go and try a VT99 type of drive tube and get the adapters? or do I just collect more RCA 6SN7's Greyglass (I have two sets now).

Something I have to think about this year.

 

[Angelbelow]

Some more trouble shooting.. hearing loud clicks when my HE500s are connected to the Wa5 before any music is playing. One of the channels went out as well. After a while it'll come back on and be fine.
 
Recently changed two of the stock tubes to the Brimar 5z4gy and Sylvania bad boys.
 
Switched out the Brimar's to the RCA rectifiers and sound was working again. But plugged the Brimars back in to check if they were the problem but they work now too. Currently things are smooth. Wondering if this means one of my new tube purchases is about to die out.

 

[Justin_Time]

Volume yes, but distinct lack of anything resembling decent bass. I would think current ability and damping factor of the amp is the limiting factor.

Agreed!

I am not an EE but from experience I found that even with plenty of power (100+ watts) amps with small power supply and limited current capabilities--I have not checked damping factor--produce poor sound quality with the HE-6: weak bass impact and limited dynamic contrast (swing between soft and loud at the same volume setting).

 

[djd1122]

  Big day yesterday, finally the Shunyata gear arrived. Good grief its heavy, the cables look like you could tie a ship with them. Apparently it takes a full 4 days of continued use for the passive circuits to fully come up to give full benefit. I was really doubting myself on spending this much on power, however I am glad to proved wrong, there now doesn't appear to be any noise at all. Everything seems louder and richer. Like a veil has been lifted.

 
I would like to hear your impression of the Shunyata Triton / Typhon and Zitron power cords after they burn in.  I have a Triton / Typhon and all Zitron Anaconda XLR interconnects and power cables.  On my system, before the Shunyata cables, I had a Cardas Clear power cord on my Liquid Gold amp with Cardas Clear XLR interconnects and the music had nice emotion from the mid-range.  With the Triton/Typhon and Zitron Anaconda cables, there was less mid-range and the music had less emotion.  After over 500 hours of burn in on the Shunyata gear, to me it is still a little light in the mid-range but the clarity is brilliant and no fatigue in my system.  In my system with the Shunyata gear, the emotion is back but comes from the higher frequencies instead of the mid-range.  I couldn't go back to Cardas Clear power cords. 
 
It will be interesting to hear if the music on your system has less emotion with the WA-234 and Shunyata gear.  You may not have less emotion in your system with the Shunyata gear because of tubes in the WA-234 vs my solid state Liquid Gold.