[grokit]

Quote:

Hi all, new head-fi'er here. I just stepped into the headphone world on a more serious basis recently, after having owned a set of Senn HD570 for the last dozen years or so. I now have a new Woo WA6-SE on order as well as a set of HD800's. I stopped my search on this combo after spending some quality time with Jack at the Montrreal AV show last week. Great guy, passionate about his art. The AV show gave me the opportunity to try out several headphone/amp combos, all with their own signature, but in the end this one fit my needs perfectly. I'll be running everything in stock form for a while and upgrade tubes and headphone cable later on.
 
I'll be running a Sony XA5400ES as transport with an EE Minimax DAC Plus (upgraded with a Psvane Grade A tube that improved the sound considerably), going to the Woo. I ordered the amp with loop out option to hook up into my Marantz AV7005, since the whole thing is part of my home theater set-up. Cables are all Better cables Silver Serpent thoughout my system, except for speakers. I'll be posting pictures as soon as everything comes in.
 
BTW, thanks to all of you, this forum has been essential in helping learn more about headphones and amps. In the end, my ears closed the deal.

 
What a great first post, welcome! Now that you have found your Bliss, don't be a stranger 

 

[Zeruel the 14th]

On the subject of this place being bad for your wallet. I concur, Weeks ago I purchased the T1 for the WA2 based on this thread. I was happy with my low impedance Grado made Alessandro MS pro damn it. H.A.P.P.Y.
I figured I would never post on the subject of WA2 and T1 out my sense of shame. Also. I hate you guys. 

 
I'm gonna listen to my T1s and then cry myself to sleep. 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good thing the fuse blew like it was supposed to. Still seems a shame you had a premium tube go gassy.
 
Quote:

Heh heh, the fuse blew, I replaced that, then replaced the Sophia 274b with the Shugang 274b vanilla (These tubes look cheap from the internal construction but sounded OK)  and it worked with no apparent ill effects - I was worried that my mains transformer may have been damaged but the fuse seems to have done its job.
 

 
That pick looks great, 5998 being as rare as hen's teeth, I stopped trying to even look lol. But wow, I'd settle for some big bottle 6AS7 that look like that.

 
Quote:

Its a terrific amp. I listen to it everyday. Rocking along to Seal Killer right now. From where it's placed I get to see GolfNutz' 5998 heaters perfectly. Couldn't ask for more.
Here is my view when the lights are off and the WA2 is glowing

Enjoyed your article on Innerfidelity. Will you be working with Tyll on the upcoming amp testing?

 

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

On the subject of this place being bad for your wallet. I concur, Weeks ago I purchased the T1 for the WA2 based on this thread. I was happy with my low impedance Grado made Alessandro MS pro damn it. H.A.P.P.Y.
I figured I would never post on the subject of WA2 and T1 out my sense of shame. Also. I hate you guys. 

 
I'm gonna listen to my T1s and then cry myself to sleep. 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good thing the fuse blew like it was supposed to. Still seems a shame you had a premium tube go gassy.
 
 
That pick looks great, 5998 being as rare as hen's teeth, I stopped trying to even look lol. But wow, I'd settle for some big bottle 6AS7 that look like that.

 


 

My response... in stereo. 

 

 

[emremusic]

I have a very quite hum coming from my amp, but nothing I can hear while I'm using the amp. (It's softer than the noise coming from my external hard rive)
 
Some soft hum is expected, and not abnormal. It does not affect the sound quality.
 
 
How loud is your amp humming?
Quote:

 
 
Woo Audio WEE - Issues! [ALSO POSTED IN THE MAIN STAX THREAD - I"M PRETTY CONFIDENT IT CAN'T BE A GROUND HUM ISSUE]
 
I haven't contributed much here despite lurking for a long time, but thought it would be useful to share my WOO experiences and to ask for any help the forum could give. I paid for a WEE with normal and pro bias sockets back in December. The first unit I received had something seriously wrong and buzzed loudly, so it went back across the Atlantic (I'm in the UK) and was 'repaired'. The repaired unit still hummed (but much more quietly) and following an exchange with Jack it eventually went back a second time, when I was told Woo could detect no fault. It's now finally back in the UK and the issue is as follows:
 
I have no hum from any other equipment (Stax 4070, 407, and original Lambda, SRM-T1S and SRD 7 Mk2)
Woo WEE hums from pro bias port (loudest on 407, and only slightly audible on the less sensitive 4070, there may be hum on the normal bias port, but the level is too low to be of concern)
Woo WEE hums when connected to sources (amplifiers from Merdian and Naim) and when running completely by itself
Hum is not volume dependent and is a harmonic of 50Hz power
Hum only occurs when the unit is switched on to 'star' (i.e. when running bias power)
 
I have tried the unit in three different locations and think it may have been quieter in one, so do wonder whether there is a mains issue to which it is super sensitive...
 
Woo will not help any further at this point (and have treated me like some sort of idiot, which doesn't seem very characteristic). I am a professional musician with 25+ years of recording experience and have never had a problem with my audio gear... 
 
Any advice would be very welcome!

 

 

[Sid-Fi]

There has been a lot of talk on this thread over the last few pages regarding the importance of a transparent and balanced source for the WA22.
 
Does anyone have an idea of how well my Audio-gd NFB10-WM will do in this role for my incoming WA22? It is a fully balanced DAC with XLR outputs, as well as a fully balanced amp, which I will be promptly ignoring when the Woo gets here. I already have Moon Audio Silver Dragon XLR interconnects waiting. I noticed though that the tradeoff for my NFB10-WM is that it has only one power supply instead of the two found on the dedicated DAC models to separate the power from digital and analog parts.
 
 

 

[188479]

 
Quote:

 going to the Woo. I ordered the amp with loop out option to hook up into my Marantz AV7005, since the whole thing is part of my home theater set-up

 
Hello:
 
Can somebody please explain what this option is on the WA6SE?  Seems like a preamp out...but Jack told me this was not an option on the 6SE.  Thanks!

 

[roadster-s]

Quote:

 
 
Hello:
 
Can somebody please explain what this option is on the WA6SE?  Seems like a preamp out...but Jack told me this was not an option on the 6SE.  Thanks!

Yes it is a preamp out and it is indeed an option on the SE, the purpose obviously being to create the shortest path from your source or DAC. When the Woo/headphones aren't used, the signal simply travels through the loop out into your system preamp for speaker use.
 

 

[Xcalibur255]

Quote:

Hmm, I've been following the Bifrost and the reviews are certainly glowing, but the Schiit FOTM period can be brutal. The only criticism that seems to come up is it doesn't quite fill in the low end as much as it could, but this is always disputed and then the claims of burn-in come along to fix it right up. But everyone seems to agree that it punches way above its weight class with incredible instrument separation and detail, as would be expected by the philosophy of the company and the pedigree of their designer (Mike @ Theta Digital).
 
Personally I am interested in upgrading from my DAC/converter setup (which is also a real heavy-hitter for its price) at some point, and am waiting for impressions to roll in on Woo's new offering, as well as the upcoming Schiit mid-grade balanced DAC. Others that I have found to be interesting for my needs are the new Audiolab M-DAC, and the Anedio D2. The M-DAC and balanced Schiit is/will be in a more attractive price bracket than the other two, and I am a value hound at heart. But that new Woo stack, from what I have seen the attention to detail is amazing. I must resist the pre-order deal!
 
If I didn't need balanced outputs, the Marantz SA-8004 SACD/DAC could be an option, as there's one in the trade forums right now that was recently reduced to $850.

DAC upgrade is probably the next major purchase for me too, after the dust settles from amp purchases and I finally buy a new headphone to use with it.  I figure by then Wyred4Sound will have a new model out since I've had my eye on the current ones for quite some time.  I must say, though, I have never once felt my Channel Islands VDA-2 to be a weak link in my system so the urge to move on is pretty mild.  Someday it will anchor a secondary speaker setup instead......... someday.  Ironically enough thanks to the extreme value of the OTL amp it is once again the most expensive piece of gear in the system.
 

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Its a terrific amp. I listen to it everyday. Rocking along to Seal Killer right now. From where it's placed I get to see GolfNutz' 5998 heaters perfectly. Couldn't ask for more.
Here is my view when the lights are off and the WA2 is glowing

Enjoyed your article on Innerfidelity. Will you be working with Tyll on the upcoming amp testing?

Nice! Glad you're enjoying that bad boy. One great amp and I loved it with my HD800s and T1s. Funny I loved the TS5998s with the WA2, but I didn't seem to get along with them too much on my WA22.
 
Thanks for the kind comments about my innerfidelity.com article. Tyll did all the heavy lifting with actually running the experiments. I was always curious about headphone measurements and now I have a better feeling of what perspective to put them in. I've talked to Tyll about trying other headphones as well as the article really just used the HD800s and as mentioned, some of the least affected headphones with regards to head placement that Tyll's found.
 

 

[Austin Morrow]

So, I think I'm going to settle on an HD800 + WA6SE + DAC HD cable for a little while until I have room to upgrade.

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

So, I think I'm going to settle on an HD800 + WA6SE + DAC HD cable for a little while until I have room to upgrade.

Promising-
 
WooAudio WA6 Special Edition... I like that in a start!

 

[Dixter]

Quote:

 
 
Hello:
 
Can somebody please explain what this option is on the WA6SE?  Seems like a preamp out...but Jack told me this was not an option on the 6SE.  Thanks!

The pre-amp option is a switch on the back of the amp and an extra set of RCA outputs on the back...      Its pretty nice...   when you want to listen to headphones you put the switch for the front output ( headphones )  when you want to use the Woo as a pre-amp, flip the switch and the out-put is now out of the extra RCA outputs... to drive another amp or powered speakers...
 
A good upgrade option...
 

 

[emremusic]

I wish I had known about this upgrade option. When did it become available?
Quote:

The pre-amp option is a switch on the back of the amp and an extra set of RCA outputs on the back...      Its pretty nice...   when you want to listen to headphones you put the switch for the front output ( headphones )  when you want to use the Woo as a pre-amp, flip the switch and the out-put is now out of the extra RCA outputs... to drive another amp or powered speakers...
 
A good upgrade option...
 

 

 

[lyricsuite]

Thanks for the reply. The hum is quite quiet, but noticeable enough even in quite music it annoys me!
 
Cheers.
Quote:

I have a very quite hum coming from my amp, but nothing I can hear while I'm using the amp. (It's softer than the noise coming from my external hard rive)
 
Some soft hum is expected, and not abnormal. It does not affect the sound quality.
 
 
How loud is your amp humming?


 

 

 

[grokit]

 
Quote:

DAC upgrade is probably the next major purchase for me too, after the dust settles from amp purchases and I finally buy a new headphone to use with it.  I figure by then Wyred4Sound will have a new model out since I've had my eye on the current ones for quite some time.  I must say, though, I have never once felt my Channel Islands VDA-2 to be a weak link in my system so the urge to move on is pretty mild.  Someday it will anchor a secondary speaker setup instead......... someday.  Ironically enough thanks to the extreme value of the OTL amp it is once again the most expensive piece of gear in the system.

I feel the same way about my Mini-i/Bravo combo so I'm in no hurry either. My feelings were recently validated when PanamaRed offered a rare comparison to a known quantity:
 
Quote:

For sale is the Matrix Mini DAC w/ Remote
 
This is an exceptional DAC. It rivals that of my W4S DAC-2.
 
-snip-

 
This made me feel good because I haven't had a chance to audition anything in that price class yet as far as DACs go. And even better because he doesn't even qualify it with a USB to S/PDIF converter, which definitely brought great improvement to my ears over direct USB and to a lesser extent optical. Of course he could have had it hooked up via coax to a CD transport in which case he wouldn't need a converter. The other thing was that it looks like it sold on the same day he listed it. Anybody looking for a decent balanced DAC could do a lot worse for the $. The dual (for the balanced outputs) AD1955 chips have been installed in some really high-end DACs. Hopefully when I do eventually upgrade, I will feel that it was worth it. My fear is that I will just get something different so more of a side-grade than an improvement.

 
Quote:

So, I think I'm going to settle on an HD800 + WA6SE + DAC HD cable for a little while until I have room to upgrade.

I'm really looking forward to hearing your impressions on that DAC HD cable. It was an extremely low-key product release, but it really seems to be gathering some steam now. If I was looking at the Bifrost I would be seriously considering whether I need the additional inputs, as they are pretty close in price when you consider the USB upgrade and some HQ cables.