[Silent One]

Quote:

Hi Silent One. Glad you liked the pics, P&S and all.
 
The rack is completely modular and I believe you can add more racks as well as take some off if you don't need the four shelves it comes with. I found the same website that I ordered it from, and it is still there for the same price. You'll find all of the dimensions and other specs there. Here's a link.
http://www.racksandstands.com/VTI-BL-Series-4-Shelf-Audio-Rack-BL304-VI1005.html
 
Interesting point about the Ultraviolet. I guess at the time I assumed that since it was digital and already well reviewed, that most of their cables upmarket would be diminishing returns. I definitely hear clear differences with analog cables, but haven't really compared USB cables yet. Do you have any other recommendations or do you think the Starlight is the best value?
 

The Wireworld Ultraviolet USB Digital is a decent cable. It's the one I selected to start out my WooAudio journey with - Mac music server > DAC > Woo. A few Chess moves later saw the MHDT USBridge introduced to my system... and saw me cutting corners. My thinking was, since the bridge is re-clocking; improving the signal to the DAC, I'll just get a high quality Digital Coax and stay with the Ultraviolet. Shouldn't make a difference. 

 
A few White Papers and conversations that followed brought more light. I tried the Wireworld Silver Starlight USB Digital cable and it was so very good to me. But I couldn't afford it, so after my 30 day trial, I shipped it back. Admittedly, there were a few purchases in between - Furutech GT2 USB; Wirewolrd Supernova 6 Glass Optical. All improvements on the Ultraviolet. But I didn't want to spend the money on them since the bridge was going to clean up the signal anyway.
 
Once I broke down and chased down the storied Mid '40's TS-BGRP VT-231's, I had to have the best! Being poor, I accepted "Better" instead of best. 

 So, I purchased the Silver Starlight like I should have done a few months earlier, and it took me places... places I wanted to go! Just for fun, a couple of months later I re-inserted the Ultraviolet for a quick 30 minute evaluation. Didn't last that long. The presentation had more grain than a Nebraska silo! It's ok for my secondary DAC in a backup role, but... re-clocking or no, the USB cable still matters.
 

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

I've been doing a little research. Overall dimensions: 23 1/4" (W) x 20 3/8" (D) x 32 1/4" (H). Maximum weight load capacity: 350 Lbs. You can get extra shelves for around $100 each. There is also a four legged version for around $320 and $120 each extra shelf.
http://www.vtimanufacturing.com/BL%20304SC.htm
For anyone interested in the chair it's an IKEA Poang. Several Head-fiers have it and recommend it for an inexpensive listening chair.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=poang%29

Much appreciated. Although, I have dueling thoughts. I'm in the market for a "Stand up" desk. But Audio needs have a way of creeping inside my head as soon as I begin to allocate dollars elsewhere in the listening room. It's not suppose to be a competition, but smart money says the audio rack comes in first! 

 

[roadster-s]

 
BTW, also available from Amazon with free shipping.

 
Quote:

I am using Pangea AC-14SE power cables on both the WA22 and NFB10.
Here's a link below.
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PGAC14SE&variation=2
 
 

 

 

[Sid-Fi]

Sounds like I really need to swap PMs with you on this one. I looked in the Silver Starlight a little bit and the main benefit that Wireworld touts is that it reduces jitter. However, the AP2 has insanely low jitter measurements after the usb cable and its retiming etc. I guess I'm thinking exactly how you were thinking before you picked up the Silver Starlight and loved it. It's just hard to imagine a big difference from everything I've read so far. That being said, I trust actual listening more than I do theory.
 
I've definitely heard enough to know--for me at least--that its not just 1s and 0s only in some simplistic manner as so many tout, and that power and cables make a big difference.
 
Quote:

The Wireworld Ultraviolet USB Digital is a decent cable. It's the one I selected to start out my WooAudio journey with - Mac music server > DAC > Woo. A few Chess moves later saw the MHDT USBridge introduced to my system... and saw me cutting corners. My thinking was, since the bridge is re-clocking; improving the signal to the DAC, I'll just get a high quality Digital Coax and stay with the Ultraviolet. Shouldn't make a difference. 

 
A few White Papers and conversations that followed brought more light. I tried the Wireworld Silver Starlight USB Digital cable and it was so very good to me. But I couldn't afford it, so after my 30 day trial, I shipped it back. Admittedly, there were a few purchases in between - Furutech GT2 USB; Wirewolrd Supernova 6 Glass Optical. All improvements on the Ultraviolet. But I didn't want to spend the money on them since the bridge was going to clean up the signal anyway.
 
Once I broke down and chased down the storied Mid '40's TS-BGRP VT-231's, I had to have the best! Being poor, I accepted "Better" instead of best. 

 So, I purchased the Silver Starlight like I should have done a few months earlier, and it took me places... places I wanted to go! Just for fun, a couple of months later I re-inserted the Ultraviolet for a quick 30 minute evaluation. Didn't last that long. The presentation had more grain than a Nebraska silo! It's ok for my secondary DAC in a backup role, but... re-clocking or no, the USB cable still matters.
 

 

 

[cacatalysis]

How does the 009/WES compare to your top dynamic/ortho rigs?  I understand this is under meeting conditions.
Quote:

I also got to meet Jack at the NY show, one great guy, quite a few visitors and great sound all around.
Best of show was the SR-009 on the WES with some fine NOS tubes for the amp section. Made me think I'd never need speakers again. Great texture, great staging, very refined, no complaints on the sound (or comfort; those 009s are soooo comfortable, like a perfect pair of shoes).
Even the SR-007 was pretty awesome on the WES, far nicer than when I had the original Omega1/ with the Stax 007t amp circa 1999. Much more depth, bloom and deep compelling detailed bass.
The Hifiman HE5 had a nice balanced presentation also out of the dynamic amps. None of the piercing painful stridency that made me sell my HE6s a while back.
 
Jack was great and answered my questions even though others wanted attention.
I compliment him on the time, trouble, and expense he went through to set all this up. I haven't seen a headphone setup an any of the NY shows since 2004 at least (and maybe it was 2002).
I don't own any Woo equipment for the record.

 

 

[rgs9200m]

It's kind of an unfair comparison, as my source and power conditioning  and cabling are pretty nice (EMM xds1, shunyata triton, stealth/shunyata cables),
but I'm still hooked on my Pinnacle/HD800 combo overall, with remarkable detail, a lack of etch/grain but not smoothed over or rounded off.
 
The short listen to the SR009 was very musical, but a little less direct and a bit more blended together with a bit more peakiness in the vocals than my
HD800 system, which sound very balanced to me from top to bottom. (But this balanced sound and lack of treble/upper mid peakiness is something I strived for with cabling like my wonderful balanced Moon Black Dragon cable.) 
 
The bass with the WES/009 system was deeper and fuller and controlled and had good detail, but the bass from my HD800 system, while not as deep, 
is somehow extremely transparent and, to me, perfect, just there and full of nuance and little bits of information in the bass that I don't hear anywhere else.
The Pinnacle is pretty fantastic in this regard.
 
The LCD3 is not as resolved as either the 009 or the HD800, but has a great musical flow that makes me not care or listen critically but just enjoy things,
and again there are no peaks or valleys that stand out (using an Enigma Apex cable).
 
I think my ranking would be: 1. HD800, 2. SR009, 3. LCD3.  I did hear what people mention as a bit of glare in the 009's upper mids just on a vocal,
but it was just a little, and I hear that some cap upgrades in the WES can help with this, and of course, the quality of the recording or the digital source makes
a big difference here. But aside from this, the 009 did "wow" me, with a perfect balance of smoothness and detail and speed, with amazing deep controlled bass and sweet, sweet upper highs and lots of liquidity. Liquidity is the main attribute I would use to describe the 009 sound.
And percussion was to die for, with natural slam that seemed like real drums, better than my other systems.
 
It's funny how things have evolved since my old Omega1/007t Stax system back in 1999, where things sounded very upfront and natural, but kind of flat and weak, but still enjoyable for it's directness, especially with vocals. The Stax 009 is much more open and deep and not weak at all, with no flatness anymore. I still have to listen to see if that old Stax super-palpable (almost unnaturally tangible) texture I used to hear with the old Omegas (and the Lambdas I had before that) is still there.
 
Well this had just been a brain dump for what it's worth. Keep in mind I only listened for a few minutes to the 009 system with music I was not familiar with, so take this all with grain of salt.
 
 

 

[galacticsoap]

Hi Everyone,
 
A quick question if I could, I'm not sure if you guys would be able to point me in the right direction.
 
I'm pretty close to securing purchase of an American WA2 however intend on having it shipped to Australia.
 
The local Aussie Dealer shares the same voltage specs as per the Woo Audio site for the WA2's, namely: 
 

Voltage: Dual AC operation 110/220V, 50/60 Hz External dimension: 5½"(H), 13"(W), 9"(D) Weight: 17 lbs

 
As such is it safe to assume that:
 
1) All Woo Audio WA2's have Dual AC operation i.e. 110/220V, 50/60 Hz?
2) That I'll be able to run the WA2 in Australia with the Voltage noted above?
 
Or would I need a step down converter to use the WA2 down here?
 
Thanks,
Soapy

 

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

Sounds like I really need to swap PMs with you on this one. I looked in the Silver Starlight a little bit and the main benefit that Wireworld touts is that it reduces jitter. However, the AP2 has insanely low jitter measurements after the usb cable and its retiming etc. I guess I'm thinking exactly how you were thinking before you picked up the Silver Starlight and loved it. It's just hard to imagine a big difference from everything I've read so far. That being said, I trust actual listening more than I do theory.
 
I've definitely heard enough to know--for me at least--that its not just 1s and 0s only in some simplistic manner as so many tout, and that power and cables make a big difference.
 

It would be great to exchange PM's... and mull over the thoughts and experiences we'll find in them. I think it would be helpful to readers if I clarified my post some. I don't want to leave the wrong impression that I'm encouraging you or anyone else to spend and spend big. My quote was:
 
"Your Ultraviolet USB might be holding you back a bit, in my view. If you stay stay with WW, then I'd suggest you move up to the Starlight at minimum."
 
A couple of things here. First, although I have not heard your system, I think it's just fine and I only offer the difference might be a bit not big. What's more, if your system is dialed-in, you shouldn't be hearing any big changes with tweaks, only subtle. Unless you've just discovered a flaw. No need to dial-up a big purchase for big changes (I'm mainly pointing this out to the readership, Sid-Fi, as they won't be able to follow our forthcoming PM's. 

 ).
 
Secondly, the Starlight and Silver Starlight are two different cables. I was suggesting the Starlight which is the next one up in the line up from the Ultraviolet. This is because I heard improvements with the WW Supernova 6 & Furutech GT2, both which is on par with the Starlight I suggested.  The Silver Starlight USB I bought, on the other hand, is a Reference cable employing a Silver Clad OFC 6 conductor DNA Helix design as opposed to a Silver Plated OFC Copper 4 conductor design. And was merely a luxury purchase since the tea tins were overflowing. 

 
The A2 certainly is a fine device - ordered one myself last May but returned it. The W4S DAC executes Jitter control really well.
 
 
 
 

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

Hi Everyone,
 
A quick question if I could, I'm not sure if you guys would be able to point me in the right direction.
 
I'm pretty close to securing purchase of an American WA2 however intend on having it shipped to Australia.
 
The local Aussie Dealer shares the same voltage specs as per the Woo Audio site for the WA2's, namely: 
 

Voltage: Dual AC operation 110/220V, 50/60 Hz External dimension: 5½"(H), 13"(W), 9"(D) Weight: 17 lbs

 
As such is it safe to assume that:
 
1) All Woo Audio WA2's have Dual AC operation i.e. 110/220V, 50/60 Hz?
2) That I'll be able to run the WA2 in Australia with the Voltage noted above?
 
Or would I need a step down converter to use the WA2 down here?
 
Thanks,
Soapy

 

 Good to go! Should you need to hear it spoken, call A2A (Addicted To Audio). Good luck with your purchase and hope you become a WooAudio member. 

 

[galacticsoap]

Hey Mate - thanks for the confirmation
 
Probably the wrong thread to post this on, lol - but I'm torn between the WA2 and the RSA Raptor. The Raptor equates to a slight saving, which isn't too much of a consideration. I'm just wondering whether the WA2 is a substantial improvement on the Raptor 2 driving me LCD-2's.
 
Unfortunately I'm in Sydney, and A2A is in Melbourne
 
EDIT: I should also mention that the W2 I'm considering is the $400 upgrade version

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

Hey Mate - thanks for the confirmation
 
Probably the wrong thread to post this on, lol - but I'm torn between the WA2 and the RSA Raptor. The Raptor equates to a slight saving, which isn't too much of a consideration. I'm just wondering whether the WA2 is a substantial improvement on the Raptor 2 driving me LCD-2's.
 
Unfortunately I'm in Sydney, and A2A is in Melbourne
 
EDIT: I should also mention that the W2 I'm considering is the $400 upgrade version

 Whoops... BIG country you got down there. This certainly isn't the wrong thread for evaluations and opinions concerning Woo amps. Some here may have had both, heard both or know someone who does. Never mind me, I'm likely to show a Woo-bias, especially with the upgraded version. 

 Hey, be sure to check out the Aussie & New Zealand corner on Head-Fi as well.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/580720/aussie-nz-head-fiers-corner/450#post_8309803
 

 

[obzilla]

So I lost my Woo card this week 

. I decided that 'stats aren't for me currently. I may jump back, but for now I've liquidated my electrostatic inventory and the lovely GES has gone packing.
Even my girlfriend was sad to see it go.
 
However, I'll not be gone long. "Something Woo this way cometh.."
 
A certain WA5 should be in my midst in about 3 weeks. A long and hard wait to be sure.

 

[roadster-s]

OK, so if anyone here doesn't enjoy looking at audio gear photos, it's probably time to skip to the next post.
 
My freshly unpacked WA6SE, pictured here with the HD800 and Cardas cord.
 

 
Rear end, showing the loop out option I had installed. Note that it's always on, so signal will forward to my processor no matter if the Woo is on or off.
 

 
 
Ze Woo and itz cables: Better Cables Silver Serpents and Pangea power cord.
 

 
 
Installed in the rack.
 

 
 
Zoom out a bit to show the "first line of attack", partnered with my Sony XA5400ES as transport and the new EE DAC Plus with an upgraded Psvane tube installed.
 

 
 
Zoom out a little more to show the big guns from the front wall. Swans F2.2+ mains, C2.3+ center, 2 x Emotiva XPA monoblocks, 1 Emotiva XPA 5CH, Marantz AV7005 processor, Oppo BDP93 (still lots more not pictured here).
 

 
Everything is pretty fresh out of the box, even the DAC and headphones have less than 100 hours of play. So now I have to "sacrifice" some of my free time to give them the hours needed to really shine.

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

So I lost my Woo card this week 

. I decided that 'stats aren't for me currently. I may jump back, but for now I've liquidated my electrostatic inventory and the lovely GES has gone packing.
Even my girlfriend was sad to see it go.
 
However, I'll not be gone long. "Something Woo this way cometh.."
 
A certain WA5 should be in my midst in about 3 weeks. A long and hard wait to be sure.

Still, this is great! Are you buying Pre-Owned from 'Complex' (Black WA5) or new from Woo? What kind of music genres were dominating the Stat Experience?

 

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

OK, so if anyone here doesn't enjoy looking at audio gear photos, it's probably time to skip to the next post.
 
My freshly unpacked WA6SE, pictured here with the HD800 and Cardas cord.
 

 
Rear end, showing the loop out option I had installed. Note that it's always on, so signal will forward to my processor no matter if the Woo is on or off.
 

 
 
Ze Woo and itz cables: Better Cables Silver Serpents and Pangea power cord.
 

 
 
Installed in the rack.
 

 
 
Zoom out a bit to show the "first line of attack", partnered with my Sony XA5400ES as transport and the new EE DAC Plus with an upgraded Psvane tube installed.
 

 
 
Zoom out a little more to show the big guns from the front wall. Swans F2.2+ mains, C2.3+ center, 2 x Emotiva XPA monoblocks, 1 Emotiva XPA 5CH, Marantz AV7005 processor, Oppo BDP93 (still lots more not pictured here).
 

 
Everything is pretty fresh out of the box, even the DAC and headphones have less than 100 hours of play. So now I have to "sacrifice" some of my free time to give them the hours needed to really shine.

 C'est fantastique!