For the last year I've been driving my HD800's with a HeadRoom "Maxed Out" Desktop amp but last month, at the Denver, NC mini meet, I got to hear them driven by a WA22. I really loved the combination and a couple of days later amcananey had a mint black WA22 for sale which worked out well for everyone except my wallet. It came with a Sofia Princess and I've since rolled in a pair of Sylvania 7236 Power Tubes that I got from Jack. My big rig is all tubes and I tend to favor listening to solo singers backed by small combos so, based on my impressions of earlier posts, I think a pair of Shuguang Treasure's are next.
I have a question about aftermarket cables though. Can anyone give me some guidance on whether to get balanced cables or not? I'm driving the Woo with the balanced outs from my Logitech Transporter but from reading through the forum there appears to be a difference of opinion as to whether the WA22 is balanced all the way through. If there is an improvement in the sound, does it make any difference if I get the 4pin or 3pin termination? Thanks.
Congrats! I just rolled a recently-acquired backup Princess into my WA22 as well. It's been a while, and I still love the sound of this tube with the 7236's and the Shuguang Treasure drivers. Definitely recommended with the HD800!
Regardless of the debate of whether the WA22 qualifies as balanced or not (evidently it depends upon your interpretation of the term :rolleyes, the consensus on using balanced cables from a balanced source is:
[COLOR=FF00AA]DO IT![/COLOR]
The WA22 definitely improves when using a balanced source.