[bpiotrow13]

Can you please explain a little more what you mean here “(only plug instead of out).” Or if you don’t mind can you take a picture of it.

Sure, thanks, below

 

[bpiotrow13]

If it's 2nd gen, it will say 2nd gen on the back of the unit.

It says nothing, i guess it is 1st gen than. Does not make a difference for me, just wanted to know.

 

[moemoney]

Sure, thanks, below

Looks to me to be a Ver.1

 

[bpiotrow13]

Looks to me to be a Ver.1

Seems so. Does not make any difference for me. Just wanted to know. Thanks.

 

[moemoney]

Sure, thanks, below

 

[moemoney]

New Kid on the block.

 

[bpiotrow13]

New Kid on the block.

Does not look like Wa22

Could you describe sound differences?

 

[grooveriders]

Does not look like Wa22

Could you describe sound differences?

Looks like the WA 5-LE

New Kid on the block.

How does this do compared to the WA22/WA33 ? I am looking an amp for my HD800 and HE1000 v2, does it pair well with the amp?
thanks

 

[bpiotrow13]

The tubes in My wa22 are burning in. I am a bit surprised with the sound. It is not as tubey as i thought it might be. It is close in fact to my burson cv2. I wanted to have more tubey alternative to burson, now they sound close, which is very nice sound anyway. I use Sophia Princess, Shuguang 181z and rca 6as7 setup. It is soft, but very vivid.

Apart from the sound wa22 looks awesome in the evening:

 

[moemoney]

Does not look like Wa22

Could you describe sound differences?

It’s hard for me to say I only have a few hours on it, but what you notice right off the top is it’s more textured for sure and Way more dynamic.

 

[moemoney]

Looks like the WA 5-LE

How does this do compared to the WA22/WA33 ? I am looking an amp for my HD800 and HE1000 v2, does it pair well with the amp?
thanks

I don’t have the 33 so I can’t speak on that one but I will say I liked it better than the wa22, you can tell that right away that it is different more dynamic and instruments and vocals have more texture. I do have the HEKse and this is a match made in heaven for them.

 

[grooveriders]

I don’t have the 33 so I can’t speak on that one but I will say I liked it better than the wa22, you can tell that right away that it is different more dynamic and instruments and vocals have more texture. I do have the HEKse and this is a match made in heaven for them.

Thankyou for the reply. Will run by the local dealer to get a try on those !

 

[davehg]

Thanks, these are mostly 6as7g substitutes. I think i have GEC 6as7 g, need to look for it. Can you recommend warm 6sn7?



Thanks, i have managed to buy sophia with significant discount. I have ordered rca 6sn7, so will try. Is mullard 6080 warm? I have heard it is bright.

I found it neutral - the 6080s seem to have the least impact, certainly not as much as the 5AU4 or the 6SN7

 

[grokit]

I think that anyone who has shelled out big $ for the og WE300B is automatically going to defend it as worth the excessive premium, which is allegedly due to scarcity. It's an obvious example of what is known as post-purchase rationalization, also known as buyer’s stockholm syndrome. In a nut shell, this is when someone purchases a product or service, then proceeds to overlook any faults or defects in order to justify their purchase, so as not to have remorse. In this instance the fault is the inflated price.

From another Audiogon thread on the matter:

"I had been using Acme 300B for 10 months with satisfaction.
Since I have a vintage WE300B made in 1940’s, I had done comparison between them.
My conclusion is vintage WE300B has slightly more tight bass and wider soundstage but the difference is not big.
Acme 300B sounds slightly sweeter than vintage WE300B"

Obviously it's just one opinion out of many. It's the first one I found. I have no opinion on 300B tubes, and am wondering why we're discussing them here.
This particular opinion is from shkong78, who has 1,107 posts. I suppose that makes shkong78 an Audiogoneus Supremus (lol).

In my experience the WA22 is a good but not great headphone amp, that sounds much better as a preamp to another solid-state headphone and/or speaker amp. That's where it shines, as all it needs to do is provide pleasing euphonic distortion for another amp that does the heavy lifting for driving headphones. I think the output transformers may be the the weak link/reason for this, as they don't need to work as hard when used as a preamp as they do when driving an actual transducer load.

 

[bpiotrow13]

In my experience the WA22 is a good but not great headphone amp, that sounds much better as a preamp to another solid-state headphone and/or speaker amp. That's where it shines, as all it needs to do is provide pleasing euphonic distortion for another amp that does the heavy lifting for driving headphones. I think the output transformers may be the the weak link/reason for this, as they don't need to work as hard when used as a preamp as they do when driving an actual transducer load

I would say it could be a great amp, but it is not that easy to choose the tubes right. It has no problem in driving my lcd3f. In fact i expected the wa22 to be more tubey.

I am just trying to choose the right tubes. Not sure if anyone tried: Sophia 274b/rca 6sn7gt/svietlana 6n13s. It works quite fine for me.