[moemoney]

Yes, Mike L. did recommend to me that the USAF 596 would be a good upgrade.

Cheers!

CJ

I Love my twins

 

[cj3209]

Once my WA22 comes in, I'm done with upgrading and will be taking a hiatus from head-fi.org. It's time to just enjoy the music instead of chasing the 'white rabbit.'

Will hibernate with Adele, Peggy Lee, Nancy Wilson, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, ELO, Sara Bareilles, and Elle Fitzgerald among my other favs...

Cheers and hoping for a better 2021!



CJ

 

[moemoney]

Once my WA22 comes in, I'm done with upgrading and will be taking a hiatus from head-fi.org. It's time to just enjoy the music instead of chasing the 'white rabbit.'

Will hibernate with Adele, Peggy Lee, Nancy Wilson, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, ELO, Sara Bareilles, and Elle Fitzgerald among my other favs...

Cheers and hoping for a better 2021!



CJ

Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in.

 

[bpcans]

Enjoy the new amp!
Let me save you some trouble.. I went through the whole merry go round of tubes for this amp. Source some TS5998 power tubes! And if you can get Mullard ECC35 tubes, you'll be pretty much done.

Roasty, I was able to track down a pair of NOS Tung Sol 5998 power tubes, and I can readily say that they are more open and spacious sounding than the stock 6080’s that came with my 2nd gen WA22. More powerful too.

 

[davehg]

Once my WA22 comes in, I'm done with upgrading and will be taking a hiatus from head-fi.org. It's time to just enjoy the music instead of chasing the 'white rabbit.'
Cheers and hoping for a better 2021!

I am sure you know this but if not - the WA22 really excels when using as a fully balanced amp - meaning using a source with balanced outputs and headphones using balanced cables.

When I’ve used an unbalanced source - even the same source but with RCA cables instead of the XLRs, it was less enjoyable. Same with with headphones. When I first got the HD650 balanced cables (Cardas Clear, cost as much as the headphones!) and ran my Sony HAPZ1ES using XLRs, I finally understood what all the fuss was about with the WA22.

so if you’re not running the WA22 fully balanced you’re not quite done.

 

[Pomps]

Hello guys,

just received my wa22. Fantastic SQ, but alas... hum.... a lot of it... is this normal? Faulty device/bad disign or something else. I would appriciate your answers?

 

[njs170]

Hello guys,

just received my wa22. Fantastic SQ, but alas... hum.... a lot of it... is this normal? Faulty device/bad disign or something else. I would appriciate your answers?

I have a pair of tubes that will do that. I just switched them out and the hum was gone.

 

[UntilThen]

Quiet as a whisper and still lovely compared with other tube amps I've owned.

 

[bpcans]

Quiet as a whisper and still lovely compared with other tube amps I've owned.

Very nice setup UntilThen! What kind of tubes are you running in that bad boy?

 

[UntilThen]

Very nice setup UntilThen! What kind of tubes are you running in that bad boy?

Thank you bpcans. Over the years, I learned that the nicer setup for photos are just a tube amp and a headphone. You can add a dac too in the photo if it fits. However hey if it doesn't sound good, it didn't matter how good it looks but this setup does sound good. This transformer coupled Woo amp does sound good and despite all I hear from a scatter of people who says that their amp plus tubes hum, mine doesn't. I really sympathise for them.

Now this is another setup which I think sound nice and looks good. Yggdrasil > Glenn OTL amp > HD800. If you can fit it in the picture without it being too clattered then it will work. Same goes for the music.


Alright back to your question. The tubes in my WA22 are Ken Rad 6SN7gt black glass, GEC 6080 and Cossor 53KU. Simple and effective. Very nice combination. Some other power tubes which I like and which doesn't mean selling the family pet are Tung Sol 5998 and Mullard 6080. I do have GEC 6as7g and GEC U52 rectifier but I don't want to harp on them or over emphasize them. Some view them as the holy grail, the president or the king but as far as I'm concerned they are just another brand. No point in inflating their price anymore.

 

[njs170]

Finally upgraded my DAC (SMSL SU-9) to a balanced connection. This amp just keeps getting better! Can't believe what I was missing.

 

[bpcans]

Thank you bpcans. Over the years, I learned that the nicer setup for photos are just a tube amp and a headphone. You can add a dac too in the photo if it fits. However hey if it doesn't sound good, it didn't matter how good it looks but this setup does sound good. This transformer coupled Woo amp does sound good and despite all I hear from a scatter of people who says that their amp plus tubes hum, mine doesn't. I really sympathise for them.

Now this is another setup which I think sound nice and looks good. Yggdrasil > Glenn OTL amp > HD800. If you can fit it in the picture without it being too clattered then it will work. Same goes for the music.


Alright back to your question. The tubes in my WA22 are Ken Rad 6SN7gt black glass, GEC 6080 and Cossor 53KU. Simple and effective. Very nice combination. Some other power tubes which I like and which doesn't mean selling the family pet are Tung Sol 5998 and Mullard 6080. I do have GEC 6as7g and GEC U52 rectifier but I don't want to harp on them or over emphasize them. Some view them as the holy grail, the president or the king but as far as I'm concerned they are just another brand. No point in inflating their price anymore.

In my WA22 2nd gen I'm running NOS Tung Sol 5998 power tubes, Sophia Electric 6SN7 drivers, and a USAF 596 rectifier. With this combo I rarely get past ten o'clock on the volume pot owing a lot to the sensitivity of my Focal Utopia hp's, and the strength of the WA22. What kind of amp do you have your Sennheiser HD800's plugged into?

 

[UntilThen]

In my WA22 2nd gen I'm running NOS Tung Sol 5998 power tubes, Sophia Electric 6SN7 drivers, and a USAF 596 rectifier. With this combo I rarely get past ten o'clock on the volume pot owing a lot to the sensitivity of my Focal Utopia hp's, and the strength of the WA22. What kind of amp do you have your Sennheiser HD800's plugged into?

It's a Glenn OTL amp. You'll get more info on the Glenn thread.

 

[UntilThen]

Hey everyone!

I'm very new to the world of audio (a year in), and I currently have the Verite Open + Tia Trio connected to the Questyle CMA 400i. I feel like I'm not listening to the Verite's fullest potential.. so I have been thinking of upgrading the 400i to the CMA Twelve Master, although the idea of having a seperate Amp + DAC intrigues me. I am quite interested in the WA22, HA-6A, and Manley Absolute. The problem I am facing is that most of the reviews are positive, but the moment I look up what the community are saying it tends to be negative. Since I'm located in Indonesia, there isn't any demo units around here.. so it makes things much harder since it will be a blindbuy. Maybe you guys could point me to the right direction?

Cheers!

I'm very late in replying to this but I will. As usual, it's my opinion. I have just gotten the Questyle CMA 12. I know that it sucks in some parts of the world for service and support but where I am, my retailer has the full support from the distributor. It's a 2 years warranty.

I post this on another forum so I'll just re-post it here.


I'm ready to post my impressions of Questyle CMA Twelve.

As a standalone dac/preamp/amp, I've not heard better. There will be better dac/amp or separates combination but you don't need better because better is already here for not more silly money.

For a solid state, it is actually quite musical because it's not your clinical, soulless amp. I'd venture to say that it has a slight tube tone.
However it is also very neutral without being sibilant. Brings out the best in your headphones, especially with my Hekse, HD800, LCD-X. Should be good with the LCD-3f but that is still with Minidisc for new yoke, headband and earpads replacements.

As good as the CMA 12 is, I do prefer it as a dac into my WA22, driving my headphones (Hekse, HD800, LCD-3f, LCD-X). With the WA22, musical notes are wrapped tightly in tiny air bubbles that float in space and creates an amazing 3d effect. It reduces any hardness from the tone and it's not a softy. With the Tung Sol 5998 tubes in it, it packs a solid punch with great dynamics.

That said, if I didn't hear the WA22 in the chain, I could live with the Questyle and be totally happy with it.

Better amps there will be but I don't think you need to spend more because at this level, you can see Nirvana already.

 

[UntilThen]

Woo Audio Wa22 just has a bit more company in the Violectric v280, Questyle CMA Twelve and SMSL SP200 THX AAA 888. Headphones are Hekse, LCD-X and HD800 not in the picture. In terms of sound signature, they are all different. The degree of organic, natural sounding and relax feeling to neutral, leaner, brighter, clearer, hear every note is in the order they are laid out in the picture, from left to right.

I'm just enjoying myself. So much variations here.