Oh, that's good to know! I'm going to reach out to him now to see if I can get those, too... I've done a little bit of tube rolling on the Darkvoice, but not very much. I really want to capture that magic I heard as best I can. I still haven't stopped thinking about it haha
Any ideas how much power the WA23 has? I have yet to see the number revealed.
I went to CanJam SoCal this past weekend and ended up buying this, which was the unit that Woo used for the show.
I had a budget of around $8000 and was looking for an amp to drive all my headphones (Susvara, ZMF Atrium & VC, and Audeze LCD3).
I had a list of amps to try, most of which were ones that I had heard before or were recommended particularly for Susvara. I tried a lot (Zahl HM1, Riviera AIC-10, Enleum AMP 23R, Feliks Envy among them), but then, I made my way to the Woo room. I had heard a little bit about this amp, but figured it wouldn't be as good of a fit as the WA33 for Susvara. I listened to this first of all amps in the room and was totally struck by the imaging, controlled yet powerful bass and overall clean lushness that I was hearing through my Susvaras. This and the WA33 were sharing a DAC (dCS Lina) and iPad, so the person next to me chose a few songs to listen to. I was blown away and engaged in the music in a way that I had not been with any other pairing at the show with each song that came on, including the ones that weren't even my choices. I then tried my Atriums (@eruilluvitar - those were probably my Atriums you tried!), which I had just bought at the show. Yes, all the same qualities were there, just with the ZMF tone. The low and high impedance option was really helpful in making it work for both headphones, as well as the option for high or low gain. I then tried the WA33. While really good, it was immediately obvious to me that I preferred WA23's sound over it.
I came back later with my LCD3s (probably my favorite for their particular combination of ambience and slam) and loved the amp just as much on them. The sound continued the love affair. My wife was at the show with me and listened and was captured by the sound as much as I was, even though she's not an audiophile per se. The look and design of this amp is gorgeous, which we both agreed on. It's also a lot smaller than the WA33.
I tried some other amps and DACs afterward just to see if there was anything that might sway me another way, but man, I kept coming back to this. It checks all the boxes. I talked with some people near the Headphones.com (love those guys) booth about the Zahl, but I told them that the WA23 was where it was at for me. Musicality was on another level vs. any solid state (or really any other tube amp) I had tried.
In buying something like this, I tried to do some homework on how much of what I was hearing had to do with the chain. I wasn't familiar with dCS stuff, but I'm sure the Lina DAC was an important piece. Also, the cables they used looked really high quality. As @hifixman mentioned, they also weren't using all stock tubes.
I talked to Jack though, and he sold me the show unit with the upgraded tubes (Psvane WR2A3 power tubes). I'm listening currently right now through my Atriums and Chord Qutest DAC. Sounds sublime. I'd really recommend listening for yourself if you get the chance!
Jack said 2 watts. Which was mainly why I didn't think it'd power Susvara as well as the WA33. I kept looking back at him when I was listening though and said that I was surprised on how much headroom and bass it had for only 2 watts, and he said "don't think about power" and... well, he was right. I'd say the WA33 had a bit more bass (but in a different way) and headroom, but the refinement of the WA23 was a worthwhile tradeoff, and it wasn't lacking in either of those categories, just didn't have as much of them as the WA33.
They were! You had said you were getting this unit - I'm glad you like it as much as you thought you would! I did try the '33s earlier in the show and I really liked it, but I discounted it due to the size. Unfortunately, that was early on day 1 and the '23 had a bit of a line to it, so I didn't try them back to back. However, I also ultimately greatly preferred the '23, ultimately.
Isn't it a high gain design though so it kind of cheats the lower output power?
Awesome! I just reached out to Jack to double-check what the unit I purchased will have. If not, I see them on the Woo Audio site and may just have to buy them separately.
Not sure actually. I just know it works for all my headphones and can play with low/high gain and low/high impedance as needed.
That's awesome that you got one too! Let me know what you think once you get it and use it with your setup. Jack said that they sell the tubes that they were using in the unit, FYI.
Same - I actually had some difficulty finding amps that powered the Expanse, the Stealth, the Focal Radiance, and the HD650s well. It really only came down to this or the Zähl HM1, which I also pre-ordered from Headphones.com since the wait time on it is unknown. Haven't decided if I'll stay on the waitlist on that yet.
I will! I've dreamt of this combined with that Atrium you leant me, though - that was one amazing combo.
That's funny, the HM1 was what I expected to get. I first heard the Susvara through it at last year's SoCal CanJam and loved it. Did not work as well for my Atriums though, and the WA23 just had that indescribably "magic" space. The HM1 was my favorite solid state though and felt it did have a little bit more control over the bass and dynamics, although again, the WA23 did those things well, just maybe not as well as the HM1. Very happy I went with the WA23. I like the magic.
Interesting - I really wish I had brought my Atriums and VCs, but I was trying to pack light. I've got a bit of a collection and only brought 5 of them, but it seemed to power all of them quite well. Hopefully they'll have it at CanJam NYC and I'll be able to try it on my Atriums and Verite Closed, rather than just the HD 650s that I had with me.
That's exactly why I liked it so much - it did really well with everything I had, but it was excellent with the DCA stuff especially. I'm currently running the DCA Expanse off the Matrix Mini-i Pro 3 (or whatever it is - their naming convention is pretty bad) and it just doesn't have the oomph that the HM1 did.
Haha that is something I'm very excited for with the '23!
How did the WA23 compare to the Riviera?
I went to CanJam SoCal this past weekend and ended up buying this, which was the unit that Woo used for the show.
I had a budget of around $8000 and was looking for an amp to drive all my headphones (Susvara, ZMF Atrium & VC, and Audeze LCD3).
I had a list of amps to try, most of which were ones that I had heard before or were recommended particularly for Susvara. I tried a lot (Zahl HM1, Riviera AIC-10, Enleum AMP 23R, Feliks Envy among them), but then, I made my way to the Woo room. I had heard a little bit about this amp, but figured it wouldn't be as good of a fit as the WA33 for Susvara. I listened to this first of all amps in the room and was totally struck by the imaging, controlled yet powerful bass and overall clean lushness that I was hearing through my Susvaras. This and the WA33 were sharing a DAC (dCS Lina) and iPad, so the person next to me chose a few songs to listen to. I was blown away and engaged in the music in a way that I had not been with any other pairing at the show with each song that came on, including the ones that weren't even my choices. I then tried my Atriums (@eruilluvitar - those were probably my Atriums you tried!), which I had just bought at the show. Yes, all the same qualities were there, just with the ZMF tone. The low and high impedance option was really helpful in making it work for both headphones, as well as the option for high or low gain. I then tried the WA33. While really good, it was immediately obvious to me that I preferred WA23's sound over it.
I came back later with my LCD3s (probably my favorite for their particular combination of ambience and slam) and loved the amp just as much on them. The sound continued the love affair. My wife was at the show with me and listened and was captured by the sound as much as I was, even though she's not an audiophile per se. The look and design of this amp is gorgeous, which we both agreed on. It's also a lot smaller than the WA33.
I tried some other amps and DACs afterward just to see if there was anything that might sway me another way, but man, I kept coming back to this. It checks all the boxes. I talked with some people near the Headphones.com (love those guys) booth about the Zahl, but I told them that the WA23 was where it was at for me. Musicality was on another level vs. any solid state (or really any other tube amp) I had tried.
In buying something like this, I tried to do some homework on how much of what I was hearing had to do with the chain. I wasn't familiar with dCS stuff, but I'm sure the Lina DAC was an important piece. Also, the cables they used looked really high quality. As @hifixman mentioned, they also weren't using all stock tubes.
I talked to Jack though, and he sold me the show unit with the upgraded tubes (Psvane WR2A3 power tubes). I'm listening currently right now through my Atriums and Chord Qutest DAC. Sounds sublime. I'd really recommend listening for yourself if you get the chance!
Oh man, the Riviera was incredible. That and the HM1 were my other two favorites besides the WA23. The Riviera sounded the biggest of all. I believe it's mixed tube and solid state. The bass and soundstage was massive. The thing I didn't prefer about it though (besides that it's now out of my price range at $18k) is that it sounded really round in the bass, like it took a real round (almost muddy to my ears) tube sound and then added solid state dynamics afterward. It was a little too much for me. If you're looking for that scaled-up HUGE speaker like sound for the Susvaras though, the Riviera was there and above all other amps I tried in that way.
