[Audiophiliac]

Hi
I own a woo audio 6-SE.
How well does this amp pair with the focal stellia?
Thanks
Mike

6-SE goes well vs my similarly priced ss NAD speaker amp. The Woo is probably better, although cost slightly more, too. I use the HD800, with a $2k DAC, and wonder about spending more than this for a better amp, which could get me balanced, also.
If I were dropping the coin for the Stellia's, I would certainly shop for a higher cost amp, although I would still be interested in hearing about hearing how a Woo does vs any other amp in my new price range.
But my HD800's don't feel maxed out yet, like my HD600's did on this amp with a much cheaper DAC. After the DAC upgrade, it doesn't seem like DAC's are in charge of maxing things out like my 600's seemed. They should make a $50 speaker better, also. I don't know what could make my 800's feel like they need breathing room, except for an amp upgrade. Hmm, no, my better IC helped. Nope, my 800's still don't sound like they take that much effort, although they still seem like they work much harder than they did at first. Especially after plugging the amp directly into the wall, like I was told all the richest people do, that was a big and powerful size improvement connected directly to the gigantic power supply after the outlet vs a power distributer.

 

[jmanpd]

Hi all,

Just recently picked up a Wa6-SE gen 1. It came with a Shuguang 274B which I read is supposedly not the best for this amp. So I went and picked up a vintage Amperex/Mullard GZ34/5AR4 brown base.

A/Bing it, the GZ34 just sounds more stuffy/veiled in comparison to the Shuguang (the 274B seems more clear and thus sounds nicer to my ears).

The previous owner of this tube said he used it for roughly 4 weeks. My question is - anyone have experience similar to this / does the GZ34 require some burn-in time to open up?

Thanks!

 

[gefski]

Hi all,

Just recently picked up a Wa6-SE gen 1. It came with a Shuguang 274B which I read is supposedly not the best for this amp. So I went and picked up a vintage Amperex/Mullard GZ34/5AR4 brown base.

A/Bing it, the GZ34 just sounds more stuffy/veiled in comparison to the Shuguang (the 274B seems more clear and thus sounds nicer to my ears).

The previous owner of this tube said he used it for roughly 4 weeks. My question is - anyone have experience similar to this / does the GZ34 require some burn-in time to open up?

Thanks!

For years, I’ve never been able to identify burn-in changes with tubes. Old stock tubes, even those sold as NOS, may have been run for many hours, so are already burned. I do find cumulative improvements in keeping all contacts clean with DeOx and 99% alky, and that certainly includes tube pins, which may be over 50 years old and never cleaned.

 

[Audiophiliac]

Hi all,

Just recently picked up a Wa6-SE gen 1. It came with a Shuguang 274B which I read is supposedly not the best for this amp. So I went and picked up a vintage Amperex/Mullard GZ34/5AR4 brown base.

A/Bing it, the GZ34 just sounds more stuffy/veiled in comparison to the Shuguang (the 274B seems more clear and thus sounds nicer to my ears).

The previous owner of this tube said he used it for roughly 4 weeks. My question is - anyone have experience similar to this / does the GZ34 require some burn-in time to open up?

Thanks!

I had a Sophia 274B for the first few years of my 6-SE, and after it blew out, I decided that the stock 5U4G made the Sophia unworthy of it's cost, after all. After roughly 10 years of "except the 274B WAS slightly better, I tried that very same 274B, due to it's low cost. The result was it sounding like there was a tube twice the size happening to my soundstage at some point, but after that, it sounded cheap and brittle somehow compared to the RCA 5U4G, so I took it out, and prefer the more natural darkness of the 5U4G, even though it only sounds half the size at it's own point. The 274B must be a biggeer tube that will take a lot of money to start just beating the 5U4G because of it, except that they are being newly manufactured up to very high specs, if you're willing to pay tons, as an option for amps.
So, I am supporting a darkness is more natural perspective for your choice of which 274B you prefer. Probably, all other tubes especially more expensive 274B's will support a naturally darker than that tube conclusion, as well.

 

[gefski]

Lately, I’ve returned to an old favorite rectifier for my WA6 (1st Gen, caps upgrade) and am really enjoying it. It’s the Winged C (SED) 5U3C blackplate from 1950s -1960s. Most rectifier changes with this amp are audible, and the characteristics of this one are immediately shown. It is the tightest and most controlled WA6 presentation I have. All types of drum attack, as well as electric and acoustic bass have real impact, yet still retain the beautiful, slightly warm timbre that is expected of this amp. I’m using GE 6FD7 drivers with it.

Anyone who likes rectifier rolling might really enjoy this one. I see it’s out of stock at The Tubestore right now, but can be found used at mid-low prices with a little searching. The Russian label is 5U3C, but work fine in my WA6 without an adaptor.

 

[jonathan c]

Question of etymology: if a WA6 Gen 1 has a Brimar rectifier tube and Brimar driver / power tube pair, is that Trimar?

[CV1863 KB/FE, pair CV455 KB/FB (on Xuling Lab 12A#7 --> 6DE7 adapters). This trio is absolutely stellar!]

 

[Barnstormer13]

Question of etymology: if a WA6 Gen 1 has a Brimar rectifier tube and Brimar driver / power tube pair, is that Trimar? [CV1863 KB/FE, pair CV455 KB/FB (on Xuling Lab 12A#7 --> 6DE7 adapters). This trio is absolutely stellar!]

The way I see it, you have 3 Brimars, which is like 6 mars, or as we educated types like to say, Sexamar in Latin.

 

[synfinatic]

Finally decided to thin the herd. Don't really have room for my WA6-SE anymore since I've upgraded to the WA22. Including a large selection of tubes to kickstart someone's tube rolling journey in the classifieds.