[GoldfishX]

Hello,
 
New WA6SE owner here. I'm getting the amp in a few days with the Sophia Princess rectifier, but it will have the stock driver tubes and I am interested in swapping these out ASAP. I have had luck with tube rolling on my Lyr and I am a fan of the Voskhod rockets (a pair of 80's gray shields have been my reference for about a year now). I'm well versed in 6922-style tubes, but a complete newb to the driver tubes the WA6SE uses. I am primarily interested in getting soundstage, then warmth from the amp (in another words, soundstage without harsh highs...main headphones are an HD600 and HD800, with the Alpha Dog and Hd-560 as "down-the-line" purchases).
 
Sorry, I know there's 125+ pages of info here, but am looking for a quick answer here. Reading about all the different driver tubes makes my head spin!
 
Also, is there a better rectifier for my needs? I know the Sophia is extremely well-regarded.
 
Edit: Max I'm looking to spend is $150-$200 for the driver tubes. Current prod or NOS, doesn't matter. Would rather save money buying 1 pair high end tubes vs 3-4 pairs of average to above average ones.
 
Thanks.

 

[illy2k]

  Hello,
 
New WA6SE owner here. I'm getting the amp in a few days with the Sophia Princess rectifier, but it will have the stock driver tubes and I am interested in swapping these out ASAP. I have had luck with tube rolling on my Lyr and I am a fan of the Voskhod rockets (a pair of 80's gray shields have been my reference for about a year now). I'm well versed in 6922-style tubes, but a complete newb to the driver tubes the WA6SE uses. I am primarily interested in getting soundstage, then warmth from the amp (in another words, soundstage without harsh highs...main headphones are an HD600 and HD800, with the Alpha Dog and Hd-560 as "down-the-line" purchases).
 
Sorry, I know there's 125+ pages of info here, but am looking for a quick answer here. Reading about all the different driver tubes makes my head spin!
 
Also, is there a better rectifier for my needs? I know the Sophia is extremely well-regarded.
 
Edit: Max I'm looking to spend is $150-$200 for the driver tubes. Current prod or NOS, doesn't matter. Would rather save money buying 1 pair high end tubes vs 3-4 pairs of average to above average ones.
 
Thanks.

I would take a look here: 
 
 
I used this as a starting point, note some rectifiers require adaptors to be compatible with WA6SE.

 

[GoldfishX]

Thanks, but it's mostly the driver tubes I need help with. I have seen that thread before, it's really informative.

 

[illy2k]

  Thanks, but it's mostly the driver tubes I need help with. I have seen that thread before, it's really informative.

No worries I saw you were asking about better rectifiers then the Sophia for your needs.
 
I am in the same boat, I have several new drivers on the way. People recommended the 6FD7 that you can get directly from Woo as a decent switch to the even the upgraded 6EM7's. I got a few different drivers off ebay and online tube stores, I am just going to roll as many as possible.

 

[GoldfishX]

I was surprised how far down she has the Sophia rated. It's below some of the Woo stock tubes, but she didn't have much positive to say about those and she sounded fairly positive on the Sophia. I will probably end up experimenting with some other rectifiers just for the fun of it, once I get the driver tubes situated.
 
Coming from 68dj/6922 Land, this is foreign territory for me.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

6922 are expensive, WA6SE tubes are far cheaper but harder to get, look for fat bottle 6FD7s to start with or the underrated 6GL7 / 6EA7 / 6EM7s.

 

[illy2k]

  I was surprised how far down she has the Sophia rated. It's below some of the Woo stock tubes, but she didn't have much positive to say about those and she sounded fairly positive on the Sophia. I will probably end up experimenting with some other rectifiers just for the fun of it, once I get the driver tubes situated.
 
Coming from 68dj/6922 Land, this is foreign territory for me.

Yeah I think Jack has a specified sound he likes and so that is how he rates the tubes he recommends. I asked Mike from woo about tubes he recommended for a certain sound signature and his main response was for me to change my cable. I just scoured ebay and bought as many as I could to fool with.

 

[Feedbacker]

The rolling has commenced here...! I've had my WA6-SE for about 6 months now, and have been running it with an EML 5U4G and a pair of 6FD7s. No complaints about that configuration, of course, but as seems to happen to all of us, I've started itching to try a few different things.
 
So to eBay I went, and next thing I'm carefully inserting a Mullard GZ32 into the thing. Nice, and I'm not at all sure I'll take it out again until it finally fizzles off to the next life. Very nice...
 
Would you who are more experienced than I expect that to be an end to my search, or would, for example, a GZ34 add anything more? And what about those occasionally-available GZ30s and GZ33s?
 
I've got a couple of 6EM7s awaiting adapters from Woo, too...

 

[Feedbacker]

...And, of course, I know I need to read Dubstep Girls rectifier guide!

 

[MIKELAP]

  The rolling has commenced here...! I've had my WA6-SE for about 6 months now, and have been running it with an EML 5U4G and a pair of 6FD7s. No complaints about that configuration, of course, but as seems to happen to all of us, I've started itching to try a few different things.
 
So to eBay I went, and next thing I'm carefully inserting a Mullard GZ32 into the thing. Nice, and I'm not at all sure I'll take it out again until it finally fizzles off to the next life. Very nice...
 
Would you who are more experienced than I expect that to be an end to my search, or would, for example, a GZ34 add anything more? And what about those occasionally-available GZ30s and GZ33s?
 
I've got a couple of 6EM7s awaiting adapters from Woo, too...

Your kidding right ¨endgame¨  that word wont stay in your dictionnary very long my friend welcome !

 

[Feedbacker]

  Your kidding right ¨endgame¨  that word wont stay in your dictionnary very long my friend welcome !

Yeah, I know! Thanks for the warm words, though!

 

[jaywillin]

well, the 6se i had regrets of letting go, is coming back to me, that's the good news
the bad news, is the buyer says it arrived DOA, which ain't good   

 
it was in fine shape when it left me

 

[Feedbacker]

Will a Mullard 5Z4GT work in a 6SE? The Woo list says 5Z4... Sorry for the newb question...

 

[jaywillin]

well, the wa6se that arrived DOA at the buyers arrived back to me today, it was just a fuse , halleluja !! that was a close one !    

 

[roskodan]

it's never just a fuse, it blew for some reason, perhaps wrongly inserted the sp274b, should mark a sign on the side where the guide pin was, are all the tubes fine? btw i'm really enjoying mine XD have a mdp my way!
 
btw with the lcds how's soundstage depth and layering depth wise wa6-se vs lyr?