[HiFiGuy528]

Unboxing video if anyone is interested.
 

 

[wolfetan44]

  Unboxing video if anyone is interested.
 

Great unboxing, Mike!

 

[Shini44]

my WA7 will be with jack for service in few hours or tomorrow in case Jack wasn't around atm  took 3 days to reach USA send it from Dubai  hope it get fixed in 2-3 days max so i send  it back using fedex.

 

[MH01]

Damn, I'm so tempted to get one.

 

[HiFiGuy528]

Damn, I'm so tempted to get one.

Please join us in the playground. We have cool toys.

 

[MH01]

Please join us in the playground. We have cool toys.

I think I'm stuck at the stage of deciding between the silver and black. Both look awesome.....

 

[atomicbob]

Silver sounds better! 

 
Silver doesn't show dust as much as black. Silver matched our decor better. So look at where you intend to place the WA7. Which would look better with the intended surroundings?

 

[ariesq]

  Silver sounds better! 

 
Silver doesn't show dust as much as black. Silver matched our decor better. So look at where you intend to place the WA7. Which would look better with the intended surroundings?

How does your WA7 compare against your EC Zana Deux SE? Always wondered how well the WA7 compared against much more expensive amps.

 

[MH01]

Silver sounds better! :veryevil:

Silver doesn't show dust as much as black. Silver matched our decor better. So look at where you intend to place the WA7. Which would look better with the intended surroundings?

To be honest it will be sitting on my desk next to the iMac , so silver would really work better in that regard, and probably be hooked up to HD800, so silver again .

 

[atomicbob]

  How does your WA7 compare against your EC Zana Deux SE? Always wondered how well the WA7 compared against much more expensive amps.

I'm still getting my head around (inside) the ZDSE. Stock Russian Tung-Sol 6SL7 driver still. Tubes only have approx 60 hours on them. Keep in mind this is comparing a transformer output 6c45pi design against an OTL 6c33c-b design with serious drive and low impedance capability. The ZDSE offers more air around the instruments and in the room, the first thing I have noticed. Being an OTL fan, so far it appears to have the OTL magic on steroids. I have yet to get beyond the T90 and HD800 for listening so I don't have anything to say about the HE-500 or D5000 in my collection. But last night I spent the evening listening to the WA7 + T90 for several hours. I won't be parting with the WA7 anytime soon, probably never. One point to note about both the WA7 and ZDSE. Both present music from a silent background. No noise; no hum, no hiss, no microphonics, no extraneous noise in either. This is similar to how black a flat screen display will get from which to contrast the visual presentation. The silent background is very important to me for the auditory contrast. My listening environment can get down to 25 dBA, 35 dBC +/- a few dB.

 

[groovyd]

Have had the WA7 with EH tubes for maybe 6 months now.  Turned it one today and the left channel was silent.  Never before had I noticed any channel imbalance but today it was nearly absent.  Turning it up a bit I could still hear it but it distorted badly.  Removed the tubes and reversed left and right and sure enough the right channel went silent.  Must be the tubes I thought with the 'bad' tube looking silently darker inside.  Bummer.  never had a tube amp before, is this how fast they go bad and so abruptly?  Anyway left it playing for an hour and when I came back the channel is operating mostly normally now albeit slightly lower in volume then the good tube.  I never needed any tube warm-up before to get perfectly balanced channels, is this how they age?
 
I use the amp weekdays from 10-5 most every weekday.  Is this a normal aging or is there something wrong with these tubes?  Is this something that Jack would warrant against? like I said I have had them around 6 mos. and one channel is louder then the other even after fully warm.

 

[groovyd]

... also is there a way to measure and check the voltages and biases given to the tubes to assure they aren't being over/under driven out of spec before I damage a second set of tubes?  Perhaps the heater is too hot or cool or something isn't balanced?

 

[atomicbob]

  Have had the WA7 with EH tubes for maybe 6 months now.  Turned it one today and the left channel was silent.  Never before had I noticed any channel imbalance but today it was nearly absent.  Turning it up a bit I could still hear it but it distorted badly.  Removed the tubes and reversed left and right and sure enough the right channel went silent.  Must be the tubes I thought with the 'bad' tube looking silently darker inside.  Bummer.  never had a tube amp before, is this how fast they go bad and so abruptly?  Anyway left it playing for an hour and when I came back the channel is operating mostly normally now albeit slightly lower in volume then the good tube.  I never needed any tube warm-up before to get perfectly balanced channels, is this how they age?
 
I use the amp weekdays from 10-5 most every weekday.  Is this a normal aging or is there something wrong with these tubes?  Is this something that Jack would warrant against? like I said I have had them around 6 mos. and one channel is louder then the other even after fully warm.

When you look at the tubes, you say one looks slightly darker than the other. Are you describing the condition of the tube when off, or the filament brightness when on?
 
Without other information, I'd say you have one tube that probably had a manufacturing defect. Welcome to the wonderful world of tubes. I bought 4 NOS Chatham 2399 tubes for my WA3. Two sounded pretty good, with a little residual noise, one sounded very good, and one had a manufacturing defect that caused it to arc over, causing the connected headphones to make a VERY LOUD POP as if someone had fired a .22 caliber revolver. My rule is to test unknown tubes with an inexpensive and disposable headphone before connecting the really good ones. All had tested good by the seller.

 

[M76NYC]

Hey everyone.  "Woo-hoooo" is right!  Love the WA7 with my new HD650s and it has only been a few hours!  Received my WA7 a week earlier than I expected (ordered 10/15, delivered 10/29, ETA was first week of November).  Now a quick question to get the best sound out of my setup.
 
I am using my year-old Samsung laptop (Windows7) with Foobar 2000 to play my FLAC files, which are 16-24bit/44-192kHz, through the USB 2.0 port with the Kimber Kable.  I have installed the Foobar WASAPI output support component version 3.2.3 and the USB driver from Woo Audio.
 
1.)  The WA7 manual says to use ASIO output, but I read that WASAPI (event) is better.  When I change the output setting in Foobar from "DS Speakers: (USB 2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio)" to "WASAPI (event): Speakers: (USB 2.0 High-Speed True HD Audio)" and restart Foobar, I receive the following error >>> "Unrecoverable playback error: Invalid argument".  This happens with all settings (16-bit, 24-bit, even 32-bit).  However, "WASAPI (push)" works, but is it as good as "WASAPI (event)"?  Anyone else do a workaround for this?  Perhaps use J.River Media Center, or is this a limitation in my setup?
 
2.)  Which bit-rate should I leave my output setting set to?  Most of my files are 16-bit, but is there any harm in leaving it at 24?
 
3.)  Any other "must-do" settings in Foobar to get the most out of my setup?  Anything I should be turning off/on as a rule of thumb?  I know it can be customized to our hearts content, but are there any things I just MUST change from the standard setup?
 
Thanks in advance for any insight.  Looking forward to burning in my HD650s and perhaps getting a pair of the EH Gold tubes.  I should have ordered them with the amp...lots of good feedback on those in this forum.  ('Upgraditis' has already set in and it's been one day!)
 
-M76NYC

 

[M76NYC]

One more thing...I am using the high-impedance setting on the WA7 with the HD650.  The volume at 11-12 o'clock is good for me with this setting.  At low-impedance I need to go to 1 o'clock.  Is either one better to use? 
 
Thanks!
 
-M76NYC