[atomicbob]

Listening to Wycliffe Gordon's Dreams of New Orleans, Chesky Records Binaural+ through the WA7 with Beyerdynamic T90 headphones. One of the most realistic sound reproduction experiences with headphones to date to my ears. Just incredible.

 

[daigo]

That seems to be a design oversight to not have something hold the glass section in place.  

 

[mrbigsby]

Good point on the glass, I didn't really notice it, like currawong I don't really need to touch it much save turning it on. Maybe some little clear rubber feet on the underside of the glass might help?

 

[V-Duh]

I was quite surprised as well.  I was burning it in, getting used to it, etc. at home for a couple weeks but never put the glass on.  I finally took it in to work, put the glass on and thought I did something wrong.  Flipped the glass over and it still wiggled around.  Definitely brought out the OCD in me -- stuff is supposed to STAY PUT.  But like the others said, once the amp is in place you don't touch the glass and you never notice the issue.  Plus, if you touch the glass, you'll put FINGER PRINTS on it.
 
Must...find...Woo...cloth...must...clean...

 

[RavenDog]

I pulled the trigger on the WA7 plus the gold tips yesterday.  Had strongly considered buying it when it was first announced @ $799 but I thought nooooo...why not wait until it goes up to $999 and get the more expensive one.  

 

[CongeeBear]

It's funny, I noticed the glass' potential for wiggle the moment I assembled the amp in all it's glory. It bugged me at first, but that glass block is just too damn beautiful-looking.
 
So beautiful in fact that I was willing to ignore the fact that the glass block is just ever so slightly wider than the aluminum case.
 
I suspect that adding an additional design element to hold the glass in place would take away from the simplicity of the design, ruining the overall aesthetics. Especially since the glass tends to reflect and magnify everything in an awesome way.
 
Most of the time, you'll never be touching the glass anyways, so it's a bit of a moot point. DEFINITELY not for portable use, if the weight of the thing didn't give that away already.

 

[atomicbob]

It's funny, I noticed the glass' potential for wiggle the moment I assembled the amp in all it's glory. It bugged me at first, but that glass block is just too damn beautiful-looking.

So beautiful in fact that I was willing to ignore the fact that the glass block is just ever so slightly wider than the aluminum case.

I suspect that adding an additional design element to hold the glass in place would take away from the simplicity of the design, ruining the overall aesthetics. Especially since the glass tends to reflect and magnify everything in an awesome way.

Most of the time, you'll never be touching the glass anyways, so it's a bit of a moot point. DEFINITELY not for portable use, if the weight of the thing didn't give that away already.

Well put CongeeBear. I had the same response upon receiving my WA7. The wonderful sound quality made minor quibbles seem inconsequential.

 

[RapidPulse]

Ha. I guess we are all a little OCD. I went through the same process too. But I haven't really thought about the wiggle since the first day ( until now). Just enjoying my music while bathing in the sweet glow. Nice to know that mine isn't atypical though.

 

[AustinHorn]

It really is too bad Jack or his team didn't design a lip of some sort around the glass but to be honest until the issue was mentioned I never gave it a thought. This is not a portable amp & the glass is quite heavy so once it is in place it will stay there. I have a glass topped coffee table that just sits in place too & it has no lip either. My only worry is that, though unlikely (given my particular set up), someone could bump into the amp & push the glass hard & risk damaging or breaking the tubes. A lip might prevent that.  in my case the risk is tiny, but I'm sure it could & will happen to somebody. 
 
Heat is a zero issue for me.  I have several ss & tube amps that get hotter than the WA7. Heck, I could cook my breakfast on my Audio GD Phoenix. That is not an amp that you want to touch once it gets warmed 

 up! Anyway the over-heating problem, is a non-starter, at least on my particular WA7.

 

[AustinHorn]

Quote:

I pulled the trigger on the WA7 plus the gold tips yesterday.  Had strongly considered buying it when it was first announced @ $799 but I thought nooooo...why not wait until it goes up to $999 and get the more expensive one.  

I like the way you think, must be an Austin or at least Texas type of thinking! 

 
I screwed up & bought it to early & got stuck with the cheap one. Now I'm beating myself up about it!

 

[Sylafari]

The glass drives me insane sometimes, I move it to the perfect position everyday and leave it that way and by some mystical force, it always ends up slightly lopsided sooner or later. 

 

[mrbigsby]

Low profile clear rubber feet on the inner corners of the top metal work well!!

In regard to the glass moving and smashing tubes, it doesnt seem it would likely happen as the tubes have a kind of metal skirt around their bases. Like a round lip coming off the metal base plate.

 

[CongeeBear]

I wonder though if a really strong push wouldn't push that glass clear over the metal skirt and pulverize them tubes..
 
Though I doubt anyone has the intestinal fortitude to try, lol

 

[groovyd]

Ordered my silver WA7 recently, can't wait to get it.  One question that isn't entirely clear to me.  Is the RCA as outputs a fixed line level out or does the front volume knob allow you to adjust the RCA out?  If the volume knob does not allow adjustment does the driver for a Macbook OSX allow volume control via the mac keyboard or sound preferences on the computer?
 
I plan to hook this up to some powered speakers which don't have a convenient volume control (Paradigm MilleniaOne CT) other then a remote control which isn't very responsive and my Beyer T5p switching between them at will.  Very much hoping this allows me to toggle easily and quickly since sometimes i am listening to music through the speakers and a skype call comes in which is better to answer via headphones to prevent microphone feedback.
 
Currently I use a Headroom Ultra Desktop Amp which has volume controlled RCA out and a front switch to turn off the speakers leaving just the headphones on.  This is nearly a perfect configuration for my use.

 

[Currawong]

The DAC output is fixed unfortunately and you can't control it with your computer either.