Disclaimer: Still testing, but here are my present thoughts!
I'm really liking the WE 396A
ALOT, I'm listening to them right now. They are very musical and at the same time provide great detail and imaging/ sound staging with a good extension range from top to bottom. They also play everything well whatever the quality of the recording (within reason of course.) They are definitely a top-tier tube based on my WA2 setup and listening experience. I have yet to find a genre of music (e.g. Rock, Blues, Jazz, Classical etc.) where they have failed me. I had initially thought that they may (at some point) have a congestion issue when playing complex passages of music, but this has not been the case. In fact, I have been highly impressed by the balance of tonality, musicality, clarity, and detail retrieval during complex music iterations (may be the best I've heard so far on my platform.)
- The WE 396A provide increased musicality, slightly better tonality with a much better tolerance for recording quality variations.
- The "Holy Grail" Reflector provide better detail retrieval at the cost of some musicality and slightly less tonality. They reward higher quality recordings and at the same time expose flaws in lessor productions.
- The Amperex 6922 PQ provide generally good overall performance with slightly less musicality and tonality, and a slightly increased congestion to some complex music passages.
I may need to do a A/B/C comparison in the near future between the WE 396A, "Holy Grail" Reflectors, and the Amperex PQ 6922, but I would rate (at the moment) the Amperex PQ 6922 #3 after the other two.