[No Deal]

WA6 (maxed)/Micro DAC/K701. This is very good listening. A jazz lover's delight. This sounds good even before the rolling has started. I will still try the WA4 or a Singlepower early next year but for now, this is very good!

Now if I could just figure out how to get a turntable on my desk and still have room to do work.

 

[Skylab]

This amp is very tempting to me - if I didn't already own two of its 2 main competitors, the Darkvoice 337 and the Singlepower Extreme, I would get one for sure.

What tubes did you get with it stock?

 

[No Deal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif This amp is very tempting to me - if I didn't already own two of its 2 main competitors, the Darkvoice 337 and the Singlepower Extreme, I would get one for sure. What tubes did you get with it stock?

This is my first venture into tubes so forgive me if I get this wrong but I believe that the stock rectifier is a Sovtek 5U4G and the drive tubes are RCA 6DE7s.

I plan to replace the Sovtek today with a RCA black plate 5U4G that I bought. I will use it until I can get a metal base GZ34, a Brimar 5R4GY to try. The GZ33 and 32 are also on my list. From what I have read, one of these rectifiers will get me where I need to go.

 

[takezo]

you'll find, eventually, that the 5U4G are at the bottom of the SQ factor
concerning smooth mid blooms, tight controlled bass, and refined sparkling
highs...even the big bottle english versions disappoint...

the 5U4G is best for the long burn-in sacrifice tube...

i've been tweaking with the power cord and some older neglected 5v tubes
on my wa-6 maxed lately and i'm impressed that it can even compete in terms of
SQ with the mpx-3 slam se in many areas...soundstage/headroom, imaging, mid range
bloom, prat, and low level resolution is nearly on par using certain tubes and
powercord.. the area it loses, regardless of tweaking, is sheer power...
the mpx-3 pumps out sound almost effortlessly... the wa-6 is no slouch either
but struggles slightly with complex symphonic passages...another area
the wa-6 can't compete in is the tube rolling options...the mpx-3 slam se has
almost limitless possible options with new adapters coming out annually...
it's the supermacro-4 of the midrange line of home amps...

the wa-4 maxed or the wa-2 maxed will better compare with the mpx-3
slam se on SQ alone, imo...

 

[No Deal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by takezo /img/forum/go_quote.gif you'll find, eventually, that the 5U4G are at the bottom of the SQ factor concerning smooth mid blooms, tight controlled bass, and refined sparkling highs...even the big bottle english versions disappoint... the 5U4G is best for the long burn-in sacrifice tube...

I thought that at the least as you have suggested the 5U4G would be a good burn in tube and there is a chance that it may be o.k. anyway. I believe that I read a post by SACDlover indicating that he liked the tube.

If you look at my earlier post I have been guided by one of your posts about tube selection. I plan to buy a Mullard 5r4gy ($38 - better sound stage??) today to replace the 5U4G at some point. Hopefully during the burn in I can come by the GZ tubes.

I wonder just how much better an amp gets for an additional $600-$1000. I believe that those of us who like this kind of equipment and are fortunate enough to be able to enjoy it, sometimes become willing to pay more to get less. I once did this with home audio to an extreme. When you look at it objectively, what you already have exceeds the expectations of most. Knowing where this all leads and as much as I already like this amp, as I have said previously, I still intend to get another amp.

 

[takezo]

please allow me to clarify: the 5U4G tubes are good tubes, nothing to sneeze
at...but on the wa-6 maxed, it doesn't provide that "magical" auditory nirvana
that all of us covet...at least not for me...bottom is huge but soft, mids are
grainy and the highs not note worthy...

the brimar 5R4GY are excellent and they do seem to be significantly
better than the rca brands (kinda resembles the 2c51 tube characteristics):
better tonality, refined highs and very large soundstage...but they don't
have the mid bloom that a gz32 or some others provide...
i've since noticed that the volex power cord provides a more transparent
and bloomy mid that other much more expensive cords fell short of and this
can provide a more "meat" or bloomy mid-region with weight to the notes...
this works well with the 5R4GY...as well as the gz33, gz34 and gz37...tubes
that have a U-shaped sonic characteristic...

Quote:

...Knowing where this all leads and as much as I already like this amp, as I have said previously, I still intend to get another amp.

it never stops...well, not until the wife stops you...

 

[No Deal]

I bought the GZ32 and the Brimar 5r4gy today.

 

[dcstep]

I'm closing in on 100-hours on my stock Woo WA6/AKG K701 combination, feeding it mainly vinyl through my Pro-ject RM10/Sumiko Blackbird setup. I'm not a tube roller, but it's great to see you guys having fun and when I need to replace them I'll consider your guidance here. My digital source is a modified Oppo.

I'm finding this a great setup for all types of music, from Nora Jones to Clifford Brown to Wagner. The AKGs must be amazing at 300-hours because mine sounded great right out of the box.

Dave

 

[jaduffy007]

great info!

Mind if ask?...how much is the "maxed" version of the Woo6?

Anyone try a VH labs power cord?

I'm down to two choices...SP Extreme or Woo6.

thanks!

 

[jamato8]

I would email Jack of Woo audio.

How long is everyone finding that the upgraded 6 is taking to settle in? How is the bass sounding to you? Are you getting good layering and depth?

 

[takezo]

hey jamato8, i've found that my modded wa-6 took approx. 750+ hrs. to settle
into a sweet spot...i've also found out, serendipitously, that a very cheap
powercord called the volex 17604, a shielded 14 awg cord, works best to bring
out the transparency and detail of the mid-range...i'd been using a 12awg diy
oyaide tunami cord before but the volex seems to compliment the maxed wa-6
much more in the mid and lower mid-region...without compromising SQ in other
areas that i can discern...the $10 volex cord outdoes the $200+ diy tunami
for the maxed wa-6...

the bass is tight and focused more than ever...it's tube dependent but i'm
finding it is comparable to the mpx3 slam se with all drivers except the kenrad
6sn7, which has the deepest controlled bass...there's a weight to the lower
mid-range and transparency/texture detail is fleshed out better than it has
ever been, especially with the cheap powercord...

soundstage, headroom, depth, 3-d layering effect is on par with the $2K+
mpx-3 unit, if you can believe that...the mpx-3 has more definite power
leading to a discernibly better separation of notes, especially in condensed
or complex layers of music like symphonies...but in small ensemble music it
requires a/b comparison to find any differences in layering and soundstage...
and before i started using the volex powercord, the mpx3 seemed to have
better weight to the notes in the mid to lower-mid region but not so anymore...
i've rolled both the diy tunami and the volex on the mpx3 but found
negligible differences in tone...low level resolution is outstanding in both
units...you can clearly discern realistic sounds of high-hats or cymbols chiming
or cow-bells, even at whisper volumes...plastic sounding brass is a thing of
the past on these two units...

the mpx-3 slam se is the better unit than the wa-6 by sheer power in
rendering better separation of notes and the tube-rolling options available to
the owner, but in terms of the price to performance ratio, the wa-6 is hard
to beat...

 

[jamato8]

Do you know what capacitance they used for the driver section of the 6EW7? I know they were using 220uf where I find better bass performance and enhanced fine mids with 470uf. I also think it would be off the scale if there was enough room to use inductance loading instead of resistor loading of the input tube. Also, for smooth and powerful presentation battery biased cathode on the driver tube is hard to beat. When i get settled I will try this out but I have never found it to be wanting. The idle current keeps the batteries charged and they will last in the position for years.

 

[No Deal]

O.k. I'm convinced. I'm buying the cord right now.

 

[takezo]

yes, the 220 uF was used for the drivers...i decided to use the 470 uF to
experiment and it's turned out fine...great lower freq. detail retrieval...

i've never worked with battery biased cathode, so i'm very interested in
your assessment when you get around to it...pics will be nice too!

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by takezo /img/forum/go_quote.gif yes, the 220 uF was used for the drivers...i decided to use the 470 uF to experiment and it's turned out fine...great lower freq. detail retrieval... i've never worked with battery biased cathode, so i'm very interested in your assessment when you get around to it...pics will be nice too!

What would blow your mind is inductance loading. there is such power and freedom of drive. Why it isn't often used is totally beyond me except off the shelf 150H 10ma inductors aren't too common and they get expensive to order. I use 150H 8ma but if the current draw is too much then I am out of luck and go to the best resistor I can find for loading the plate.