[mhcarlos]

Hi,
 
I'm looking to buy my first desktop amp for my K701s (not fully burnt-in yet, but I love the sound already). I'm thinking of getting the WA6 from Woo Audio.
 
But I thought that I might as well make sure to get an amp that will raise the quality of my other cans as well. Currently, I just have:
 
K701
SR225
Ety ER4P
ATH-M50s
Koss KSC-35
 
So my questions are:
 
1. Is the WA6 my best option around that price range? Are there any other amps I should look into?
 
2. If I get the WA6, should I go ahead and just order the Sophia upgrade also? Or is the stock WA6 fine?
 
3. Is the WA6 worth the upgrade from WA3 actually?
 
Also, I currently just have an SR-71 and a Porta Corda II -- are these little amps ok for the K701s for now as I look for a desktop amp? The K701s should be fully burnt in after a few days, but my shopping habits tend to take me a week or so of research so I think I won't have a desktop amp for two to three weeks or so (especially if shipping takes long).
 
Thanks in advance!

 

[wind016]

Dude, I got an AKG K701 with various other headphones. My Woo Audio 6 just arrived in the mail at another place where I have been residing. I will get it set up tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

 

[mhcarlos]

Great. Thanks wind016!

 

[wind016]

I just got my Woo 6. It's been warmed up for several hours. My ears have finally started to get used to it. I have been using a solid state amp, Ibasso D10. At first (most like due to the amp first warming up) the amp sounded way too warm for my liking for my K701s, Denons, or Audio Technicas.  I noticed that there is some buzzing with in my Audio Technica ESW10JPN, but they are portable headphones. I also had to put the volume of my AKGs to almost the max. However, the sound was just as expansive as with my D10.
 
After about an hour or two, I still did not like the warmness of the amp. Then after about 4 hours, I was really digging what I was hearing. I do not know whether I was getting used to the amp, whether the amp finally warmed up, or both. I could play my AKGs at 1-2 o clock and that was plenty loud for me compared to 5 o clock in the beginning.  The highs became very clear. The amp sounded much MUCH more natural than my D10 while still retaining all the resolution.

 

[mhcarlos]

Thanks wind016. I don't know much about amps yet, but based on what I've read here so far, it sounds like your ears are either getting used to the sound or the WA6 was just getting warmed up for the first couple of hours (and maybe needs some burn in). 
 
BTW, since I wasn't getting feedback, I actually almost bought a solid-state amp -- the Matrix M-Stage -- and save the tube amp research for a later purchase, but the M-Stage is currently outof-stock so maybe it's not meant to be...

 

[Dojomoto]

"Dude, I got an AKG K701" + "My Woo Audio 6 just arrived in the mail" contributes greatly to the sound you heard changing from when you 1st plugged in the setup to the big difference you heard 4 hours later with these 2 items. They are both new, and both need time to "burn in" (or "run in" as some folks call it), and what wind016 experienced pretty much proves what others say over and over in various threads here on Head-Fi. The sound will continue to change the more hours you play music (or even, some say, sound, such as white/pink noise etc.) through either or both of them.
 After reading through most of this thread http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/428570/woo-audio-amp-owner-unite a regular poster there with a WooAudio WA6 and 701s, Xcalibur255 , would be the person I would direct you to with a lot of 1st hand experience with that setup. He/She also has an excellent experience and knowledge of tube rolling with that amp and headphones.
 
Good luck and happy listening !

 

[Piemur]

You can get M-stage from ebay. Just saw them yesterday

 

[SP Wild]

 
Quote:

I just got my Woo 6. It's been warmed up for several hours. My ears have finally started to get used to it. I have been using a solid state amp, Ibasso D10. At first (most like due to the amp first warming up) the amp sounded way too warm for my liking for my K701s, Denons, or Audio Technicas.  I noticed that there is some buzzing with in my Audio Technica ESW10JPN, but they are portable headphones. I also had to put the volume of my AKGs to almost the max. However, the sound was just as expansive as with my D10.
 
After about an hour or two, I still did not like the warmness of the amp. Then after about 4 hours, I was really digging what I was hearing. I do not know whether I was getting used to the amp, whether the amp finally warmed up, or both. I could play my AKGs at 1-2 o clock and that was plenty loud for me compared to 5 o clock in the beginning.  The highs became very clear. The amp sounded much MUCH more natural than my D10 while still retaining all the resolution.

When I first got my MingDa tube amp I was like, OK not bad - overly euphonic....3 moths later I can't live without this amp.  Burn in may be a debate with solid state, but in my books with tubes there is no questioning.

 

[carledwards]

I don't care for the 701/WA6 combination. Sort of "blah" to my ears. I LOVE the WA6 with my Grados, however. And I still like the 701 best with the Heed Canamp.

 

[DoingOK]

 

[DoingOK]

I'm very happy with the combination so far.

 

[mhcarlos]

@carledwards -- Thanks. I heard about the Heed Canamp, though I also read that the new consensus is the M-Stage now (admittedly, I still need to do more reading)  
 
@Piemur -- I was there yesterday on Ebay and sent a message to coolfungadget and he said the new stock will come in on June 23 (come to think of it that's just next week, so I guess if I order now I'll get it in two to three weeks)
 
@SP WIld -- I saw your feedback about your BCL on the M-Stage review page and that's actually one of the reasons why I thought I should just pick up an M-Stage anyway (also because I've received little enthusiasm for the WA6 + K701). It sounds like you really highly recommend the Mind Da? Not a fan of the aesthetics though I know that has nothing to do with the sound (LOL).
 
@Dojomoto -- Thanks. I'll try to seek out Xcalibur255...
 
One question though about solid-state amps:
 
I also listened to a few songs on the K701 (only 80+ hours of burn-in this morning -- I've been playing it through my entire iTunes library). So I plugged it to the Mac through my SR-71 and I'm actually really pleased. The SR-71 does make the sound more crisp and clear, the individual instruments more distinct (and I've noticed this in my other cans as well). But is getting the M-Stage a big improvement over the SR-71? Or should I go straight to tubes?
 
Off-topic: One thing I observed is that I actually sometimes prefer the Porta Corda II (got it cheaper on a Headfi group buy when I first started lurking here). It's not as "clean-sounding" as my SR-71, but it seems to make the sound fuller (especially on my Etys).
 
Thanks again for the feedback!
 
 

 

[mhcarlos]

@DoingOk -- Thanks. Nice photo! What's with the cherry trim (did you do that yourself) and what's the device in front of your AKGs?

 

[K_19]

My WA6 (stock) did very well with the K701 when I had it, but I also felt that the synergy there was very dependent on every other component, such as the source, tubes, interconnects etc.  K701's like that; it's extremely finicky with the overall setup and it may take some time for the owner to find the right synergy... this makes it very frustrating for some users, but when you do get it right it's great.
 
But yeah.  Provided the right synergy, WA6 sounds great with K701.

 

[DoingOK]

Quote:

@DoingOk -- Thanks. Nice photo! What's with the cherry trim (did you do that yourself) and what's the device in front of your AKGs?

Thanks.   I had the bloodwood trim made for it from another stereo forum member.   He made some pieces for my two-channel rig so I asked him to try his handiwork on my amplifier.  Exceptional quality.   The device in front of the cans is a Logitech 1100 remote which operates everything in my listening room (TV, Wadia, stereo, etc.)
 
My Woo gets fed from the setup below: