Before my full review of Wa33 Elite, as there hasn't been many comparisons with the SE - I am providing some early notes. I know I've been a bit abstract with the way I have discussed "emotion", but tried to explain the best I could.
- The Wa33 Elite's coolest trick is that it can be completely liquid, full and voluptuous while stilling being incredible vivid and transparent. Notes melt together. Euphony is off the charts good - but it's still quite accurate.
- As a result, I completely understand why it's been described by some as a "feels" machine. In terms of emotional experience, music is visceral whereas many other forms of art (e.g. movies) are cerebral. What I mean by this is when you hear music, you directly feel an emotion. When you watch a movie, your brain parses the story which leads to an emotional response. The Wa33 Elite takes me closer to the emotional essence of the performance. It's presentation pushes those emotional buttons longer and harder as a result.
- Both the Wa33 SE and the Wa33 Elite provide large soundstages with excellent imaging. That said, the Wa33 SE sounds more solid state to me, whereas the Elite sounds like a tube amp through and through, in a good way. The Wa33 SE is more analytical which can be a positive or negative based on your preferences and system. With the Wa33 SE, I found myself picking apart the performance a bit more, and didn't find this with the Wa33 Elite. The Elite rather, provides a more cohesive, holistic, presentation intent on conveying the emotional intent of the music.
- I've had problems with fatigue in the past with Dave/Mscaler. The Wa33 Elite is the smoothest thing I've ever listened to without even providing a hint of listening fatigue in combination with Dave/Mscaler. I could listen to it for 5 hours straight, (and did last night). Before I received the Elite, I was considering getting a new DAC. I'm no longer considering that.
- The Wa33 Elite provides the best mids for the Abyss I've ever heard. I consider the LCD4 the gold standard in mids - and the Elite makes the Abyss mids sound like the LCD4 but with all the other characteristics (bass, texture, detail, slam, staging, treble extension) - that the Abyss is known for.
- The Wa33 Elite is signficantly more vivid than the Wa33 SE. Tonal color is bold. This is why I feel like it does such a good job with the Susvara. In some setups, I feel like the Susvara can seem a little tame and bland in the mids. The Wa33 Elite makes the mids of the Susvara more exciting to me - and allows me to have much greater appreciation for that headphone as a whole.
Two examples which I think illustrate the points above:
Batik - The Old Man and The Sea
Abyss: Piano notes melt together, tone is vivid, big, thick, rich tonal shapes from bass and drums - taps in directly to the emotional center in my brain.
Hilary Hahn - Bach Concertos
Susvara: This is how violins should sound (or at least, how I most enjoy them). Not a hint of sharpness, but reach out and touch texture and tangibility. Timbre sounds spot on.
TLDR: The Wa33 SE is an amazing amp. It was my favorite amp until I picked up the Elite Edition earlier this week
Whereas both amps get you closer to the music than almost anything else available, the Wa33 EE gets you closer to the emotional intent of the music - than I previously thought possible.
- The Wa33 Elite's coolest trick is that it can be completely liquid, full and voluptuous while stilling being incredible vivid and transparent. Notes melt together. Euphony is off the charts good - but it's still quite accurate.
- As a result, I completely understand why it's been described by some as a "feels" machine. In terms of emotional experience, music is visceral whereas many other forms of art (e.g. movies) are cerebral. What I mean by this is when you hear music, you directly feel an emotion. When you watch a movie, your brain parses the story which leads to an emotional response. The Wa33 Elite takes me closer to the emotional essence of the performance. It's presentation pushes those emotional buttons longer and harder as a result.
- Both the Wa33 SE and the Wa33 Elite provide large soundstages with excellent imaging. That said, the Wa33 SE sounds more solid state to me, whereas the Elite sounds like a tube amp through and through, in a good way. The Wa33 SE is more analytical which can be a positive or negative based on your preferences and system. With the Wa33 SE, I found myself picking apart the performance a bit more, and didn't find this with the Wa33 Elite. The Elite rather, provides a more cohesive, holistic, presentation intent on conveying the emotional intent of the music.
- I've had problems with fatigue in the past with Dave/Mscaler. The Wa33 Elite is the smoothest thing I've ever listened to without even providing a hint of listening fatigue in combination with Dave/Mscaler. I could listen to it for 5 hours straight, (and did last night). Before I received the Elite, I was considering getting a new DAC. I'm no longer considering that.
- The Wa33 Elite provides the best mids for the Abyss I've ever heard. I consider the LCD4 the gold standard in mids - and the Elite makes the Abyss mids sound like the LCD4 but with all the other characteristics (bass, texture, detail, slam, staging, treble extension) - that the Abyss is known for.
- The Wa33 Elite is signficantly more vivid than the Wa33 SE. Tonal color is bold. This is why I feel like it does such a good job with the Susvara. In some setups, I feel like the Susvara can seem a little tame and bland in the mids. The Wa33 Elite makes the mids of the Susvara more exciting to me - and allows me to have much greater appreciation for that headphone as a whole.
Two examples which I think illustrate the points above:
Batik - The Old Man and The Sea
Abyss: Piano notes melt together, tone is vivid, big, thick, rich tonal shapes from bass and drums - taps in directly to the emotional center in my brain.
Hilary Hahn - Bach Concertos
Susvara: This is how violins should sound (or at least, how I most enjoy them). Not a hint of sharpness, but reach out and touch texture and tangibility. Timbre sounds spot on.
TLDR: The Wa33 SE is an amazing amp. It was my favorite amp until I picked up the Elite Edition earlier this week
Whereas both amps get you closer to the music than almost anything else available, the Wa33 EE gets you closer to the emotional intent of the music - than I previously thought possible.
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