[kyotousa]

Gosh, I just bought WA5LE, then there comes WA33.... the road to perfect headphone sound is cash-sucking.

Why did you buy an imperfect unit tho?

 

[ThanatosVI]

Does the WA 33 need matched tubes, or would you simply exchange a single tube if one is defective?

 

[Bonddam]

Hey did you all have ups and downs with fresh tubes? I noticed some days it sound crystal clear and other days a bit dull. I’m under the 50 hours of listening. My experience I’m guessing is part of the fresh tubes, the internals should be fully burned in.

 

[Bonddam]

Does the WA 33 need matched tubes, or would you simply exchange a single tube if one is defective?

I would think matched even if you had a tube that matched it would not be burned in at same amount of hours. What tubes do you need to replace? I have a bunch I’m not using sell at good price. Have stock tubes and EML and PSVane output tubes that I’m selling.

 

[pippen99]

EML says burn in takes anywhere from 100-300 hours. I think my 2A3 mesh did not reach full potential until recently when I passed 350 hrs. I can only guess that would apply to the 300B 2.5V but that would seem a reasonable guess.

 

[joseph69]

Hey did you all have ups and downs with fresh tubes? I noticed some days it sound crystal clear and other days a bit dull. I’m under the 50 hours of listening. My experience I’m guessing is part of the fresh tubes, the internals should be fully burned in.

Yes, I did, and still do with insufficiently burned in tubes.
Also, at this point with my tubes, I don't fault them being they're very well burned in. I fault my mood, as well as too much listening.

EML says burn in takes anywhere from 100-300 hours. I think my 2A3 mesh did not reach full potential until recently when I passed 350 hrs. I can only guess that would apply to the 300B 2.5V but that would seem a reasonable guess.

I don't exactly how many hours I have on my 2A3 solid plates, but I've been using them since the purchase of my WA33 which I own over 1-1/2yrs now, and I absolutely recall when my tubes reached their potential which was +/- 4mos ago. I also believe the burn in of the WA33 itself was a big contribution as well.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I would think matched even if you had a tube that matched it would not be burned in at same amount of hours. What tubes do you need to replace? I have a bunch I’m not using sell at good price. Have stock tubes and EML and PSVane output tubes that I’m selling.

Hi there,

I personally don't have a Wa 33, atm I am still informing myself about it and other amps with comparable performance.
During these thoughts I also came to the scenario "what if ONE tube dies?" - to calculate running costs over time compared to other amps.

Especially if one has expensive upgrade tubes it makes a huge difference if you need to replace only one or all of the same type.

 

[Roasty]

Anyone here tried both the dna stellaris and wa33?

So far, I've spoken to two guys who have tried both these amps and they say the stellaris wins hands down.

I had a chance to try the wa33 with the susvara for a short while the other day, source was a Dave. Pretty impressive..

 

[gfwyzxj]

I have tried abyss 1266 tc and susvara with stellaris in different occasions. Source is the same - Dave + HMS but with different brands of cables. They were both connected with XLR to Dave.

For susvara WA33 wins by a wide margin - more slams, more pronounced base with wider sound stage. This is a standard WA33 with upgraded tubes though (takatsuki 274 + kr 2a3 hp). For abyss, WA33 still wins to my ear but the gap is narrower. I believe this is due to the fact that stellaris can only output 1.8w vs (up to) 10w of WA33, and susvara really need the power to shine. At this caliber only a few other amps such as Italian Viva 845 can deliver something similar, but I haven't got a chance to try that one.

At the end I went with WA33 Elite which should arrive in a week

 

[number1sixerfan]

Anyone here tried both the dna stellaris and wa33?

So far, I've spoken to two guys who have tried both these amps and they say the stellaris wins hands down.

I had a chance to try the wa33 with the susvara for a short while the other day, source was a Dave. Pretty impressive..

I have tried abyss 1266 tc and susvara with stellaris in different occasions. Source is the same - Dave + HMS but with different brands of cables. They were both connected with XLR to Dave.

For susvara WA33 wins by a wide margin - more slams, more pronounced base with wider sound stage. This is a standard WA33 with upgraded tubes though (takatsuki 274 + kr 2a3 hp). For abyss, WA33 still wins to my ear but the gap is narrower. I believe this is due to the fact that stellaris can only output 1.8w vs (up to) 10w of WA33, and susvara really need the power to shine. At this caliber only a few other amps such as Italian Viva 845 can deliver something similar, but I haven't got a chance to try that one.

At the end I went with WA33 Elite which should arrive in a week

I've not tried both, but I can attest to the fact that both the Susvara and TC seem to benefit greatly from the WA33's extra power. The amp I had previously had around 4w and they sounded great with it, but they definitely sound better with the extra power. The change was more noticeable than with my other headphones.

Would still actually like to hear the Stellaris amp one day though. Definitely looks interesting.

 

[Roasty]

@gfwyzxj and @number1sixerfan, thanks for your inputs!

Apologies, I forgot to add include that the two guys I spoke to said the Stellaris wins hands down but for pairing with the Utopia.

Your inputs are still extremely helpful though, as the Abyss is still going to feature heavily in my lineup, so whichever amp is in my consideration will have to be able to drive the Abyss well.

The other consideration is aesthetics.. The WA33 really looks the business. I'm not entirely sure about the blue chassis of the stellaris. Had emailed DNA a few days ago and unfortunately the blue is not up for change to black/gunmetal..

 

[ThanatosVI]

@gfwyzxj and @number1sixerfan, thanks for your inputs!

Apologies, I forgot to add include that the two guys I spoke to said the Stellaris wins hands down but for pairing with the Utopia.

Your inputs are still extremely helpful though, as the Abyss is still going to feature heavily in my lineup, so whichever amp is in my consideration will have to be able to drive the Abyss well.

The other consideration is aesthetics.. The WA33 really looks the business. I'm not entirely sure about the blue chassis of the stellaris. Had emailed DNA a few days ago and unfortunately the blue is not up for change to black/gunmetal..

The WA 33 looks the most like the Statement product that it is.
A real beast!

 

[gfwyzxj]

Just adding my comments here for people who's exploring Woo's TOTL amps. Here is my subjective comparison between WA234 MK2 (stock tube, 300B) vs WA33 standard (upgraded tube). Same source - Dave + HMS and same IC/PCs. Headphones are Susvara w/ stock cable and abyss 1266 tc with jps superconductor.

What I liked about WA234:
More tube selections (you can choose between 2A3, 300B, and others)
Even more powerful which is a bit (10% probably) more beneficial for susvara - more slams/bass towards lower end. For Abyss I feel the power ceiling is already reached so the difference if subtle here if any.
A bit better separation of instruments - likely due the mono block design? WA33 is no slouch here due to the full balanced design vs single-ended of WA234.

What I didn't like about WA234:
Transparency took a hit, music rendition is a bit less refined - likely due to the stock 300B maybe?
Two volume knobs - this is what really bothers me (yes I'm lazy) and I found it's a bit difficult for me to tune a perfect balanced left/right channel volume with this setup. It's doable for sure, just took me more time.
Higher overall cost as you need 2 matched power cables vs 1 for WA33

In the end I went with WA33 Elite as I prefer a unified volume control and subjectively better looking. Tube selection does not bother me that much as the KR HPs are great tubes. Granted there is no much of 6C45s out there but the EH ones do their job just fine. For 274B you can't go wrong with either the Japanese one of KR HPs, both offer stellar results.

 

[ahossam]

It would be nice if there's a comparison between WA33 standard vs WA33 Elite, it seems people who own WA33 standard will upgrade to WA33 Elite in the end.

 

[joseph69]

More tube selections (you can choose between 2A3, 300B, and others)

You can now choose between a 2A3 & this 300B for the WA33.
EDIT: This 300B