Woo's New Flagship WA33
Oct 27, 2021 at 6:35 PM Post #1,832 of 3,205
Ha - I was thinking Bartok given the pounding my wallet has taken, But Rossini would certainly put my wallet out of its misery.

Thanks for the well wishes. I meant I traded in the standard edition to Woo for the discount they offer against against the EE.

Lol.. Dont delay the inevitable.. Do the right thing, and just put it out of its misery!
 
Oct 27, 2021 at 7:18 PM Post #1,833 of 3,205
What differences do you hear between the EHX 6C45Pi & the WE 417A/5842 so far without sufficient burn in?

I definitely need more time - but they sound smoother, fuller and more extended - with greater detail. They sound more vivid, and vocals (especially female vocals) sound more real. The KR’s sound warm to me in a good way, and the drivers further increase detail without any added edge. Keep in mind I’m trying a lot of things at once - but the only thing I changed today were the drivers, and listened to the gold pin for many hours last night.

Also I have a new amp and all my tubes are burning in, so it’s hard to attribute it to just that - but that was my immediate reaction when I just swapped those tube.
 
Oct 27, 2021 at 7:26 PM Post #1,834 of 3,205
I definitely need more time - but they sound smoother, fuller and more extended - with greater detail. They sound more vivid, and vocals (especially female vocals) sound more real. The KR’s sound warm to me in a good way, and the drivers further increase detail without any added edge. Keep in mind I’m trying a lot of things at once - but the only thing I changed today were the drivers, and listened to the gold pin for many hours last night.

Also I have a new amp and all my tubes are burning in, so it’s hard to attribute it to just that - but that was my immediate reaction when I just swapped those tube.
Very nice.
Yes, I totally understand that everything you have is new so you have a long road ahead before hearing the end results.
Furthermore, as you mentioned, changing multiple things at one time could make you miss out on the benefits of another.
 
Oct 28, 2021 at 9:07 AM Post #1,836 of 3,205
Placed an order for the NOS WE 417A/5842 tubes to take the place of my EHX 6C45Pi Gold Pins and drive my EML 2A3 solid plate power tubes. Thanks for the heads up @Drewligarchy

I'm so glad u did that!
Looking forward to reading your impressions on those tubes.
 
Oct 28, 2021 at 9:46 AM Post #1,837 of 3,205
I'm so glad u did that!
Looking forward to reading your impressions on those tubes.
Thanks.
I figured instead of buying the KR HP's and 274B and changing everything at one time, it'll be easier for me to hear the differences by just changing the tubes one step at a time, especially since I'm very aquatinted with the sound of my current tube set up. Should be interesting.
 
Oct 28, 2021 at 4:07 PM Post #1,838 of 3,205
Anyone here experimented much with the 6c45 tubes? Seems like it's basically either electro-harmonix gold pin or sovtek and no other choices.

Are there any other rolling options that work well?

I've got some psvane ACME 2a3's on the way and a USAF 596 but it seems there are basically no options even as side grades for the 6c45's
 
Oct 28, 2021 at 4:30 PM Post #1,839 of 3,205
Oct 28, 2021 at 6:05 PM Post #1,840 of 3,205
I intend to write a review/comparison at some point in comparison to the Wa33 SE I had for 18 months - but need a bit more listening time, and will roll some tubes as well.

That said, @Ciggavelli said this before and it's true: The Susvara scales ALOT with the Wa33 EE (As a note, I don't have the JPS wiring so can't speak to those changes). It's amazing how much better it is! I have been an Abyss fanboy for quite some time - but now it's 1a and 1b. If you own the Susvara, I think you owe it to yourself to demo on the Elite Edition, JPS or otherwise.
 
Oct 29, 2021 at 10:44 PM Post #1,841 of 3,205
The WE417A tubes and adapters from Woo Audio do wonderful things to my WA33 Elite and Abyss Phi TC headphones as well. I used to have the old upgrade driver tubes, the Electroharmonix gold pins. I got the tubes and adapter at the end of August, when Jack Wu reached out to me and offered me a chance to buy the tubes and newly developed adapters early because he knew I'd jump at any opportunity to improve the sound of my audio chain. Woo was still in the process of manufacturing the adapters and hadn't offered them for purchase on their site then, so I didn't post about it.

The one thing you'd immediately notice after you swap in the new tubes is that they provide a big improvement to the low end of the sound spectrum. With the new tubes, the bass suddenly became much cleaner and more impactful. There's more space around each note and depth separation is clearer, all contributing to a more holographic soundscape. The difference isn't subtle. You put the tubes in, you turn 33 on, and you'll hear it immediately. There's no noise or hum from the tubes that I could hear, but for what it's worth, the only headphones I use with 33 is Abyss Phi TC, and it's not a sensitive headphones like the Utopia.

I'd have to stress that WA33 sounds amazing with the old driver tubes, but the WE417 brought it to a new level. The tubes and adapters aren't cheap, but I kinda suspect that if you already have WA33 or 33 Elite, cost isn't as big a factor, so I'd highly recommend purchasing the tubes and adapters. You'd be happy and forget about the cost when you get to listen to them.

These adapters were the first ones I purchased from Woo, so I didn't have any expectation. But man, they're well made!
 

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Oct 30, 2021 at 8:10 AM Post #1,845 of 3,205
Thank you @mahesvara for sharing your thoughts. It is hard holding out the excitement for months. It is a long process fine-tuning this adapter as we wanted to make them match the profile of the 417A/5284. We made it from the ground up (the same as the 596 adapters) because these are very special tubes and look gorgeous. The 417A/5284 is incredibly small compared to the typical 9-pin miniature, but they make a huge sound. We are happy to take the efforts to make them work so the WA33 owners can experience them and get more out of their beloved amp.

We just released some more Western Electric and they are on the site now. They are very rare and we wanted to give the opportunity to other WA33 owners as well. Raytheon 5284 offers similar sound characters and performance as the WE. You should be happy with either of them.

Jack
 

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