[jonathan c]

Well the issue is that I don't have much of a reference. I don't know which tubes affect the signs in what way. I figured each pair would have their own sound signature but it seems like instead it's the type of tube that does most of the heavy lifting? For example, I found this:

"6DE7 - (require warmth and bass (more punch and bloom)) Beyer T1, Mrspeakers Ether C (non flow), Sennheiser HD800
6EW7 - (require soundstage, with little emphasis on bass and seperation) Hifiman HE1000se, TH900, Sennheiser HD820, Focal Utopia
6FD7 - (a little bass but more emphasis on definition, with big soundstage) Hifiman HE1000se, Sennheiser HD800s
6SN7 - (require highs and very good soundstage and seperation, bass definition) Hifiman HE1000se, HD820, Meze Empyean (from memory)"

All I can say was that the HD800s experience with the Feliks Audio Echo II was amazing. The treble was tamed, the bass pretty qualitative., warm but with authoritative presence without affecting the signature much. So anything that could get me in that ballpark would be very interesting to explore.

First, with Woo WA6 (1st Gen or 2nd Gen), the rectifier tube will have a large impact on overall sound quality. Depending on your budget, you should look at Brimar CV1863 ($$) or Mullard GZ34 ($$$). For the 6DE7s, if you can find Sylvania ‘yellow print’, buy!

 

[vaporsynthwave]

has anyone tried any 12SN7 (with adapters) on the WA6SE 2nd gen? I'm wondering how high the gain is compared to 13EM7's or the 13FD7's I'm currently using. call me crazy but I've been using some of my less efficient iem's on the woo and enjoying it thoroughly.

Also mistakenly bought some NOS but unmatched RCA 13DE7's. I don't detect any imbalance but have been wondering if it's risky to use them

 

[b0lt 0ns]

has anyone tried any 12SN7 (with adapters) on the WA6SE 2nd gen? I'm wondering how high the gain is compared to 13EM7's or the 13FD7's I'm currently using. call me crazy but I've been using some of my less efficient iem's on the woo and enjoying it thoroughly.

Also mistakenly bought some NOS but unmatched RCA 13DE7's. I don't detect any imbalance but have been wondering if it's risky to use them

You can't use 12SN7 on the SE.

 

[vaporsynthwave]

You can't use 12SN7 on the SE.

oops read the chart wrong, thanks. saw 2nd gen and didn't realize it said WA6 and not WA6SE.

 

[b0lt 0ns]

oops read the chart wrong, thanks. saw 2nd gen and didn't realize it said WA6 and not WA6SE.

I made the same mistake myself before buying some 12SN7s lol

 

[phoneslave86]

has anyone tried any 12SN7 (with adapters) on the WA6SE 2nd gen? I'm wondering how high the gain is compared to 13EM7's or the 13FD7's I'm currently using. call me crazy but I've been using some of my less efficient iem's on the woo and enjoying it thoroughly.

Also mistakenly bought some NOS but unmatched RCA 13DE7's. I don't detect any imbalance but have been wondering if it's risky to use them

I enjoy my IEMS on the Woo too. 13DE7 is the easy choice for IEMS as it will drop the noise floor much further than those drivers. I also like IEMs with 13EM7 too even though there is noise, the bass is just massive and punchy and the tube bloom is fun to see. You don't have to use matched drivers, any 13EM7 brand is ok to use as well together. It is ideal to get matched pairs and use the same brand though for sure. As long as it's the same code they will work fine nothing to worry about. I'd pay attention to drivers being worn out though. You can get a nice boost with fresh drivers vs. old drivers. It's good to replace them from time to time as they will darken over time.

 

[jonathan c]

• If one owns a WA6 Gen 1, the 12A#7 —> 6DE7 adapters from Xuling Audio Lab (‘mrsxuling’ on EBay) are your friends. Below, I am using a pair of NOS Telefunken ECC801S (12AT7 tubes).

[Rectifier tube is NOS Mullard GZ34]

 

[vaporsynthwave]

I made the same mistake myself before buying some 12SN7s lol

I make enough unnecessary purchases, can't be adding in accidental ones lol

I enjoy my IEMS on the Woo too. 13DE7 is the easy choice for IEMS as it will drop the noise floor much further than those drivers. I also like IEMs with 13EM7 too even though there is noise, the bass is just massive and punchy and the tube bloom is fun to see. You don't have to use matched drivers, any 13EM7 brand is ok to use as well together. It is ideal to get matched pairs and use the same brand though for sure. As long as it's the same code they will work fine nothing to worry about. I'd pay attention to drivers being worn out though. You can get a nice boost with fresh drivers vs. old drivers. It's good to replace them from time to time as they will darken over time.

glad I'm not the only one. The Final E5000 are harder to drive than half of my headphones. Most single dynamics have worked well. I still want to play around with the IER-Z1R. I was feeling a little envious after using a friend's Euphoria with a recently acquired ZMF VO but after some tube rolling I was able to shift the sound closer to OTL and still be able to plug in anything. I've recently acquired more tubes than I have time to listen, I'll be busy for ages.

The white box driver tubes are 13DR7 Sylvania

 

[phoneslave86]

I make enough unnecessary purchases, can't be adding in accidental ones lol


glad I'm not the only one. The Final E5000 are harder to drive than half of my headphones. Most single dynamics have worked well. I still want to play around with the IER-Z1R. I was feeling a little envious after using a friend's Euphoria with a recently acquired ZMF VO but after some tube rolling I was able to shift the sound closer to OTL and still be able to plug in anything. I've recently acquired more tubes than I have time to listen, I'll be busy for ages.
The white box driver tubes are 13DR7 Sylvania

Yup you got some work to do. Gotta get those broken in. I had to break in so many tubes. I'm glad tube breaking in has taken a break. I still roll tubes and cables every day pretty much. I naively thought I'd have things figured out by now. You get a new usb cable and now you gotta try all your favorite tube combos again each time. That's at least where I think I'm permanently stuck at this point.

I think the sound quality is at its best if you let the Amp + system fully cool off from heatsoak. Like 30+ to an hour or more if needed. Gotta get it good and cold. Then turn on and play music for 30 minutes. It will be so good! These tubes often like to be hot. I just listen to it all overheated or cold as well and don't worry about it. So no worries. The Woo is invincible after what I've put it through from what I can see.

 

[Audiophiliac]

My cheap Chinese 274b sounded bigger than my RCA 5u4g, but lost something, and ended up seeming bright and brittle, it was a downgrade. The 274b design must just be more expensive to make good, although at least a few companies go there for you. I got a 5u4gb to try, for slightly less than the $50 274b, and it sounds twice as tall at some point, while being just as good within that height. Funny how the soundstage sounds bigger somewhere in the source, rather than overall. But what's the limit? What if someone made a 10 foot tall fat tube?
Plugging the pc into the $200 power distributor instead of just a cheap power bar totally blew up my soundstage, and increased depth in both audio and video, even while both are digitally output. I don't know how to max out my original HD800's capabilities. I think this amp needs to get bigger for that. It's keeping me from being fully balanced, but I originally spent more than I was planning for the WA6SE. But with this 5u4g, my system is better than ever, oh no, since my Sophia 274B died. No, untrue, everything before my amp has gotten much higher since then.

 

[jonathan c]

• In his essay on Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”. Therefore , a wise consistency must be genius :

Brimar all around !! [CV1863 KB/FE, pair CV455 KB/FB]

 

[der Koekje]

• In his essay on Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”. Therefore , a wise consistency must be genius : Brimar all around !! [CV1863 KB/FE, pair CV455 KB/FB]

What adapter would I need for those CV455's? I see them for £45 NOS which is a fair price.

 

[Audiophiliac]

Jonathan C, you have a shipload of redundant mid-fi gear, which is all good for it's price. However, do you not wonder if maybe selling most of it to fund a Chord Dave and $6k+ headphones only setup may be better than what any of your pairings can reach?

 

[jonathan c]

What adapter would I need for those CV455's? I see them for £45 NOS which is a fair price.

For the CV455, or for any 12A#7 tube, the adapter is 12A#7 —> 6DE7 [Woo WA6 Gen 1 only]. I puchased mine from Xuling Audio Lab (‘mrsxuling’) on EBay.

 

[jonathan c]

Jonathan C, you have a shipload of redundant mid-fi gear, which is all good for it's price. However, do you not wonder if maybe selling most of it to fund a Chord Dave and $6k+ headphones only setup may be better than what any of your pairings can reach?

• Some may be ‘mid-fi’ in price; but with the Audiolab 6000CDT and Mojo Audio Mystique DAC (newly upgraded by designer Ben Zwickel) as the source, and with all-silver interconnect cables, all of the gear sounds ‘top-flight’!
• I do not see the gear collection as having redundancy. The tube h/p/a are OTC, OTL, some with SS rectification, some with tube rectification. As for headphones, the Grados and ZMFs within their lineage have sonic overlap but not convergence.
• So, I do not wonder …