Woo Audio - WA234 MONO (Mk2)

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by Torq, Mar 14, 2018.

  1. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    @Torq if you can, closeup of one silver/black section?

    I know it's a massive pita to take photos of shiny metal, but I'm trying to understand the finish/texture here, professional distortion is at play :)
     
  2. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Well then, there you have it. I hope the Mk2 is a worthwhile improvement, though I have my usual, healthy skepticism.

    @Torq I hope you know I'm just busting your balls as a friend with a drive by, before bed shitpost. Seriously, you should see how @jexby and I treat each other outside the forum.
     
  3. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    our evening routine:

    [​IMG]
     
  4. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Just you and @jexby? You regularly take a crap in my cereal via text.
     
  5. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    This whole thread started as a request from me purely about operation (which I found confusing when searching online) -- a thoughtful answer was given here at length. Given I've asked and received, I'm pretty happy about it.
     
  6. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    I've been giving @jexby shit for longer. I'm still trying to figure out the best attack vectors for you.
     
  7. ufospls2

    ufospls2 Friend

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    Nice to see you were able to get a set pretty quickly from when we last spoke. I thought there was a waiting list? Could be remembering wrong. Anyhow, how do you feel the mono's compare to the WA5? For what its worth, I hope you keep sharing your thoughts on the various bits of gear you encounter, be they $15k or $500, its always an interesting read :)
     
  8. khragon

    khragon Acquaintance

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    Very interested in the new EC 300B... I'm a 300B fan boy myself, currently enjoying the Glenn 300B and would really like to get into EC house sound. More detail please!
     
  9. Thenewerguy009

    Thenewerguy009 Friend

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    Well it was given & now a few more people are requesting sonic impressions :)

    I don't think I ever heard an in-depth honest review of the WA234 outside of the Big Sound meet.
    Torq having the WA5 to reference what improvements the mono blocks have is a great reference point to people as well.
     
  10. drfindley

    drfindley Secretly lives in the Analog Room - Friend

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    Anyone who purchases things at the extreme end of the audio environment is going to be met with some skepticism. Very few people have heard the pieces and they are often optimized in a way unfamiliar to people who haven't heard sound like that. Plus, with the high costs, people tend to look at the cost at times more than the piece. It took me a bit to understand the EAR DACute.

    Also, I *LOVE* the 300B. One of the best tubes I've ever heard and when it's right, it's pure magic.

    I don't know that the WA324 mk II is the amp I'd fall in love with like @Torq, but I do get falling for a tube amp, especially for a single-ended triodes.

    I have a friend who's custom made several amps to get the most out of 300B/45/2A3 amps and they have sounded like pure magic. It's amazing what one can do with 8 amps. I hope the WA324 mk II delivers that experience to @Torq on the regular.
     
  11. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    please dont stop sharing!!!!!!
     
  12. JK47

    JK47 Guest

    C'mon bro, scoot on down to SoCal in your hot air balloon if the prevailing winds are blowing this way. We're all here waiting to give you a group hug :(
     
  13. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    When I started looking for a new headphone amplifier, months ago now, my original intent was first to add a unit that ran 2A3 tubes and then, with that done, also upgrade my 300B based amplifier. 300B was, and so far remains, my preference, but I was interested in spending more, serious, time with 2A3s.

    Initially I had some simple, but not-up-for-debate/negotiation (even if it meant some small, sonic, consequences*), buying criteria**. For one, I was not, and am not, interested in units that are not current-production. For another, I was not going to pay new prices for used gear. The aesthetics had to be at least agreeable. I wasn't buying anything for more than a couple of thousand without being able to hear it properly (which, it turns out, required making a couple of plane trips to pull off). And whatever I bought had to do an equally convincing job with ALL of the headphones I enjoy on a regular basis (Abyss Phi, Utopia, LCD-4, HD800S).

    While in the middle of that process I wound up consolidating my sources. And having done that, I decided that I really didn't want to keep using multiple amplifiers either. I'd done the multi-source/multi-amp thing for years and the minute I started simplifying that I liked the change so much, both in terms of, well, just the new-found simplicity, but also the reduction in visual clutter, that I decided I was going to just do one amp as well.

    I'll save specific listening comparisons for another time, but long and short of that is that while, for example, while I thought some amps did a better job, in some cases (typically with the 2A3 tubes ... I didn't find a better 300B-based result) I didn't ever find the differences big enough to be willing to give up the ability to use 300B tubes as well (which are my stated preference anyway). It definitely wasn't big enough to warrant relenting on my desire for simplification and avoiding running two amps again. And beyond that, matching across the four primary headphones I ran was also something of a problem.

    I can't say what people heard with the original WA234. I didn't do a comparison with that.

    At least with the Mk2 version it was necessary to spend time to find the best output option for each headphone, and not doing that could result in some very wonky results (much like putting the LCD-4 or Abyss with a couple of other amps I tried) - and also largely misses a major function of the thing. So for those that wind up auditioning one in the future, either make sure you play with those options during your listening or have someone give you the most appropriate settings for the headphones you're using.

    Anyway, that's how I ended up with it. I'm not even sure other options exist that satisfy my original criteria. I'd buy it again given the same criteria. Who knows what I'll do when I wind up deciding to settle in one place long enough to warrant "spreading out" again. No doubt a lot of that'll be dictated by what's available at the time.

    --
    *I haven't been a "the sound is all that matters" type of "audiophile" since I was 20 ... which is a long time ago now.
    **Budget wasn't a factor in this round, neither was value.
     
  14. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Except Woo <> EAR. In fact, makes EAR look like high value.
     
  15. winders

    winders boomer

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    Maybe. But, as I have discovered in my recent experience, value shouldn’t always be the primary or even a major requirement in the decision making process. When I got back into 2 channel, I made my decisions with value as the primary requirement. That was a big mistake. Value seems like a fine goal. But, what really matters is sound quality. I say buy the best sounding component your budget allows. Screw value. All that does is cause you to compromise.
     
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2018
  16. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    i think marv is invoking value to refer to the notion of price to performance, of which the meme-22 amp in your profile pic is an exemplar. regardless, i'll keep sitting back and enjoying this thread aka the "dear diary" version of why one man chose a woo amp, and the intricacies of its operation and visual characteristics.
     
  17. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    To be fair, I would guess that 95% of this site is "value-driven/bang-for-buck" and maybe 5% who are the "f**k it I want TOTL and be done with this circus." @winders Freya->DS2 is an example of the latter.

    But what does one know when they start. "Incredible bang for the buck" gets your attention. And only later after side-grading/upgrading and exchanging a bunch of shit do you: have a genuine hobby interest, finances saved, sonic preferences in line and hindsight to say "I wish I just bought this TOTL XX from the beginning." Of course everyone's ceiling for that point is different, not everyone can jump into a AF, WA234, DNA, Cavalli, EAR..whatever.

    After rambling I hope I've made a point (it's too early to blame it on the booze).
     
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The very fact that you have a budget implies that you need to find the highest value for that budget. Highest value as in highest regard or highest consideration - highest sound quality.

    What you meant was cheap. Cheap does not necessarily equate to value.

    All bets are off if you have unlimited budget.

    P.S.

    No one needs to defend expensive purchases. Heck, my TT setup is well over $10k. I don't give a f**k what other people think.
     
  19. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    Obvious sarcasm is ... obvious.

    When doing episodic (or "SoC") coverage of stuff, I've usually gotten to the "how it sounds" part last*.

    If that chaps your arse too much, feel free to delete the thread. The general, continued, negativity has certainly killed any interest I had in my making any further comment - so it's all a bit pointless now anyway.

    --
    *I like to write that way. If you'd like me to write a different way, my recommendation is "send cash".
     
  20. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

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    By the way, @Torq , didn't you feel annoyed against dual and separate (L&R) volume knobs to control?

    I liked taboo4's sound/aesthetics/functions(e.g. lucid mode) very much, nevertheless every time I had to change volumes, micro-controlling two knobs was complete hassles. To my eye wa234 seems to have a similar interface and user experience (please correct me if wrong). I will never buy any amps with dual volume knobs even if they sound fantastic..
     

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