Irrational Temptation

[Dismayed]

I'm preparing to unload my last piece of Schiit - a Gen 1 Schiit Lyr. It's a tube hybrid, for those of you who have not been mired in Schiit. It's not terrible, as far as I can tell, but I have zero faith in anything designed and manufactured by Schiit. So time to go.

So, what should I buy to replace it? I'm tempted by the Woo Audio WA6, which isn't really the most rational choice. A good solid state headphone amp would make more sense - reliable, stable, and accurate. But, damn, the Woo amps sure are pretty!

 

[amirm]

That is pretty. How about buying it and have it drop shipped to me first to measure. I will mail it to you on my nickel.

 

[RayDunzl]

Some measurements here:

http://kenrockwell.com/audio/woo/wa6-se.htm

Oh, slightly different unit.

 

[DonH56]

That is pretty. How about buying it and have it drop shipped to me first to measure. I will mail it to you on my nickel.

"Drop shipping" a tube amp sounds like a bad idea...

 

[Dismayed]

That is pretty. How about buying it and have it drop shipped to me first to measure. I will mail it to you on my nickel.

You have a deal. It will be a few months before I order it, though, because I just purchased an amp for my son.

Are you interested in measuring the Schiit Lyr, too? Who knows - maybe their amps aren't quite as bad as their DACs. I'm going to auction it on eBay, but I could send it to you and you could mail it on to the 'winning bidder' when the auction closes. Those mailings would be on my nickel.

 

[amirm]

Are you interested in measuring the Schiit Lyr, too?

Most definitely. And yes, I can ship it to whoever you ask. Please send me PM when ready and I will provide the address.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Most definitely. And yes, I can ship it to whoever you ask. Please send me PM when ready and I will provide the address.

Wow. You are going to need a sub-forum dedicated to measuring Schiit.

Then you plan to move on to Woo?????

 

[bona998]

WA6 but standard wa6 not wa6se version (this sounded not so nice to my ears and cost 2x price of wa6) was the best sounding tube amp I have heard so far and I heard a lot of cheap/expensive stuff to drive different headphones (hybrid, pure SS class A/AB, OTL tube amps and OT - wa6 is OT what in my opinion gives extra drive and punchy sound comparing to wa3 for instance which is pure OTL design). WA6 with real mesh rectifier tube and some old school high impedance sennheiser headphones was like something hard to describe - velvet smooth but with amazing dynamics and bass extensions, best female vocals reproduction ever, great depth and weighty sound, extremely engaging and emotionally connected. I could lsisten all night long with hd600 and I wanted more in the morning. Now thinking about getting back to this way of listening music, even though in measurement test it would not be nice, but listening to the music is something different than watching measurement results. Too many times after epic measurements results it has nothing in common with "being there" sensation like in small chamber on the concert listening unplugged/unprocessed acoustic stuff etc. Too many times after measuring great it was lifeless, boring, analitycal and cold, I am too old to torture myself with this kind of "audiophile" stuff :> I want to enjoy the music, have a lot of satisfaction from auditions and feel emotionally connected to the performance on the stage.

Wooaudio stuff looks nice and is built like a tank but when you live abroad it gets even more expensive. I had in the past wa3/wa2/wa6 and wa6se and they cost little fortune when added shipping cost + customs and some extra fees, like 30% more from the total including shipping. WA6 was worth it, even with stock rectifier tube at the beginning to start with. Regarding WA6 I was talking about the old version with PDPS and 6DE7 driver/power tubes. These days it is 13de7 or something like that, they changed it so I can't be sure how it sounds now. There is also possibility to put 6SN7 when using some extra sockets - this is great because there is no better driver tube than 6SN7 - most euphonic tube ever made, period.

 

[Fancypants]

Most definitely. And yes, I can ship it to whoever you ask. Please send me PM when ready and I will provide the address.

Did this review/measurement ever happen? Did a search but can't seem to find it.

I'm namely trying to figure out if the WA6 (v1) + RME ADI-2 DAC FS in line out will sound better for my new Hifiman HE1000v2 Stealths. Or if I should just stick with the ADI-2 DAC FS's headphone output.

Thanks for your time.

 

[JSmith]

Woo Audio WA6

Embedded link in my post to measurements in another thread about this amp;

Woo Audio WA6 - Hum Help Please!

Hello I recently purchased a second hand WA6, it is my first tube amp, I noticed that it had a bit of a hum coming through the headphones, its mostly only noticeable when my playlist has finished, its still there when playing music but I have to really try and hear it to notice it. With the...

audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

 

[DJ LP]

Did this review/measurement ever happen? Did a search but can't seem to find it.

I'm namely trying to figure out if the WA6 (v1) + RME ADI-2 DAC FS in line out will sound better for my new Hifiman HE1000v2 Stealths. Or if I should just stick with the ADI-2 DAC FS's headphone output.

Thanks for your time.

Question. Did you ever listen to the HE1000v2's with the RME ADI 2 Dac? Does it have enough power for the headphones? I own the same ones and they are power hungry. I want the option to be able to make tone adjustments and I don't use a computer to play my music.