There doesn’t seem to be a dedicated thread to discuss the excellent and often-overlooked (it seems) Woo Audio WA3 amplifier, so I thought I’d start one. I hear the WA3 is being discontinued by Woo Audio, which is a shame. The WA3 is a great amplifier for the right headphones.
The WA3 is a single-ended triode amplifier, so it doesn’t have an output transformer. This makes it suitable for high-impedance headphones like the Sennheiser HD 650 and ZMF dynamic headphones like the Atticus and Aeolus. The WA3 isn’t designed for lower-impedance headphones like most planar magnetics, although I’ve heard of people who have used it for those kind of headphones with good results. I’ve used it with my Focal Elear with good results, at least for some power tubes.
Speaking of tubes, the WA3 can use a variety of tubes, including 6080 and 6AS7 for power tubes and 6922 and 6DJ7 for driver tubes. These tubes are in pretty good supply at often decent prices, especially for the power tubes.
Currently, I’m using a Sovtek 6AS7G power tube and Brimar E88CC driver tubes with good results.
Although the WA3 doesn’t work with every headphone out there, it’s quite special with the right headphones. I love the way this amp sounds with the HD 650, the ZMF Atticus and Aeolus. The WA3/Aeolus combo sounds especially beguiling to me.
Hopefully Woo Audio will reconsider discontinuing the WA3 – it’s a great amp and deserves to be enjoyed by many people.
The WA3 is a single-ended triode amplifier, so it doesn’t have an output transformer. This makes it suitable for high-impedance headphones like the Sennheiser HD 650 and ZMF dynamic headphones like the Atticus and Aeolus. The WA3 isn’t designed for lower-impedance headphones like most planar magnetics, although I’ve heard of people who have used it for those kind of headphones with good results. I’ve used it with my Focal Elear with good results, at least for some power tubes.
Speaking of tubes, the WA3 can use a variety of tubes, including 6080 and 6AS7 for power tubes and 6922 and 6DJ7 for driver tubes. These tubes are in pretty good supply at often decent prices, especially for the power tubes.
Currently, I’m using a Sovtek 6AS7G power tube and Brimar E88CC driver tubes with good results.
Although the WA3 doesn’t work with every headphone out there, it’s quite special with the right headphones. I love the way this amp sounds with the HD 650, the ZMF Atticus and Aeolus. The WA3/Aeolus combo sounds especially beguiling to me.
Hopefully Woo Audio will reconsider discontinuing the WA3 – it’s a great amp and deserves to be enjoyed by many people.