[Promee]

PSA for my WA22 people!! I was emailing Brent Jesse about some driver tubes for another amp, but just figured I would ask, and he doesn’t have them yet, but he is expecting some Tung Sol 5998 and Western Electric 421a power tubes in the very near future. Not sure what the cost will be, waiting to hear back, but rest assured it will be a small fortune if they test strong. Still, the man has a reputation for excellent quality and fair prices, so he won’t price gouge, it’s just how the market is for these incredibly rare tubes now. So if anyone is interested, now would be a great time to reach out!

 

[Promee]

It's definitely the 6080's. I just received my 7236 and rca 6s7ng's and they hum like a mother**** haha. The RCA's, it was more apparent in the left channel, so I will try swapping them and see if it moves to the right, but the hum with the RCA's is the worst by far, reminds me of Topping amp's single ended ground loops.

lol! It will be interesting to see if those tubes settle in over time. I really get the sense it’s more the tubes breaking in than the amp itself. I did order a DC filter, so I will let you know if that helps at all too. I have heard that small amounts of DC coming through the mains can cause hum in transformers, but one of our fellow enthusiasts a few posts back is using an AC regenerator and still has hum. I’m not holding my breath, but we shall see if it helps. If you have a multimeter and can use it safely, you can measure your mains outlet and see if you have any DC detectable. I kind of doubt it is enough in my case to make a difference - I think it was like 50 mV - but it will be interesting to measure the device I ordered and see if there is a change in sound…

 

[ziggz]

lol! It will be interesting to see if those tubes settle in over time. I really get the sense it’s more the tubes breaking in than the amp itself. I did order a DC filter, so I will let you know if that helps at all too. I have heard that small amounts of DC coming through the mains can cause hum in transformers, but one of our fellow enthusiasts a few posts back is using an AC regenerator and still has hum. I’m not holding my breath, but we shall see if it helps. If you have a multimeter and can use it safely, you can measure your mains outlet and see if you have any DC detectable. I kind of doubt it is enough in my case to make a difference - I think it was like 50 mV - but it will be interesting to measure the device I ordered and see if there is a change in sound…

I could only hear it with sensitive cans, the 7236 are actually quieter than the stock tubes were on first power up, so I might run those for a while and see if they settle. The RCA's, I can confirm that it's mostly one tube, swapped them left to right and the hum followed. To be clear minor hum from one, and horrible hum from the other. The amp itself hums as well, wonder if its vibration from the transformers? Not bad by any means, I Could try some ISO feet and see if that helps, but, since the stock tubes settled, I'll just be patient with the 7236's, and the RCA's, well, we'll see lol. That being said, the 7236 have some more grunt it feels like. But, first 10 mins with them, so REALLY not a good comparison yet. I thought that I would be salivating over the V550 today, but, all I want is my WA22 haha.

 

[Promee]

I could only hear it with sensitive cans, the 7236 are actually quieter than the stock tubes were on first power up, so I might run those for a while and see if they settle. The RCA's, I can confirm that it's mostly one tube, swapped them left to right and the hum followed. To be clear minor hum from one, and horrible hum from the other. The amp itself hums as well, wonder if its vibration from the transformers? Not bad by any means, I Could try some ISO feet and see if that helps, but, since the stock tubes settled, I'll just be patient with the 7236's, and the RCA's, well, we'll see lol. That being said, the 7236 have some more grunt it feels like. But, first 10 mins with them, so REALLY not a good comparison yet. I thought that I would be salivating over the V550 today, but, all I want is my WA22 haha.

Hopefully they settle in nicely for you!! Give them a good 50-100 hours of play time, but not all in one go . I actually just got a V222 over the weekend and it is incredibly underwhelming after the WA22. Maybe at a lower price class it’s not fair to compare them, but the WA22 basically blows it away. I felt compelled to really test it out, but all I have been wanting to do is plug into the WA22 sitting right beside it I’m going to try some Sparkos op amps in it, but if that doesn’t radically improve the sound, that little baby is going on EBay.

 

[ziggz]

Hopefully they settle in nicely for you!! Give them a good 50-100 hours of play time, but not all in one go . I actually just got a V222 over the weekend and it is incredibly underwhelming after the WA22. Maybe at a lower price class it’s not fair to compare them, but the WA22 basically blows it away. I felt compelled to really test it out, but all I have been wanting to do is plug into the WA22 sitting right beside it I’m going to try some Sparkos op amps in it, but if that doesn’t radically improve the sound, that little baby is going on EBay.

Fair enough! I will give the V550 time, and a fair comparison, but I didn’t get it to replace any of my amps, so I don’t see it leaving anytime soon. If anything, I’d probably let the GSX MKII go, just for space savings. But I am somewhat of a border when I get things I like I keep them, they just won’t get as much use as the WA 22. My favourite paring right now is the OG clears and the WA22, the impact of the bass is crazy, and the fact I get expansive sound on those is quite addictive. Not as expansive as the HD800S, but a fun sound that just keeps me listening for hours on end.

 

[phthora]

It's definitely the 6080's. I just received my 7236 and rca 6s7ng's and they hum like a mother**** haha. The RCA's, it was more apparent in the left channel, so I will try swapping them and see if it moves to the right, but the hum with the RCA's is the worst by far, reminds me of Topping amp's single ended ground loops.

I could only hear it with sensitive cans, the 7236 are actually quieter than the stock tubes were on first power up, so I might run those for a while and see if they settle. The RCA's, I can confirm that it's mostly one tube, swapped them left to right and the hum followed. To be clear minor hum from one, and horrible hum from the other. The amp itself hums as well, wonder if its vibration from the transformers? Not bad by any means, I Could try some ISO feet and see if that helps, but, since the stock tubes settled, I'll just be patient with the 7236's, and the RCA's, well, we'll see lol. That being said, the 7236 have some more grunt it feels like. But, first 10 mins with them, so REALLY not a good comparison yet. I thought that I would be salivating over the V550 today, but, all I want is my WA22 haha.

Literally exact same situation over here with those RCA tubes. My hum has... evolved over about 8 hours of use, so I'm hopeful that burn-in will help some. I've read that 48 hours for NOS like should be sufficient to know one way or the other. I'll keep at it, but it's annoying because the stock tubes were dead quiet. Otherwise they sound pretty nice.

 

[ziggz]

Literally exact same situation over here with those RCA tubes. My hum has... evolved over about 8 hours of use, so I'm hopeful that burn-in will help some. I've read that 48 hours for NOS like should be sufficient to know one way or the other. I'll keep at it, but it's annoying because the stock tubes were dead quiet. Otherwise they sound pretty nice.

The hum in the one tube is really bad, not sure id I should leave them in, and run them for the 48hrs or not, I know the WA22 needs to see a load, just not sure if it's ok to leave the amp on to burn in the tubes. Obviously keeping the 8 hrs on 1hr off cycle of course.

 

[phthora]

The hum in the one tube is really bad, not sure id I should leave them in, and run them for the 48hrs or not, I know the WA22 needs to see a load, just not sure if it's ok to leave the amp on to burn in the tubes. Obviously keeping the 8 hrs on 1hr off cycle of course.

Understandable, but if they've been reliably tested, ideally by a legit dealer, they should be safe at least. Although, I am burning them in with my Maxell HP100, headphones so cheap and terrible my only concern is that the amp will mercy kill them.

The first hour of mine was marked by pinging, popping, and hard modulating buzz of about 40 db in the left tube. Sounded like ass. The right tube had more of a modulating high-pitched whine. 8 hours of music in and the left tube no longer pings at all and the buzz is much more consistent and a bit lower in volume. The right is a fairly gentle whine now, totally manageable. Both dip when a signal, even a silent one, is running. Not exactly everything I hoped for, but it seems to be heading in right direction.

 

[ziggz]

Understandable, but if they've been reliably tested, ideally by a legit dealer, they should be safe at least. Although, I am burning them in with my Maxell HP100, headphones so cheap and terrible my only concern is that the amp will mercy kill them.

The first hour of mine was marked by pinging, popping, and hard modulating buzz of about 40 db in the left tube. Sounded like ass. The right tube had more of a modulating high-pitched whine. 8 hours of music in and the left tube no longer pings at all and the buzz is much more consistent and a bit lower in volume. The right is a fairly gentle whine now, totally manageable. Both dip when a signal, even a silent one, is running. Not exactly everything I hoped for, but it seems to be heading in right direction.

Well, the RCA's have gone quiet. Swapped them in this morning, and after a couple minutes, I heard the one noisey one pinging and what not, now they are quiet, so letting them run in a bit worked. At least I hope lol.

 

[phthora]

Well, the RCA's have gone quiet. Swapped them in this morning, and after a couple minutes, I heard the one noisey one pinging and what not, now they are quiet, so letting them run in a bit worked. At least I hope lol.

Great news! How many hours of burn-in got you to this point? I'm at about 12 hours with music and I've just gotten to where I can listen without annoyance.

 

[ziggz]

Great news! How many hours of burn-in got you to this point? I'm at about 12 hours with music and I've just gotten to where I can listen without annoyance.

6hrs total on the RCA's so far, 30mins for them to go quiet, only 4 on the 7236, but I'm diggin the RCA's, so might just keep going with them for now.

 

[Promee]

I could only hear it with sensitive cans, the 7236 are actually quieter than the stock tubes were on first power up, so I might run those for a while and see if they settle. The RCA's, I can confirm that it's mostly one tube, swapped them left to right and the hum followed. To be clear minor hum from one, and horrible hum from the other. The amp itself hums as well, wonder if its vibration from the transformers? Not bad by any means, I Could try some ISO feet and see if that helps, but, since the stock tubes settled, I'll just be patient with the 7236's, and the RCA's, well, we'll see lol. That being said, the 7236 have some more grunt it feels like. But, first 10 mins with them, so REALLY not a good comparison yet. I thought that I would be salivating over the V550 today, but, all I want is my WA22 haha.

Just dropped the Sparkos into the V222, and I will say they helped a good bit. It now sounds about as good as I expected it to out of the box. The WA22 is just in another league completely. Maybe you’ll have better luck with the V550, as it is in a totally different price class, but if it has any TI op amps in it, you might want to look at dropping in Sparkos in. In any case, this will be fine to serve as my backup, but WA22 will remain my main listening buddy.

 

[ziggz]

Just dropped the Sparkos into the V222, and I will say they helped a good bit. It now sounds about as good as I expected it to out of the box. The WA22 is just in another league completely. Maybe you’ll have better luck with the V550, as it is in a totally different price class, but if it has any TI op amps in it, you might want to look at dropping in Sparkos in. In any case, this will be fine to serve as my backup, but WA22 will remain my main listening buddy.

I’m glad the op amp swapped worked for you, I saw your posts in the other thread. So far the V550 to me seems to be neutral, with an almost blunted top end. Which is different from my Element III, as that one is straight neutral, and bright headphones are, well, bright on that amp, but the V550 blunts my bright headphones for sure. It’s nice to me as I (once it comes back from warranty) have the GS-X MKII that is brighter, the V550 which is blunted, Element III which is dead neutral, and the WA22 which is so damn engaging and fun. I have a lot of expensive gear, and my #1 pick by a massive margin is the WA22. It has me looking at tube amps for my speakers now, that is how much enjoyment I get from it.

 

[Promee]

I’m glad the op amp swapped worked for you, I saw your posts in the other thread. So far the V550 to me seems to be neutral, with an almost blunted top end. Which is different from my Element III, as that one is straight neutral, and bright headphones are, well, bright on that amp, but the V550 blunts my bright headphones for sure. It’s nice to me as I (once it comes back from warranty) have the GS-X MKII that is brighter, the V550 which is blunted, Element III which is dead neutral, and the WA22 which is so damn engaging and fun. I have a lot of expensive gear, and my #1 pick by a massive margin is the WA22. It has me looking at tube amps for my speakers now, that is how much enjoyment I get from it.

If you like the WA22, you might want to see if you can get a VTA-70 (Vacuum Tube Audio brand - it’s a converted ST-70, which is a super old-school power amp) for your speakers. That’s what I’m using, with the optional octal driver board. It’s great value for money, and it is not a balanced design, but it is push-pull which makes it similar to the relatively low distortion and high efficiency of the WA22, and it uses 6SN7 drivers (with the board upgrade). It is a pure power amp, not an integrated amp, so you would need a preamp. Of course, the guys in the other thread would tell you to just grab a WA5 (non-LE) and use it for both

Great to have options for amps! It can be nice to set them up in different spots to have different sound signatures that suit the mood for each… One other thing I’ve noticed when playing with the V222, it comes with a jumper that can lift the ground, and it is set to lift from the factory. This is good if you have a ground loop, but if not, from what I’m reading you might get a little more bass impact just by switching it to ground. Just make sure you unplug it before going in there to change! I think I hear a difference with that, and I’m not getting any hum or ground loop at all, but it is totally possible that it is all placebo effect. Still, might be another thing to play with that might make it the slightest bit more engaging

 

[skhan007]

WA22 owners:

Do any of you know the max input voltage the WA22 can handle coming from a DAC? I can always email Woo, but thought I'd ask here first. My RME ADI2 DAC has the ability to output via XLR at 0.87, 1.73, 3.46, or 6.9v.

I believe the standard for most amps is about 2v, but curious if the Woo (built like a tank) can be optimal with higher input voltage like 3.46v.