[theveterans]

Have you tried the Wa23 as a pre-amp into the ORR? I figure I might as well try that since I can, although IIRC Acoustic Matt tried it and said it was weird.

Probably too much gain causing OOR to lose dynamic headroom or impedance mismatch

 

[chrisgee5]

Probably too much gain causing OOR to lose dynamic headroom or impedance mismatch

Is that an amp settings thing that can be corrected with the right settings, or a these are not-a-good-match thing? If the latter, you need to pair the right tube with the right solid state to get the best blended sound?

 

[Aetherhole]

Have you tried the Wa23 as a pre-amp into the ORR? I figure I might as well try that since I can, although IIRC Acoustic Matt tried it and said it was weird.

I did give the it a try as a pre to the Oor a couple times and I really found little benefit to it as opposed to running each separately. The WA23 already has better dynamics, sub-bass extension, texture, so it is relatively moot to run it in this chain. The Oor benefits from the sonic characteristics from the WA23 as a pre, but you don’t get much more from the Oor.

 

[theveterans]

Is that an amp settings thing that can be corrected with the right settings, or a these are not-a-good-match thing? If the latter, you need to pair the right tube with the right solid state to get the best blended sound?

IMHO, adding a power tube in the preamp section has A LOT of gain which is not a good thing for OOR. You can use a line attenuator, but it does reduce microdetails a bit. I'd just just use the OOR for another system and keep the WA23 on your main system directly from the DAC

 

[chrisgee5]

IMHO, adding a power tube in the preamp section has A LOT of gain which is not a good thing for OOR. You can use a line attenuator, but it does reduce microdetails a bit. I'd just just use the OOR for another system and keep the WA23 on your main system directly from the DAC

So you're saying I need to sell the ORR and use the funds toward a mass kobo?

 

[theveterans]

So you're saying I need to sell the ORR and use the funds toward a mass kobo?

Pretty much

 

[akukula]

You guys are bad for my financial stability. Here I am trying to save funds to get a WA23. Then suddenly talka about selling the Ferrum for Mass Kobo pops up. Heck no lemme get the Woo23. Ill keep my Ferrum stack. Thats it for me. No more purchases. This will be my end game

 

[Aetherhole]

You guys are bad for my financial stability. Here I am trying to save funds to get a WA23. Then suddenly talka about selling the Ferrum for Mass Kobo pops up. Heck no lemme get the Woo23. Ill keep my Ferrum stack. Thats it for me. No more purchases. This will be my end game

Until it’s not! I imagine, once you get the WA23, you’ll likely not feel the need for the Oor. Acoustic Matt sold me his, since he was primarily listening to his tubes, and here I am, sitting with the WA23 and seriously considering doing the very same thing. I’d keep the Hypsos for the Wandla, though.

 

[akukula]

Until it’s not! I imagine, once you get the WA23, you’ll likely not feel the need for the Oor. Acoustic Matt sold me his, since he was primarily listening to his tubes, and here I am, sitting with the WA23 and seriously considering doing the very same thing. I’d keep the Hypsos for the Wandla, though.

Ikr. Its really sad lol. I remember when I started it was sennheiser headphone for a few hundred bucks. I remember laughing at those who spend over 1k for headphones. Within a few months I added more until I ended up with a HE1k Stealth. I declared this will be my endgame. Now I have a Sus. And MR. Same story with DAC and amps. Oh not to mention cables and wires. I thought anyone spending $$$ is being rediculous. Im happy with $30 Amazon cables. Thats coming from someone who just spent 2k on interconnects last month. The rabbit hole is real. And scary deep

 

[chrisgee5]

Ikr. Its really sad lol. I remember when I started it was sennheiser headphone for a few hundred bucks. I remember laughing at those who spend over 1k for headphones. Within a few months I added more until I ended up with a HE1k Stealth. I declared this will be my endgame. Now I have a Sus. And MR. Same story with DAC and amps. Oh not to mention cables and wires. I thought anyone spending $$$ is being rediculous. Im happy with $30 Amazon cables. Thats coming from someone who just spent 2k on interconnects last month. The rabbit hole is real. And scary deep

You guys are bad for my financial stability. Here I am trying to save funds to get a WA23. Then suddenly talka about selling the Ferrum for Mass Kobo pops up. Heck no lemme get the Woo23. Ill keep my Ferrum stack. Thats it for me. No more purchases. This will be my end game

I'm a HP newbie and have almost no perspective, but I'm guessing for me it is more of a tube thing. I tried two good amps, intentionally one tube and one solid state, and I prefer the former. At lot of people have said the Luna is in the endgame conversation for tubes, and I can believe it. I have listened to a dozen high end 2 channel systems over the years, and I can't imagine the sounds getting too much better from what I have (aside from inherent HP vs in room sound limitations).

And I'm using all stock cables and connected the Qutest to the amps with $11 RCA cables . Maybe I'll get sucked in the silver vs bronze at some point........

 

[Spawn300Z]

I'm a HP newbie and have almost no perspective, but I'm guessing for me it is more of a tube thing. I tried two good amps, intentionally one tube and one solid state, and I prefer the former. At lot of people have said the Luna is in the endgame conversation for tubes, and I can believe it. I have listened to a dozen high end 2 channel systems over the years, and I can't imagine the sounds getting too much better from what I have (aside from inherent HP vs in room sound limitations).

And I'm using all stock cables and connected the Qutest to the amps with $11 RCA cables . Maybe I'll get sucked in the silver vs bronze at some point........

But at least you used the resources availible and started off right. You have a good setup for just begining.

 

[chrisgee5]

But at least you used the resources availible and started off right. You have a good setup for just begining.

Thanks Spawn. All credit to this board and those willing to share their perspectives with strangers. I am indeed pursuing endgame, which for me will be I can't tell a noticeable difference anymore. That might come earlier than many of y'all, as I suspect I only have SteelEars instead of GoldenEars, . And after waiting for 15 years to do this I wanted to start closer to the end. For now I'll try some different HP and see how they do with the different amps., and not try to change anything else.

 

[Aetherhole]

Thanks Spawn. All credit to this board and those willing to share their perspectives with strangers. I am indeed pursuing endgame, which for me will be I can't tell a noticeable difference anymore. That might come earlier than many of y'all, as I suspect I only have SteelEars instead of GoldenEars, . And after waiting for 15 years to do this I wanted to start closer to the end. For now I'll try some different HP and see how they do with the different amps., and not try to change anything else.

One of things I love about the forums is that — getting other people’s perspectives. It’s super helpful as we all on this journey together. That said, though, impressions and perspectives only get us so far. We really have to experience things to know for sure.

This might be a moot point, but since you said you were a HP newbie, I will say, there’s something admirable about going straight for the top. However, I don’t know if it’s the best approach or even an advisable approach... mildly too late since you already have the WA23. Trying to understand and decipher major and nuanced differences comes from lots and lots of experience. There’s also the factor of preference and aural acuity, too. “Endgame” for me is different than “endgame” for someone else. Starting at the bottom and working your way up, you start to understand what those differences are and all the nuances. You begin to find out what your specific preferences are and what differences you can even hear. Do you like more neutral sounding? Do you like a darker sound? Are you a bass-head? Are you a treble-head? Do you really like mid’s more than anything else? What genres you listen to also factor into this, too. The journey to the top is an educational one that will ultimately help you to figure those questions (and many, many more) out for yourself. Each component in the chain will factor into this and alter the experience.

 

[Spawn300Z]

I look at it this way. We learn from our mistakes and the mistakes of others. I perfer to learn from the mistakes of others. So if he knows what type of music he listens to and can learn from everyone’s mistakes. He can do this with less money wasted. Really all he has to deal with is DAC preferences and fine tune with cables. Money and time saved.

 

[Aetherhole]

I look at it this way. We learn from our mistakes and the mistakes of others. I perfer to learn from the mistakes of others. So if he knows what type of music he listens to and can learn from everyone’s mistakes. He can do this with less money wasted. Really all he has to deal with is DAC preferences and fine tune with cables. Money and time saved.

That’s a fair assessment and I agree. My caution to him was simply because it seemed he was jumping the gun a bit, going from zero to a hundred. It’s much harder to understand all the nuances and differences in between, which can give you an even better appreciation for the value its capabilities.

It’s akin to jumping from a Nissan 300Z (assuming that’s what your name is referring to… **side note: I used to love Todd McFarland’s Spawn!**) all the way to a Bugatti Chiron and not understanding the difference other than the Chiron is top of the line and has a faster top speed, while not understand/appreciating how different they drive. Also, missing the fact that along the way up to that, he could gained the experienced and possibly even been satisfied with the Nissan GTR (The R34 was one of my favorites, by the way!). OR possibly learning individual preferences, that he would have much preferred something say like a Koenigsegg Jesko, Pagani Huayra, or an Aston Martin Valkyrie. Dramatic examples belaboring the point, I know, but I digress.

All that said, I agree, it’s most likely money and time saved and he made some great equipment choices so far!