Woo Audio/6 impressions...anyone?

[recstar24]

Well, I had to send in the red hat proto to craig to fix. Unfortunately, it is deemed "unfixable" and Craig refunded back my money. So I'm ampless. I will probably end up getting the balance discrete he is coming out with, but he gave me a time frame of late January. Knowing craig it will probably be a couple of months after.

So in looking for somewhat affordable options that I can use now and sell later when its time to get the balancing act from EC, i thought of woo audio. Affordable and KG has had nice things to say. The woo audio 6 is a transformer coupled amp that uses the 6DE7 tubes for driver/power and a 5ar4 for tube rectification. The only question would be how good those tubes are and how good can those transformers be for a $570 amp.

Any impressions from my fellow head-casers? Random thought - I didn't even bother posting this on head-fi, as I trust the opinions of those here much more than the general mass public on head-fi.

[n_maher]

If I was in your shoes I'd be looking on the used market not new. If you're pretty sure that you're going to end up with a different amp anyway then why shell out full price and take a hit later? You'd stand a much better chance of at least coming close to breaking even with used gear. And heck, there's a used '6' for sale on HF right now for under $500 and includes some tubes for rolling.

[recstar24]

If I was in your shoes I'd be looking on the used market not new. If you're pretty sure that you're going to end up with a different amp anyway then why shell out full price and take a hit later? You'd stand a much better chance of at least coming close to breaking even with used gear. And heck, there's a used '6' for sale on HF right now for under $500 and includes some tubes for rolling.

Thanks Nate - and yes I was assuming going used because I would need to turn it around quickly and for minimal loss when I eventually get the amp that I want to get. I will check out one for sale right now.

[recstar24]

i can't help you on the Woo front (i've never heard one of his amps), but what exactly is wrong with the red top/hat?

Basically one of the wires that is hooked up from the channel to the pot broke off during shipping, and when I turned it on, it must have fried the whole side of power supply transistors (according to craig). Also there was a rattling sound inside, a heatsink from one of the power supply transistors had broken off. I am sure Craig could possibly fix it, but I also know he's busy and has a lot of stuff going on, so probably figured just refund my money which is totally cool by me.

[aerius]

I can tell you that the 6DE7 tubes are pretty good since I've played around with them in a DIY project, but that's about all I can tell you.

Transformer quality, circuit design, parts used in a Woo Audio amp, well, I have no freakin' clue.

[Guest sacd lover]

I bought one .... dont waste your time. The amp looks good and seems very well assembled. But, the sound is very mediocre. The amp has a very uneven and unpredictable bass and sounds compressed. The soundstage is small/ 2 dimensional and you never feel like you are listening to anything but a reproduction. The amp was somewhat harsh with my MS2's and the Senn 580/600 just didnt sound right;no life to the sound. If you do get one, probably doubtful now, I have a bunch of 6de7 tubes.

The one for sale on head-fi is from GAD and he bought the amp from me. I bought the amp used but I would have to look up my feedback to see who it was.

[n_maher]

Ryan,

Have you ever heard a Mapletree Ear? That amp might fit into a similar price range (especially used) and has been reported to sound good by many people. I can only comment on the modified Ear that I heard, which sounded fantastic.

[tkam]

Good call Nate the Ear amps would sound great with his vintage RS-1's.

[iceman94]

I agree with the Mapletree recommendation- it was one of my favorites when I listened to it at a meet. Granted, that was off a Resolution Opus, which skews things, but at least it doesn't crap on the sound like the RSA upper-midrange glare. Can't tell you what soundstage was like, but tonality was great.

[postjack]

order a brand new custom Singlepower, you should have it in plenty of time.

good idea. you should get mikhail to use a maestro chassis, and tune it as a preamp for the predator.

[recstar24]

Ryan,

Have you ever heard a Mapletree Ear? That amp might fit into a similar price range (especially used) and has been reported to sound good by many people. I can only comment on the modified Ear that I heard, which sounded fantastic.

I have not heard one, but have read a lot of favorable impressions with grados. My issue is that there are so many different models and it seems like they are constantly revamping their line. So if I were to pick up something used, I might not be able to recoup a big chunk of my costs, which is key because I will be upgrading shortly after. Though that new super HD with increased power output seems really intriguing.

A local headfier is letting me borrow his EC/SS for a bit, the latest version, which should definitely tide me over.

As for the singlepower, I am sure if I ordered a custom made one it could get here like tomorrow. Yes.

[n_maher]

The Ear+ Purist HD is really the only one that I'd recommend buying. The newer versions all don't sit well with me from a design standpoint and the + Purist has received enough universal acclaim that I think you'd be able to flip it effectively. But heck, if you've got a EC/SS loaner it seems like a moot point unless the loan won't bridge the whole gap.

[recstar24]

The Ear+ Purist HD is really the only one that I'd recommend buying. The newer versions all don't sit well with me from a design standpoint and the + Purist has received enough universal acclaim that I think you'd be able to flip it effectively. But heck, if you've got a EC/SS loaner it seems like a moot point unless the loan won't bridge the whole gap.

Thanks Nate - I really trust your opinion on these things for sure. I will look into an Ear+ Purist HD, hopefully used, and what the heck I will snag it up, I've always wanted to hear it anyways, and I am sure I can unload it later.

[postjack]

The Ear+ Purist HD is really the only one that I'd recommend buying. The newer versions all don't sit well with me from a design standpoint and the + Purist has received enough universal acclaim that I think you'd be able to flip it effectively. But heck, if you've got a EC/SS loaner it seems like a moot point unless the loan won't bridge the whole gap.

Nate, aside from the magic eye tubes, how do you feel about the HD200? From a design standpoint.

[n_maher]

My technical opinions about the Dr.'s amps are largely derived from conversations that I've had with a good friend who has intimate knowledge of the designs (he's built and heard all of them). I freely admit on these forums I'm no designer and have limited abilities so I don't feel at all qualified to speak about the latest iteration. If the HD200 is as Earl says and is an evolution of the custom amp he had built it should sound great and seems to be getting back to the baseline of what Mapletree used to do. But then he went and threw the fracken ridiculous magic eye tubes in there. It takes a gorgeous amp and makes it a gimmick and I'm sorry to say I can't get past that.

[recstar24]

Is there anything beneficial about the magic eye tubes or is it purely a cosmetic light show? I tried to open up the pdf on mapletree's website that goes into detail about the circuit and design, but it doesn't pop up anymore. Nate if you don't mind chiming in I would like to get your thoughts specifically on the circuit design if you are aware of it. I believe its a parafeed transformer coupling with the tubes operated in a cathode follower configuration, any more details would be great.

[n_maher]

Pure cosmetic light show as far as I know. And honestly, you probably know more about the circuit than I do.

[recstar24]

update - well I got in on the current run set for mid-late January on the Zana Deux so I am set with that. To tide me over, I just picked up a mapletree HD2 on audiogon for a pretty nice used price, so I wll be able to check it out soon enough, and tide me over until my Zana arrives.

[Augsburger]

Great move! Good luck on the Zana. Did you get the EC/SS loaner anyway? If you did, impressions on how it mates with your RS1s would be interesting. Whe I first heard the newest version EC/SS on Grados they seemed to enjoy each others company very well.

[recstar24]

Great move! Good luck on the Zana. Did you get the EC/SS loaner anyway? If you did, impressions on how it mates with your RS1s would be interesting. Whe I first heard the newest version EC/SS on Grados they seemed to enjoy each others company very well.

Yup had the EC/SS for about 2 weeks, great sounding amp. Very full sounding and very clear, focused imaging and balanced sound overall. With the RS-1's it sound top notch.

[Augsburger]

Thanks. Just as I remembered.