Woo Audio 22

[Elephas]

Looking at my S2 Audio balanced Senn cables there is NO WAI they would fit on that amp as pictured, nevermind with even wider spacing.

Looking at my Enigma Audio Oracle balanced AD2000, RS-1 and SA5000, it looks like they would fit on that amp as pictured, and would probably be OK even with a bit wider spacing.

Good thing we have Zach.

Someone seems to know what they're doing, or at least saw into the future and planned ahead for the WA22 amp.

[n_maher]

I spoke with Jack Woo about this amp at length at the NYC meet, there are major changes in the works for the production version. No middle knob, 4-pin jack in that space, it will use a single pot (on the left) and the large knob on the right will become the impedance switch (all good things in my book).

Also, one quick note about the design, it's a push pull transformer coupled amp and so quite different from what I was thinking it might be. Sounded pretty good too.

[jinp6301]

Made 701s listenable for me. The 650s were a little too syrupy for me with this amp.

[HeadphoneAddict]

I got an email reply from Jack Woo earlier today, stating the same thing he discussed with you. I really appreciate how responsive he and Woo Audio are to suggestions from email and people at the meet. I also mentioned adding the option of one SE output next to the 4-pin XLR.

I look forward to hearing more feedback from head-case peeps about how it sounded to them at the meet.

Hi Larry,

Thank you for thoughtful inputs. They are very helpful. We have not

finalized anything yet but we do want to take the best approach which

head-fiers can benefit.

We were at the NYC Spring meet today and it was a great meet. I

confirmed your suggestion with some frequent balanced users. They would

like to see the XLR come closer together with an addition of a 4-pin

out.

After some more thoughts, I think I will adapt these ideas. A revised

design would be one volume control for both channel instead of discrete

control. The functional switch will be moved to the right volume

position to maintain the symmetric appearance. Do you think adding a

single-ended output desirable?

By the way, the WA22's first audition was very positive.

Best regards,

Jack

[HeadphoneAddict]

Made 701s listenable for me. The 650s were a little too syrupy for me with this amp.

I suspect a bit of that could be rectified by a change in tubes as well.

[derekbmn]

Hmmm interesting ...price isn't bad at all Woo Audio 22 Fully Balanced Headphone Tube Amplifier

[riceboy]

Hmmm interesting ...price isn't bad at all Woo Audio 22 Fully Balanced Headphone Tube Amplifier

Yeah not bad at all. I'm wondering what the upgrade options will be.

[The Monkey]

That's a pleasant surprise. Jack indicated that it might be more when I spoke to him at the NYC Meet.

[n_maher]

Jack has indicated to me that there may be a few other (smaller) new things at CanJam as well.

[Fing]

*hugs 2 pairs of Bendix 6080*

[some1x]

The price is awfully close to WA5 LE. I'd probably get that instead if it wasn't so hueg and heavy.

[Voltron]

What a great deal. The Woos kick ass.

[Hopstretch]

Wonder if they could add pre-outs for a small consideration?

[Voltron]

Almost certainly possible and reasonable.

[luvdunhill]

Wonder if they could add pre-outs for a small consideration?

you might want to get an idea of how this thing performs into the intended load that you'd be wanting it to drive. You may find that such a request might not make sense... that being said, I'm sure they'd add them for you.

[HeadphoneAddict]

If the ZDT doesn't work out for me, the Woo 22 is my next favorite choice.

I wanted the ZDT because it can drive my 4-pin and single ended phones, plus off the speaker out it can drive my Stax SRD-7 Pro and K1000 (I wanted toobs instead of SS Beta 22). That way everything can run off one rig in the bedroom, and I'll pair up the Woo GES and Woo WA6 together in my living room rig for stats and dynamics. If I end up selling or passing on the ZDT for a Woo 22, then maybe I'll look at an Almarro A205a Mk2 for my SRD-7 Pro and K1000.

[Asr]

$1900 is a fantastic price. I want one. I will most likely buy one in silver to match with the rest of my equipment. Been a long time since I last had a tube amp and I've been itching to try one again...

[pedalhead]

Any more reports on these? I've just ordered one with all the juicy tubes. Will be used with balanced HD800s.

[Hopstretch]

Any more reports on these? I've just ordered one with all the juicy tubes. Will be used with balanced HD800s.

It appears that you will be the designated rapporteur.

[pedalhead]

Indeed it does. They're on a 4-5 week delivery at the moment. Jack assures me it'll be here in time for the UK meet in early November, so 25+ people will have an opinion on it after that )

[Asr]

So with my BHSE gone at the moment (I sent it out for the Texas 1/23 meet), I thought it was finally an opportune time to set up the WA22 and give it a spin. Aside from two meets last year (ChiUniFi 3 and SoFla) I haven't listened to this thing yet.

Of my dynamic headphones, the HP2 has been getting the most head time lately, so I've used only it so far to keep my impressions as "controlled" as possible. These are re-cabled for balanced but I'm using the amp single-ended right now to also control that variable, as my only other dynamic amp is the Gilmore Lite.

The amp sounds really good so far. In comparison to the GL, there's an extra dimension to the soundstage, as if the z-axis has opened up - all the instruments sound distinctly farther away with a greater sense of virtual space between me and them. There's also more space between the various instruments. It's also obvious there's more mid-range which helps acoustic instruments sound more organic for lack of a better word. I can also hear less treble quantity compared to the GL but with the HP2 it doesn't really matter (though it should be interesting when I listen with the Qualia later on).

I've heard only a few amps on my HP2 (the GL, also the Luxman P-200 and TTVJ FET-A) but I think the WA22 may very well be a great amp for it. Not that I had any complaints about the HP2 & GL together but this setup sounds distinctly better in the soundstage and mid-range aspects.

What would really be nice is another high-quality tube amp for comparison, like the ZD...

Tubes are stock except for the 7236 power tubes.