Spring is slient as far as my ears can discern.
@Polygonhell I ended up buying 4 different gadgets to see what might help… hoping to strike gold with one of them
I reiterate what I said earlier and suggest you send woo an email, they might have experience with similar problems.
When getting new gear turns out to be a frustrating and sometimes expensive out of the box experience… not the best part of our hobby.
I guess we’ve all been there in one way or another.
I definitely had a moment yesterday where I was like “F it I’m selling this and going back to solid states”… but came to my senses and will try to get it sorted out. It does sound terrific with the Susvara and I’m sure the 1266 coming today will be a blast with it too.
If it doesn’t work out someone else would be happy with this beast of an amp, and I might have to try the hyped Zahl instead…
Last night and this morning it seems to be much better so I do think it’s a time of day issue power issue
Some updates on my buzzing:
None of the Amazon gadgets helped (ifi DC blocker, ifi ground loop fixer, hum filter from the Woo FAQ as well as a cheap isolation transformer with noise filtering.
I emailed Woo with an updated video (available here) and they said it’s probably not the tubes and to test AC voltage from the wall. Did that today and seems to be a stable 118v.
Buzz is not audible through headphones so at least there’s that. Next test is probably a friend’s house but not sure what comes after that. Maybe the PS Audio powerplant.
A friends house not local to you is a probably the best test, lets you potentially confirm environmental issues.
I wouldn’t expect it to be tubes either.
I wouldn’t get a PP just for that, there is a chance it won’t fix it, and it’s difficult to measure DC offset from the wall even with a scope, the offsets are usually tiny.
You can get an isolation transformer for about $200 used or from China, if you were local, I’d loan you one, if that doesn’t fix it, I think it’s unlikely to be a wall power issue.
One thing that can exacerbate it is if the transformer isn’t securely bolted to the case, but that’s going to be a pain to confirm.
I tried this
UMI AV250 Isolation Transformer 250W Noise Filtering and Surge Suppression and Power Clean 2 Outlet Amazon.com
Didn’t help.
Didn’t think I’d be taking delivery of an amp for my 1266 so soon but here we are. WA33 Elite arrived today, stock tubes and no jps wiring. Listened for about an hour and letting it warm up again for some listening tonight. Here are some pictures and will update with impressions soon.
Thanks to @sa11297 and @Draaly for connecting me to the dealer I ordered from!
Oh holy shit. I didnt realize you went for it! Gz!
congrats
for some reason Im jealous even though I own the same amp
Hell yeh congrats man, looking forward to your impressions and we can finally disuss toobz for it
@Christof you mind if I move this to the woo thread? Just think it would be better suited there
sure, go ahead.
Thanks for moving it
Yeah haha. I wasn’t going to, was thinking about getting that new HM1 amp instead. But the dealer let me pay a deposit and split up the remaining cost so it made it easy for me to go for it.
Toobz discussion yes please
@orrman , what else is Being powered off that same circuit during the daytime? Try plugging the amplifier to a known circuit in the house that has nothing else on it if at all posible and see if the noise persists. Easy test.
Brief update on the WA33. So far so good. I listened for a few hours yesterday and today I listened for 3 hours this morning and am starting to listen some more. The amp probably has 10-15 hours on it between listening and letting the amp warm up. So far I have tried 1266, Susvara, and 800S, the 1266 and 800S being my favorite pairings.
1266 has more slam and bass quantity to it. Micro details are clearer and mids are perfect (more intimate and smoother). It does a cool thing where imaging is pin point but things move around the stage in a more fluid way, perhaps this is what people call holographic. Also with vocals you can hear a longer decay and the reflections in the room are very clear.
Susvara sounded good. But it came across a bit dry on this amp and not super involving. Could just be that I’m used to 1266 so will certainly come back to this pairing. I would say it’s the best I’ve heard Susvara just that I had more desire to continue with 1266 and try 800S.
800S really wowed me. I haven’t heard 800S on tubes before and listening today the thinness and lack of bottom end were gone. Instead it sounded better than Susvara on the amp imo. It had more forward mids than the Susvara and a nice pleasant smoothness to the whole frequency range. Bass had impact and good extension. Definitely lacking a bit of low end compared to 1266 or Susvara but not as big of a difference as I’ve heard before.
Tomorrow I will probably give the LCD-5 and Aurorus Borealis a try. I also have a refurbished LCD-4 coming this week from the recent Audeze sale so I’m looking forward to hearing that too.
I believe the elite edition has the same stock tubes as the standard, in which case you’ll want to replace the rectifier sooner than later, the rest of the stock tubes are pretty good, there is certainly more to be had in better 2A3’s, but the rectifier is the week link in the stock tube set.
I’d suggest an RCA 5U4G, if you’re not looking to spend a lot, should be under $100, most of the better new rectifiers run $500 and up.
Your also looking at 50-200 hours before the tubes will settle in.
Yeah elite comes with same tubes as the standard WA33. I wasn’t planning on swapping tubes at all until I’ve had plenty of time with the amp and tubes and they’ve surpassed the recommended burn in time. The rectifier I am most interested in is the Takasukti 274B but that is very expensive at $1250. If I can find one of those RCA tubes under $100 then that could be something to try sooner than later. I actually don’t even know what rectifier it came with. The box and tube say 5U3C but that’s it. The tube also looked old so I’m guessing it’s a NOS tube.
Edit: just pulled the rectifier and it also says OTK 37 on it but that’s the only other marking. The rest of the stock tubes are electro harmonix 2a3 golds, and sovtek 6c45
What tubes do you use on your WA33 @Polygonhell ?