5:13 the good ol' reach around is common courtesy indeed lol it's definitely a looker and has been on my bucket list too. there's always, however, too much bloody stuff on that list that keeps bumping that one back :D I'm enjoying Joshua's review ecosystem more and more and really appreciate your fine tuning and minutia which keeps setting you apart take care man
Just picked this amp up yesterday. I must say this product is amazing! I have it paired with a Denafrips Ares II and Loki+ for EQ. I primarily use my Arya and LCD-XC, but plan to try my Focals later this weekend. The sound is unbelievable particularly the mids and lows. Joshua, I learned about this product from this video. So glad you made it as I was struggling to find the right amp. Cheers to you and your work!
I’ve loved the look of this line for a long time as well, and finally jumped for the v3 because of the preamp. Sounds great for my desktop speakers! It lends itself well to tube rolling as well. Cheers!
Man, Josh is picking up steam on video quality and presentation, that last B-Roll is breath taking. Very nice amp, I think I'm one of the people it would serve well.
The Diana v2 is my favorite as well. without any bias, the WA7 is a great sounding amplifier / dac with premium build quality at a comfortable price point. Upgrade the tubes to RCA Clear Top and the sound is another level above. I love your white power cord and rca cables.
Hi Josh, a quick note, kudos for all the good videos and content, and specialized information you put out. Your channel and comments are really informative, clear and concise. Keep it going, greetings from South Africa🎧
I owned the WA7 gen 2 and use it with my NAD M10 ( via pre out output) and my Mark Levinsen no5909 (32 ohm ) headphone. In bluetooth with the NAD and wired with the WA7. I'm very impress of the sound quality ! Good bass control voice are fabulous and treble just enough of sparkle . I use Tidal for my music and the quality of the file are very very good ! This is my setup ! Have a nice day !
Many thanks Joshua for making this video. Between you and Jay's iyagi channel I decided to pull the trigger and like @marchood04 stated, my Arya & LCD-X sound incredible!!! Listening to smooth Jazz is at a higher level of satisfaction. This hobby is teaching me to not be in a hurry to upgrade the cans. Spend time learning the cans and pair with different amplifiers/DAC and see how far you pull beauty out of them. Geez, my Arya has never sounded this good. I'm so far loving the RCA Clear top tubes. Super clear and spacious!
My Gen3 is paired with Audeze LCD X headphones and for me it's audio heaven! The only downside is there is a very loud 'crack' sound when I power it up and power it down so looks like so soft start is built in. It's a bit of a pain having to remember to unplug the headphones before powering on , etc. Audeze told me this is perfectly normal but none of my other headphone amps show this behaviour. I'd be interested to know if others have experienced this problem. Nice review BTW 🙂
Hey Josh! Great review, as always. After this review and the one of the Arya Organic I'm trying to figure out if putting them together (with my Mojo 2 as DAC in-between) would be an endgame-ish setup. What would you to that idea? But I'd really be happy on your thoughts alone on the synergy between the WA7 and the Organic, time willing. Thanks in advance!
There have not been many reviews out there for this amp. I didn't realize Woo Audio had changed the power supply on this newer version. I have the V2 version and that includes the most massive separate power supply I've ever seen. It's a linear power supply that weighs almost as much as the W7 itself. The W7 V2 has a very powerful and clinically clean sounding gain which I attribute to the excellent power supply. I'm curious as to what type of power supply they squeezed into this new version without the weight changing much. Could it be digital? The W7 has a built in OK DAC. Nothing worth talking about. I am using the Schiit Audio Bifrost 2/64 which elevates the performance of this amp quite a bit. I think the internal DAC is a bottleneck to the potential performance this is capable of. As for tube rolling, it's quite difficult to find the tube specifications for this amp. Woo Audio sells a very good upgrade but it's quite pricey. I did pull the trigger and it took it up a notch yet over the stock. The stock sounds a bit darker by comparison with the 6C45Pi Electro Harmonix Gold upgrade improving on the high end, dynamics and more air. These upgrades may not be necessary for most though as in stock form, it performs very well as you indicated in your review. This setup could easily be an end game for many out there. This is a transformer coupled tube amp allowing impedance matching for lower impedance headphones like planar s. But I still find some of the dynamics and gain to suffer a bit in this setting. I'm strickly speaking of my experience with the W7 v2.
Great review 👍👍 The Xduoo 604 on my 650’s are a fantastic match . Tho’ I’m intrigued 🤔as to how one of these top end amps will sound as the Sen’s do scale . Take care.☕️🍕👍
I've been eyeballing this beauty for a while now but went with the Xduoo MT-604 for the price and honestly, I'm impressed with it. Was wondering if this would be a substantial upgrade in the future for me from the MT-604? This looks like an expensive rare jewelry and still haven't heard anyone saying anything bad about it other that it doesn't have XLR's in the back. Everyone says this thing sounds amazing!
I enjoy learning about the advances in Hi-Fi reproduction. I've had a Sprout, for 10 years; which aside from its tiny footprint. is impressive. I've enjoyed high powered Marantz, Yamaha since the 70's and but able to handle Double Advents or Large ADS Brauns; and doesn't break into a sweat. I love my 70's equipment which can give life to the music of your choice. I've accumulated 5 systems as for the past 20 years. This new equipment Is easily movable , loud or soft, as you prefer and nicely, detailed sounding. Most do not power protect and cut out when you are jamming. like cheap store front deals. This sounds like a very interesting component. Steven Pettinga, Indianapolis.
@joshuavalour Have you experienced any 60hz humming of buzz? After about 20hr my WA7 Gen3 has started humming. Nothing has changed around it, no extra emi, same power port etc. Anyone with any experience? Also I have reached out to my local where it was bought from, will update as I get info.
Can confirm, demoed this with the 800s and was quite surprised. Usually I have to eq the 800s , but with zero eq the bass was full and the soundstage was still there and the treble was tamed just enough.
Hey Joshua and community, know this review is a bit old but am hoping that someone can give me an opinion on my inquiry. I currently have the Empyrean 2 and HD800s's. I pretty much exclusively listen to them plugged into a computer. Currently DAC/AMP I have is the JDS Element III mk2 (boosted). Do you all think that this would be a big step up from that one given the setup? If no, any other recs for a tube DAC that would pair better with the Empy? Looking to stay < $2k
This is my dream tube amp I’ve been so close to pulling the trigger on preowned gen 1 wa7 I want it so bad to go with my Ifi setup I’ll have the best of both worlds then
I have been waiting for this one! Also Josh, I do not want to be annoying because I know people ask you to review more stuff all the time so sorry about that, but I am very curious as to what you think of the Woo Audio wa6 (2nd gen) because there is a lack of coverage on that amp on RU-vid. I am looking to get a warm sounding tube amp for my hd 800 s. Anyways, if you don’t get to it that’s alright, you do a great job at making lots of reviews. Love your vids man! Peace ✌🏻 from Michigan
Kind of wish I could get it without the DAC for less money. I've always been tube-curious but never pulled the trigger. I like this form factor but the price might be closer to what I'd wanna pay if I could get it without the DAC.
Still rockin 1st generation WA7D with upgraded tubes pairs really well with HD660S and DT1770 Pro, paid AU$800 a few years ago second hand (it was a week old at the time) bargain if ever there was one class A tube sound 👌
I want to buy an amp/dac for my ps5 and my target is a very premium amp/dac , any recommendation would be appreciated Side note: I don’t know anything about dacs
I have been using the WA-7 Gen 1 for about 7 years. I have used it with the Sennheiser HD600, 6xx and most recently the 800s. I would love to try the Gen 3, but have no complaints with what I have. I use the upgraded tubes.
my main problem with the unit is the lack of optical IN. It is a tube amp so it will not be on PC duty, it is not to the level of my hi-end system, but I could take it and plug it in when I go on my porch to enjoy a cigar or a pipe and some coffee. Unfortunately Without optical in to put a BT receiver like zen blue, I need to have it connected to my phone so I can't move my phone, and we get back to why I give my hip-dac away for free because it was a pain in the ass to use it. I literally look to an excuse to get this because looks so nice but in old WooAudio fashion with every DAC it is more annoying to use then the enjoyment they provide.
Got one and have to say I’m a bit underwhelmed. My DCA E3 connected to the balanced out and the volume cranked to 100% doesn’t sound great. My $180 iFi hip-dac 3 or my Topping D50 III & A50 III sound better at 50% volume.
As an alternate voice, I got WA7 3rd Gen, and when I listen next to a stack of Denafrips AresII DAC & Topping A90D, the WA7 is really disappointing despite trying a few tube variations. It might be ok and looks great, but next to the AresII/A90D stack, for me it doesn't come close to the detailed sound and music enjoyment. It's been buried in the closet a while now for me.
Sorry Josh but saying that you a rarely are above two o'clock for volume needs a point of reference. What position on the "clock" does the volume start at (volume zero)? If it starts at 12;00 that's great but if it starts at 3:00 then not too optimal. Otherwise very helpful review.
You should be more clear about that Diana & Woo joint marketing. Despite both companies advertising them as a great combo, the Woo does not work well with Diana TC. It's easy to max out the volume knob and want more. Likely fine with Diana v2, phi or new Diana MR. But it does not have the juice for a TC, as eventually stated by Abyss themselves. So the answer should be "it depends". Know this because I own one. Lovely amp for bedroom. But needs to be paired with reasonably sensitive cans. Works great with my Radiance and plays okay with my HD800S.
please answer, does this AMP good for gaming when it pairs with the HD800S, if it doesn't, please mention the good AMPs for gaming with HD800S ??????????🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Pairing the HD800 with the W7 is a perfect match. I have a few other good amps one of which is even more expensive but the HD800s sounds best with the W7. It helps tame the strident brightness that can be fatiguing yet without loosing detail. Also, the W7 v2 which I have drives the HD800 with an authority the other amps do cannot do as well.
I wish more tube amps looked like this at this price point instead of looking something from ww2 obnoxiously colored loud like I get it tube old but god it doesn’t have to look ugly for double the price and only kinda looking modern at 4 x the price
pre-out vs headphone out should switch automatically depending if there are headphones plugged in :/ needing to reach around every time you remove or add headphones is such a pain.
I own it. Love the sound of it and with my focal clear headphones it sounds amazing. I'm just annoyed I have to buy replacement tubes every 3000 hours.
Much industrial design today uses silver powder coat on metal. I hate it. It looks cheap. Why not leave the metal bare? Why must the metal be powdered coated silver to look... like metal? I'd rather have matte clear-coat over metal or either all-black. Also, there's some orange peel on the finishing. Woo can do better.
yea me as well. The price is high, and the stories of problems dealing the manufacturer on head-fi and in the comments here make me afraid to pull the trigger as I don't live in the US even.
I owned it and it is a horrible device. Has an unbeliveably high noise floor (switched 2 pairs of very good tubes), had bad cracking and popping noises when you tunr the device on or shut down the unit. I have sent it all the way back from europe to usa to let it get checked. They said everything is fine, works as expected :) Worst product I have ever owned. Never had any issues with feliks or mcintosh tube products. Would never buy a wooaudio product again.
Totally agree.. I've had it for several months... The sound quality isn't bad, but as you said, it's an expensive amp, but it has too many flaws. This amp doesn't deserve its high price. ah, The value as a desk interior is high. It's pretty cool. 
@@sca7531 Yeah looks absolutely awesome and is compact as well. Perfect for the desk. The new WA7e is also very interesting but after my experience with the WA7 I will definitely skip it.
This is strange indeed. I’ve a Woo Audio WA8 and it’s a solid performer. Kept it despite owning many other solid state DAC amps. Largely for the lush euphoric sound. I wonder if you checked the source? I assume this is via connection with RCA. I expect the connection with USB to be dead quiet. The other possibility is if you are using a sensitive or low impedance IEM for example.
The point is $1400-1600 is OK. I had an opportunity to live with it for two weeks. Sound was good but not great. It doesn’t have the craftsmanship as stated in the video. It does look cool however.
