Woo Audio WA6-SE impressions

I normally leave it in tube mode, but I don't find it especially tubey. Tube+ is a bit much and I do like SS every so often. I think this amp sounds much closer to SS than any kind of tubey. I have thought about picking up some WE396a's, but I am not sure how much difference they would make. Some people claim it is almost a night and day difference, but I have my doubts about that.

 

I have thought about that. I regularly run into used models on CAM (Canuck Audio Mart). I used to have a Vali2 though and was completely underwhelmed. I just found it loud, clean and a little bright. To me it just sounded like many SS amps. I do wonder how much of an improvement the Lyr is as it is still a hybrid?

 

Lyr 3 is a solid step and a half up in clarity. If you didn't like Vali 2, I wouldn't recommend it though. It's basically a big Vali 2.

 

But if you're not impressed with the Vali 2...?

 

Was it the stock tube when you heard it? The stock tube is miserable

 

For what it's worth, I have a decent grouping of Grados, Focals, and Beyerdynamics and they all play wonderfully with my Lyr 3. I think the Lyr is an outstanding amp for the $, and my favorite from Schiit in their current line-up. I got hum/noise with the Grados and Focals to varying degrees with my WA6-SE. Notable amount/more than just "in the background without music".

I thought the WA6-SE was a great amp, especially for the price in the world of tube amps.....I ended up selling it simply for the reason it just was not the right dancing partner for lower impedance/high-sensitive headphones and I had other go-to's for my HD800s/DT880 that were eating up all the listening time. My two cents would be that the WA6-SE isn't the greatest gamble if you are running a low impedance/high-sensitivity line-up.

 

It came with a few tubes and I rolled them all. I think there was three. None stood out to me.

 

The Lyr 3 appeals as a great value. There is currently a used one on CAM that is only a few months old and comes with an extra tube. And the price is about $400.00US. And it looks great in black.
I love bargains, but then it usually ends up as, "you get you pay for", and I sell it on. At a loss of course. And then you are back at square one. I am thinking that I should hold off and get something nicer, even if used, and hope it's a keeper.

 

I'm running a NOS Sylvania 6SN7GTA but I'm also fine with new production Psvane UK-6SN7.

Rob

 

Just got my MT-602. It is tiny and Very impressive. I am running my HE6se V2's out of my Pro iCAN this week.
I hooked up my set-up as: BF2 to Loki to switcher to MT-602 with stock tubes. I plugged my HiFiman's in and got to about 1:00 and fiddled with a bit of EQ, mostly adding some bass. Wow! This is better than I had hoped. I am sure that this unit will give me problems with the efficient headphones, but it takes these on like a pro.
I would expect better tubes and some tube burn-in will even improve this. Again, wow. I had a $25.00 Amazon card, so the amp and two other sets of matched tubes cost me a grand total of $200.00 in Canuck buck's.

https://forum.hifiguides.com/t/xduoo-mt-602/23532/109

 

Cool! I put in a link in my post.

 

Lyr 3 never really wowed me when I owned it until I used a kenrad vt231 Black Glass. Loved it so much I bought two more kenrads just to have 'in case'.

Unfortunately I sold my Lyr3 as I've deeply entered the Bottlehead black hole.

However, with the Kenrad, the Lyr3 has a lovely mild boost in the bass, dramatic increase in clarity and resolution, and a lovely 3D/holographic soundstage that no other 6SN7 tubes gave me. I think it would be a great pairing with the phones you mentioned.

Worse case you can sell it for pretty much what you paid with today's market.