I am aware that there's an editing blooper at 1:55 :P Unfortunately when I tried to fix and reupload, UA-cam's copyright system picked up one of the tracks as the 'extended mix', not the regular version, and outright BLOCKED the video, not just demonetised. Thanks UA-cam, your copyright system sucks. Rather than take the song out entirely, I decided to publish this version of the video with the editing blooper left in
I've been waiting for a review of this amp. Did you try the amp by feeding it a Single Ended signal? Pretty sure you didn't say but I assume you were feeding it a balanced signal. Have you ever heard the premium version? I wonder how much that elevates the sound. Thanks for all your reviews. I'm also interested in the Trafomatic Primavera. Particularly with the Susvara and 1266.
Placed an order for both the Abyss and the WA33 and got a call from my bank. All I could hear was people laughing. It also sounded like some guy was actually gasping.
I’m a 2 channel listener only, and yet this guy makes probably my favourite review videos on UA-cam. So smooth, detailed and thorough. I also find a number of new tracks from the videos which makes them even better.
thank you so much for this review and the way you presented your review. a lot of people make reference to songs without playing it so its really hard for ppl to share the feeling the way you presented make it so easy for me to follow.thank you! and through this i really found someone who i share the same music genre and i can trust the review.
Agree with everything you have said. Loved it. I slightly prefer the Ferrum Stack with a PrimaLuna Tube Pre with my Sus and Utopia, but your impressions perfectly match with mine. Good to have you back as well!
That's intersting. I tried the Ferrum stack and WA33 in the same room and found the Ferrum to be quite midiocre, although there is no preamp present. WA33 and the ampandsound amps were so much more impressive.
hearing a song I was already a big fan of (the opening, hypotheticals by lake street dive) appear in the start of a GoldenSound video makes me feel like I actually have good music taste.
A Great review!! I own the elite version using it with Susvara, 1266 phi tc. Aurender N20 + chord DAVE makes it excellent head-fi set. I haven't tried its pre-amp capabilities yet. but I will once I receive my reference turntable. Thank you again for the review and look forward to other contents as well.
I'd love to try the WA33 one of these days. For now, the Benchmark AHB2 is my preferred amp for my 1266phi (non-TC), and I think just about everything you liked about the WA33 could be said about the AHB2 (minus the slight tube coloration). The superconductor cable upgrade helps with the vocals. If you email the folks at Abyss, they'll even make you an adapter cable.
The more you pay the more unmeasurable woo terms you can use to describe the improvement in sound. These improvements are so fancy that no NASA instrument or double blind placebo controlled listening trial can detect them.
Golden I would recommend keeping all stock tubes other than the 274B with a Takatsuki which will increase soundstage. But if you want the very best I have the Elite model and upgraded to the KR AUDIO HP (high performance) tubes which includes 4 x 2A3 and 1 x 274B (make sure you use all KR tubes without the 274B sounds dull), and 6C45Pi Electro Harmonix Gold-pin Tubes. This combination is mind blowing specially with the Elite version. It makes the stock tubes sound extremely grainy and dull and would never look back. I’m running mine with the Chord Dave/ MScaler and with a upgraded Sean Jacobs power supply. This is my setup Niagara 5000 > Innuos PhoenixNet > Innuos Statement > USB out to MScaler > BNC WAVE STORM Reference > Dave > XLR Woo Audio WA33 Elite with upgraded KR HP tubes. I will be auditioning a MSB Premier DAC with Ethernet and PRO ISL USB cable connection very soon.
the KR HP 274b tubes are really good. I liked them more than the Takatuski ones - and "cheaper" ($750 each.) Note that the the KR tubes one wants are the ones for (and from) Abyss. Not the normal ones you might find. I'd suggest not using any KR tubes not built for Abyss.
Very curious about the MSB pairing. I the WA33 / JPS wires with the KR tubes. I have been using a Berkeley Reference 2 dac and was considering going MSB. Good luck!
@@miro007ist have you seen other peoples chain with there setups like Goldensounds? Mine will be the cleanest incoming money can buy via Ethernet or USB from the Innuos itself with 2 connections only.
@i-mm-o res Not trying to be cocky just explaining my chain and what improved when I stepped up. Believe my system sounds good but I’ve definitely have heard better. But you sound like you have a problem?
Greetings. How did you find it with the Bartok? I have the Bartok (and I love it) and I am considering adding some tubes at some point as the headphone amp within it is quite analytical and neutral. I really enjoy it as it is but I feel that a light dose of tube sweetness (without losing all that information the Bartok extracts) would be very pleasing. I appreciate you weren't really a fan of the Bartok but am still curious of your thoughts on that pairing since you mention you did try it. I am using the Meze Elite's which I absolutely adore and they also sound very natural (like real life) to me so on paper I think they would all pair well together. All the best
I love your style of review! WA33 is beautiful. Can you please share how WA33 sounds as a preamp compared to Holo Audio Serene pre-amplifier? I happen to be in the market for a preamp.
it would be neat and useful indeed. i am also in the market for a fully balanced tube pre to run long cables to ATC powered speakers. currently using the Serene and would like to add a tube-based alternative in the system. GS, if you ever get a hold of the Elite edition of this amp, it would will be great to know how it compares to its "cheaper" sibling.
GS- you had your hands on a Feliks Audio Euphoria yet? Highly suggest and curious to your thoughts amongst the vast range of options out there. It's a glorious KT88 platform.
Hi, could you do review of Holo May vs Sonnet Pasithea vs Mola Mola Tambaqui. Hot top just now. Thank for your great job!!! Your review are the best on youtube.
Don't remember if you went into great detail about the Serene as a headphone amp. If you haven't that would be a good vid to release. I will revisit the Serene review and lookout for any mention of its headphone section.
WA33, Donald North (DNA) Stellaris, , trafomatic primavera, viva egoista 845, Amps and Sound Nautilus/Red October, Eddie Current Studio T, Riviera AIC-10, Aries Cerat Genus 845, Octave V16 ,Allnic HPA5000 XL, Modwright HA300, Cayin HA-300, Feliks Envy, LTA MZ3, Wells Dragon Level 3, and Pathos Inpol Ear would all by on my "short" list for shopping for a TOTL tube amp.
Absolutely, and you can also add an Auris Nirvana… I haven’t heard it’s equal with Sophia EL34 power tubes and a good replacement driver valve. The Abyss 1266 shines with it, as does the focal utopia. As it only has three tubes you get a very inexpensive to tube roll amp… although not so inexpensive to buy of course. I should add that the benefit of a solid state power supply is very clean dead background, and avoidance of what happened to a bigger Ben amp I had previously where the rectifier valve filament blew and took out the power transformer. Not what you want to see.
If you have a DAC that has a wide soundstage, would it compensate to the narrower soundstage of the WA33? Would the soundstage of 1266 add up even more to that?
You should keep those tubes…. 😉jk- Also- meh to all the zeos comparisons…. You are YOU -👇🏻 And you’re top shelf in the service and integrity you bring- So thank you * 👏🏻 I think I’m heading to patreon
Welcome back 🥂 Btw, yup..I like tubes ..as a novice type of way. Sen’s HD650 on the Xduoo 604 ..and I like it a lot better than in a 789 amp. HUZZAH to WIGGLY AIR ENTHUSIASTS 👍
Wow , that's the best looking headphone amp I have ever seen, since you say its sounds even more beautiful than it looks thats saying a lot. I am very jealous for your experience.
Is it cool? This is 30 min of vague, dramatic language, then "marvel at the music I like" and "marvel at my setup". Zeos-tier masturbation. I bet my life that I could blind A/B this thing alongside any properly-powered SS amp and no one would tell the difference...unless, of course, I was using headphones that don't "scale well" 🤣
@@skengasaurus fun fact, different people have different ears, and some can pick up, or differentiate, frequencies others can't. So GoldenSound can very much appreciate tech that you or I wouldn't be able to, and that's part of why I like his videos.
@@KyurekiHana lmfao ah yes, frequencies you say? I'm sure you're referring to the kind that evade every measurement technique in existence. I'm not even a member of ASR, but I'm kinda understanding how that place is better off without him. Do you know what can change sound perception more dramatically than any DAC or amp? Amount of rest, time of day, barometric pressure and then more bias-based sources like level of attention/focus, expectations, etc. In fact, one of the best EQ/spatializers on the market for an audiophile is loss-aversion. If you just upgraded your $200 amp to a $3000 one, especially at the objection of your partner...the things you will hear coming out of that box, ohhhhh boy...
Some people aren't able to have loudspeaker systems. This will become increasingly true with time, as single zoomers are forever bound to flats or terrace housing and married ones are, you know, married. A good speaker system is a life goal of mine in a way that a good headphone system would never be, but for the foreseeable future I have to be realistic. (Mind you, an 8 grand amp isn't realistic for me ATM either)
GS is Zeos. Zeos is just his alter ego. His personality split clean in two when he heard the Holo May as he couldn't resolve that the most expensive DAC he'd ever heard was also the best he'd ever heard. Bang for buck brain go burrr.
For most of the hobby, $1000-1500 all in ( amp-dac-headphones) is TOTL. Your reviews have definitely focused on prices above this, but I think a lot of us are wondering what you'd do to build the best system under $1500 or so
Not really true anymore. Buying something like a lcd x or a ayra is not seen as a "absurd" investment like it used to be. Those would be TOTL for most people and they cost $1000-$1500 on their own.
Regardless of one's opinion on cables, AudioQuest's power conditioners are legit. They were designed by Garth Powell who was the lead designer at Furman beforehand. And their improvement can be easily demonstrated: streamable.com/ud9z2g In regards to not opening the WA33, I'd have loved to, as there's no pics of the inside available anyway, but if a manufacturer asks me not to do something, I won't do it. I will tell my audience that the manufacturer has made that request, as I did in this video, but if I were to go ahead and open it without their permission then they'd have been well within their rights to demand I pay for the unit or costs of any retesting/refurbish, which I can't afford :P
@@GoldenSound A kind reminder that we do not listen to mains voltage but to amp output at a 16Hz to 20kHz range. How the video you have linked to demonstrates anything of relevance beats my engineering sensibilities. Btw you seem to have the equipment, if you also have the knowledge you can test that yourself.
@@GoldenSound even if the ac is perfectly cleaned up with no noise, youre not gonna hear the difference. no well designed audio equipment is gonna sound worse on dirty power
@@razisn We only hear from ~20hz to 20khz yes. But that does not mean that only noise from 20hz to 20khz is an issue. There are plenty of components within DACs and amps, and in fact even transducers, which can be negatively impacted by ultrasonic noise and cause degredation within the audible band as a result. Clock oscillators for example can be affected by noise at several hundred khz and create audible jitter as a result. If we are only focusing on noise passed from input to output then yes 20hz-20khz is all we need to look at, but DACs, amps and other devices are often not particularly simple and have dependencies elsewhere with demonstrable audible impacts.
@@-aexc- It depends entirely on the device. You SHOULDN'T need a power conditioner yes. But that doesn't mean you DON'T. I don't have it here because I think it makes a difference all the time. The vast majority of devices don't need it. But I have it here so that I know I'm comparing things on an even footing. Additionally there are benefits such as transient current correction, and not to mention the non sacrificial surge protection. To be honest the surge protection is the main reason I wanted one. One of my patrons had his mains go up to 5x the normal voltage for about 6 minutes straight. Fried everything in his house including most of the stuff on various surge protectors. But the stuff on his Audioquest and Furman conditioners was absolutely fine and both the devices and the conditioners switched back on. When you're leaving sometimes $50k worth of gear plugged in, it's worth it for the peace of mind alone
For $3,000 you can get a solid state amp that does 90% of what this can do. Sounds great & as a serious audiophile, would like to have in my collection some day. For retail though? Hell no.
15:47 What are we supposed to listen to? You are aware that we are listening through our own systems, our own headphones, therefore we can hear nothing relevant of the WA33 sound, right?
"Sprinkle this little bit of sweetness on the midrange area". So this is a colored and distorted headphone amplifier. And the 1266 is also far from Harman. Again two excessively priced products delivering far from SOTA deliverance. No thanks.
dude what a shilling my gosh......i put all these songs using the xiaudio 11 formula S and im sorry but it gives same of everything you show here...its a huge waste of money for who ever is looking for tube amp, this is quit a high end solid state amp period...5k maximum value, and im being generous. this sounds nothing like Tube amp....and why all these youtubers trying to use all kind of luxurious words to present an item they like or shill...ridiculous- bottom line WASTE OF MONEY- stay away.
I am aware that there's an editing blooper at 1:55 :P
Unfortunately when I tried to fix and reupload, UA-cam's copyright system picked up one of the tracks as the 'extended mix', not the regular version, and outright BLOCKED the video, not just demonetised. Thanks UA-cam, your copyright system sucks.
Rather than take the song out entirely, I decided to publish this version of the video with the editing blooper left in
I've been waiting for a review of this amp. Did you try the amp by feeding it a Single Ended signal? Pretty sure you didn't say but I assume you were feeding it a balanced signal. Have you ever heard the premium version? I wonder how much that elevates the sound. Thanks for all your reviews. I'm also interested in the Trafomatic Primavera. Particularly with the Susvara and 1266.
can or cannot be used to drive speakers???
Placed an order for both the Abyss and the WA33 and got a call from my bank. All I could hear was people laughing. It also sounded like some guy was actually gasping.
Just know that the owner of abyss is a scam artist
@@SIZLL can you elaborate?
I really enjoyed this review! Hope to see more of your videos soon.
Aye have been eagerly awaiting your video explaining the limitations of measurements! But good to have ye back nonetheless. Cheers!
I’m a 2 channel listener only, and yet this guy makes probably my favourite review videos on UA-cam. So smooth, detailed and thorough. I also find a number of new tracks from the videos which makes them even better.
thank you so much for this review and the way you presented your review. a lot of people make reference to songs without playing it so its really hard for ppl to share the feeling the way you presented make it so easy for me to follow.thank you! and through this i really found someone who i share the same music genre and i can trust the review.
Such a pleasing & insightful video.
Well done 👌🏆🎼💯✨
good to have you back!
Agree with everything you have said. Loved it. I slightly prefer the Ferrum Stack with a PrimaLuna Tube Pre with my Sus and Utopia, but your impressions perfectly match with mine. Good to have you back as well!
That's intersting. I tried the Ferrum stack and WA33 in the same room and found the Ferrum to be quite midiocre, although there is no preamp present. WA33 and the ampandsound amps were so much more impressive.
hearing a song I was already a big fan of (the opening, hypotheticals by lake street dive) appear in the start of a GoldenSound video makes me feel like I actually have good music taste.
A Great review!! I own the elite version using it with Susvara, 1266 phi tc. Aurender N20 + chord DAVE makes it excellent head-fi set. I haven't tried its pre-amp capabilities yet. but I will once I receive my reference turntable. Thank you again for the review and look forward to other contents as well.
Nicely Done and welcome back.
Maybe you'll get a chance to finally doing that review
on the Schiit Asgard 3 :)
I'd love to try the WA33 one of these days. For now, the Benchmark AHB2 is my preferred amp for my 1266phi (non-TC), and I think just about everything you liked about the WA33 could be said about the AHB2 (minus the slight tube coloration). The superconductor cable upgrade helps with the vocals. If you email the folks at Abyss, they'll even make you an adapter cable.
“Wiggly Air Enthusiast” Nice vid; good to see you back in the seat. Did you try out the preamp function of the WA33?
Took a detour on your review watched the video for the Elderbook song cool video.
Most basic version $8500. Can go up to $18000 depending on configuration.
The more you pay the more unmeasurable woo terms you can use to describe the improvement in sound. These improvements are so fancy that no NASA instrument or double blind placebo controlled listening trial can detect them.
@@chamade166 You pay that much you better be prepared to place your ears in placebo mode for the rest of your life.
Golden I would recommend keeping all stock tubes other than the 274B with a Takatsuki which will increase soundstage. But if you want the very best I have the Elite model and upgraded to the KR AUDIO HP (high performance) tubes which includes 4 x 2A3 and 1 x 274B (make sure you use all KR tubes without the 274B sounds dull), and 6C45Pi Electro Harmonix Gold-pin Tubes. This combination is mind blowing specially with the Elite version. It makes the stock tubes sound extremely grainy and dull and would never look back. I’m running mine with the Chord Dave/ MScaler and with a upgraded Sean Jacobs power supply. This is my setup Niagara 5000 > Innuos PhoenixNet > Innuos Statement > USB out to MScaler > BNC WAVE STORM Reference > Dave > XLR Woo Audio WA33 Elite with upgraded KR HP tubes. I will be auditioning a MSB Premier DAC with Ethernet and PRO ISL USB cable connection very soon.
Isn’t simpler better? Why have a such a long chain?
the KR HP 274b tubes are really good. I liked them more than the Takatuski ones - and "cheaper" ($750 each.) Note that the the KR tubes one wants are the ones for (and from) Abyss. Not the normal ones you might find. I'd suggest not using any KR tubes not built for Abyss.
Very curious about the MSB pairing. I the WA33 / JPS wires with the KR tubes. I have been using a Berkeley Reference 2 dac and was considering going MSB. Good luck!
@@miro007ist have you seen other peoples chain with there setups like Goldensounds? Mine will be the cleanest incoming money can buy via Ethernet or USB from the Innuos itself with 2 connections only.
@i-mm-o res Not trying to be cocky just explaining my chain and what improved when I stepped up. Believe my system sounds good but I’ve definitely have heard better. But you sound like you have a problem?
Greetings. How did you find it with the Bartok? I have the Bartok (and I love it) and I am considering adding some tubes at some point as the headphone amp within it is quite analytical and neutral.
I really enjoy it as it is but I feel that a light dose of tube sweetness (without losing all that information the Bartok extracts) would be very pleasing.
I appreciate you weren't really a fan of the Bartok but am still curious of your thoughts on that pairing since you mention you did try it.
I am using the Meze Elite's which I absolutely adore and they also sound very natural (like real life) to me so on paper I think they would all pair well together.
All the best
I love your style of review! WA33 is beautiful. Can you please share how WA33 sounds as a preamp compared to Holo Audio Serene pre-amplifier? I happen to be in the market for a preamp.
That would have been pretty neat
it would be neat and useful indeed. i am also in the market for a fully balanced tube pre to run long cables to ATC powered speakers. currently using the Serene and would like to add a tube-based alternative in the system. GS, if you ever get a hold of the Elite edition of this amp, it would will be great to know how it compares to its "cheaper" sibling.
At $8500 or $16,000 for the Elite Edition, I'm going to have to just take your word for it.
LETS GOO. ~ It’s Golden 💪🏾
GS- you had your hands on a Feliks Audio Euphoria yet? Highly suggest and curious to your thoughts amongst the vast range of options out there. It's a glorious KT88 platform.
Lake Street Dive. Hell yeah.
Hi, could you do review of Holo May vs Sonnet Pasithea vs Mola Mola Tambaqui. Hot top just now. Thank for your great job!!! Your review are the best on youtube.
I’ve seen the 1266 starring in @GoldenSound video but would you like to do a detailed review for it? That’ll be great 👍🏻
How does it measure? Didn't find them on your site.
Could you pls review cheaper stuff like Woo WA6 or xduoo tube amps?
When can we expect to see that Mola Mola Tambaqui Holo May comparison?
Would you also do a Ferrum OOR + Hypos review?
Don't remember if you went into great detail about the Serene as a headphone amp. If you haven't that would be a good vid to release. I will revisit the Serene review and lookout for any mention of its headphone section.
He did
WA33, Donald North (DNA) Stellaris, , trafomatic primavera, viva egoista 845, Amps and Sound Nautilus/Red October, Eddie Current Studio T, Riviera AIC-10, Aries Cerat Genus 845, Octave V16 ,Allnic HPA5000 XL, Modwright HA300, Cayin HA-300, Feliks Envy, LTA MZ3, Wells Dragon Level 3, and Pathos Inpol Ear would all by on my "short" list for shopping for a TOTL tube amp.
Apex Pinnacle in that list as well.
Absolutely, and you can also add an Auris Nirvana… I haven’t heard it’s equal with Sophia EL34 power tubes and a good replacement driver valve. The Abyss 1266 shines with it, as does the focal utopia.
As it only has three tubes you get a very inexpensive to tube roll amp… although not so inexpensive to buy of course. I should add that the benefit of a solid state power supply is very clean dead background, and avoidance of what happened to a bigger Ben amp I had previously where the rectifier valve filament blew and took out the power transformer. Not what you want to see.
Are these to be imported into the UK, or do we have a dealer?
What HiFi rack are you using ? Is that monoprice ?
If you have a DAC that has a wide soundstage, would it compensate to the narrower soundstage of the WA33? Would the soundstage of 1266 add up even more to that?
Yes, Chord DAVE improves it hugely. Love the matching.
If you recall, how does it compare to WA5 and even the WA2? Thanks
who makes the frequency visualization software that you show on your monitor during videos?
You should keep those tubes…. 😉jk-
Also- meh to all the zeos comparisons….
You are YOU -👇🏻
And you’re top shelf in the service and integrity you bring-
So thank you * 👏🏻
I think I’m heading to patreon
I recommend you to try ampandsound's flagship amps. They are really good, and I would say maybe a little bit better than WA33 IMO
Don't know about the sound, but you don't get the same presentation for sure.
How does this amp compare to the Feliks Envy? better?
Are you the same guy from WatchFinder? 🤔🙂
How does this in fare against Aperio sound ? Sounds interesting
Does the sound quality change when the gain is changed?
Welcome back 🥂
Btw, yup..I like tubes ..as a novice type of way.
Sen’s HD650 on the Xduoo 604 ..and I like it a lot better than in a 789 amp.
HUZZAH to WIGGLY AIR ENTHUSIASTS 👍
Feeding it off the Kitsune 🥲
Review the 2021 lcd x pls
That's a tall building your in! You at 15 storeys high?
Is it true that the Apple dongle is the only amp you need?
Lol
try burson 3gt maybe?
I think “Woo” is a good name for this thing.
Where's your APx555? I don't see it.
sorry for being gone a little bit....yeaaaah
The GOAT is back
I want this amp but my desk is too small with the Apple XDR Display already. :(
Holy cringe. Suffering from success are you?
Get a bigger desk.
Wow , that's the best looking headphone amp I have ever seen, since you say its sounds even more beautiful than it looks thats saying a lot. I am very jealous for your experience.
Testing needs more Metal 🤘
Lol I felt like I clicked Futurama jokes compilation my mistake.. 😂
hi
That's cool but $8,499.00 is a bit out of my budget.
Is it cool? This is 30 min of vague, dramatic language, then "marvel at the music I like" and "marvel at my setup". Zeos-tier masturbation. I bet my life that I could blind A/B this thing alongside any properly-powered SS amp and no one would tell the difference...unless, of course, I was using headphones that don't "scale well" 🤣
@@skengasaurus fun fact, different people have different ears, and some can pick up, or differentiate, frequencies others can't. So GoldenSound can very much appreciate tech that you or I wouldn't be able to, and that's part of why I like his videos.
@Surripere Sorry buddy, but I already paid the toll to get past the bridge.
@@KyurekiHana lmfao ah yes, frequencies you say? I'm sure you're referring to the kind that evade every measurement technique in existence. I'm not even a member of ASR, but I'm kinda understanding how that place is better off without him. Do you know what can change sound perception more dramatically than any DAC or amp? Amount of rest, time of day, barometric pressure and then more bias-based sources like level of attention/focus, expectations, etc. In fact, one of the best EQ/spatializers on the market for an audiophile is loss-aversion. If you just upgraded your $200 amp to a $3000 one, especially at the objection of your partner...the things you will hear coming out of that box, ohhhhh boy...
@@skengasaurus preach it brother
Oh $8,500. I could get a godlike loudspeaker system with a godlike amp for $8,400
Some people aren't able to have loudspeaker systems. This will become increasingly true with time, as single zoomers are forever bound to flats or terrace housing and married ones are, you know, married. A good speaker system is a life goal of mine in a way that a good headphone system would never be, but for the foreseeable future I have to be realistic. (Mind you, an 8 grand amp isn't realistic for me ATM either)
GS is Zeos. Zeos is just his alter ego. His personality split clean in two when he heard the Holo May as he couldn't resolve that the most expensive DAC he'd ever heard was also the best he'd ever heard. Bang for buck brain go burrr.
Please don’t taint this channel by mentioned that other moron.
This is amazing
NOT TRUE, as the voice is totally different.
@@Fernando-wz6no O.K., autism.
For most of the hobby, $1000-1500 all in ( amp-dac-headphones) is TOTL. Your reviews have definitely focused on prices above this, but I think a lot of us are wondering what you'd do to build the best system under $1500 or so
Not really true anymore. Buying something like a lcd x or a ayra is not seen as a "absurd" investment like it used to be. Those would be TOTL for most people and they cost $1000-$1500 on their own.
Audioquest? Not opening the unit? We trust you and im sensing some questionable things going on…
Regardless of one's opinion on cables, AudioQuest's power conditioners are legit. They were designed by Garth Powell who was the lead designer at Furman beforehand. And their improvement can be easily demonstrated: streamable.com/ud9z2g
In regards to not opening the WA33, I'd have loved to, as there's no pics of the inside available anyway, but if a manufacturer asks me not to do something, I won't do it.
I will tell my audience that the manufacturer has made that request, as I did in this video, but if I were to go ahead and open it without their permission then they'd have been well within their rights to demand I pay for the unit or costs of any retesting/refurbish, which I can't afford :P
@@GoldenSound A kind reminder that we do not listen to mains voltage but to amp output at a 16Hz to 20kHz range. How the video you have linked to demonstrates anything of relevance beats my engineering sensibilities. Btw you seem to have the equipment, if you also have the knowledge you can test that yourself.
@@GoldenSound even if the ac is perfectly cleaned up with no noise, youre not gonna hear the difference. no well designed audio equipment is gonna sound worse on dirty power
@@razisn We only hear from ~20hz to 20khz yes. But that does not mean that only noise from 20hz to 20khz is an issue.
There are plenty of components within DACs and amps, and in fact even transducers, which can be negatively impacted by ultrasonic noise and cause degredation within the audible band as a result.
Clock oscillators for example can be affected by noise at several hundred khz and create audible jitter as a result.
If we are only focusing on noise passed from input to output then yes 20hz-20khz is all we need to look at, but DACs, amps and other devices are often not particularly simple and have dependencies elsewhere with demonstrable audible impacts.
@@-aexc- It depends entirely on the device.
You SHOULDN'T need a power conditioner yes. But that doesn't mean you DON'T.
I don't have it here because I think it makes a difference all the time. The vast majority of devices don't need it. But I have it here so that I know I'm comparing things on an even footing.
Additionally there are benefits such as transient current correction, and not to mention the non sacrificial surge protection.
To be honest the surge protection is the main reason I wanted one. One of my patrons had his mains go up to 5x the normal voltage for about 6 minutes straight.
Fried everything in his house including most of the stuff on various surge protectors.
But the stuff on his Audioquest and Furman conditioners was absolutely fine and both the devices and the conditioners switched back on.
When you're leaving sometimes $50k worth of gear plugged in, it's worth it for the peace of mind alone
Now isn't the best time to invest in a tube amp... Sure looks pretty though
wa33 so much brrrrrrre
For $3,000 you can get a solid state amp that does 90% of what this can do. Sounds great & as a serious audiophile, would like to have in my collection some day. For retail though? Hell no.
15:47 What are we supposed to listen to? You are aware that we are listening through our own systems, our own headphones, therefore we can hear nothing relevant of the WA33 sound, right?
"Sprinkle this little bit of sweetness on the midrange area". So this is a colored and distorted headphone amplifier. And the 1266 is also far from Harman. Again two excessively priced products delivering far from SOTA deliverance. No thanks.
dude what a shilling my gosh......i put all these songs using the xiaudio 11 formula S and im sorry but it gives same of everything you show here...its a huge waste of money for who ever is looking for tube amp, this is quit a high end solid state amp period...5k maximum value, and im being generous. this sounds nothing like Tube amp....and why all these youtubers trying to use all kind of luxurious words to present an item they like or shill...ridiculous- bottom line WASTE OF MONEY- stay away.