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Woo Audio 5LE Headphone Amplifier Review

LividPanda

Woo Audio 5LE Review

 

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About 3 months ago I ordered a Woo Audio 5 from Woo Audio (www.wooaudio.com). Buying it with the intention that it would be my endgame headphone amplifier. I purchased it with the internal component upgrades and with only the stock tubes. Shortly I will be purchasing some 274b's and 300b tubes but have not quite made up my mind on which one's to buy; but when I do I will try and update this review. 
 
A terse history of my headphone experience and how I ended up spending $3600USD on a headphone amplifier, so you know where I am coming from experience wise. I am not an audiophile.
 
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Currently owned: Sennheiser HD800's, Sennheiser HD650, Audio-Technica ATH-W1000x, Westone ES5 IEM.
 
Previously owned: Sennheiser HD 600's, AKG 701's, JVC HARX700, Westone 4, Westone 1, HiFiMan HE-500.
 
Currently owned amps: Woo Audio WA5LE, Centrance DacPort,  Fiio E17, Musical Fidelity HPA.
 
Previously owned amps: Woo Audio 6, Lehmann Audio Rhinelander, Musical Fidelity V-CAN.
 
Currently owned DAC's: MHDT Havana, Musical Fidelity V-DAC, Centrance Dacport.
 
Previously owned DAC's: Wyred 4 Sound DAC-1.
 
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This started about 4-5 years ago with the amazing headphone by JVC, the HA RX700, which for $33 sounds absolutely fantastic and you really cannot go wrong. Shortly after I bought various in-ear monitors which I didn't even bother listing above, but ended up with the Westone 1. It then, like heroin, quickly got out of hand and dozens of returns and purchases later I now have a Woo Audio 5LE. 
 
From the reviews I read they shipped in wooden crates due to the combined weight of 75lbs. To be honest I was almost more excited of getting something shipped to me in two wooden crates and having the UPS person think I was an arms dealer then listening to the amp; this idea was very sexy to me. But after a long wait (1 month, as they are each made to order) I finally got the knock on the door only to find them encased in heavy duty cardboard. Now with my aspirations of being an arms dealer dashed and disappointment aside; I opened each box and found them to be packed extremely well in closed cell foam cut to fit each component. The tubes were tucked throughout and everything was unharmed. After setting everything up the component train went as such:
 
Computer, FLAC, ALAC, MP3 320 > Logitech Squeezebox Touch > SPDIF > MHDT Havana > RCA > Woo Audio 5LE  > Headphones used in this review: Sennheiser HD800's, Audio-Technica ATH-W1000x.
 
All stock headphone cables, interconnects from Monoprice. Needless to say I have never noticed an improvement in sound through any cable ever.
 
I left it on for 4-6 hour periods for several weeks running random music through it but never listening, saving my initial impressions after everything burned in. The music I listened to for this review:
 
Massive Attack: Mezzanine - This album is a no brainer for assessing the quality of headphones, or for that matter any piece of audio gear. It oozes production value and it is clear a lot of time went into mastering the album. In my opinion this has to be in the top 5 best recorded albums, it is ruthlessly revealing and incredibly nuanced. It is fantastic for assessing bass response (Angel), as well as vocals (Inertia Creeps, Mezzanine, and Tear Drop), and seeing how much detail comes across with the distortions and effects in each track. If none of this matters to you it is also the best album I've ever heard to have sex to. If you can find something better, let me know.
 
Starker Plays Kodaly - With a hard 's'. This album is spectacular, I've listened to it since I was a teenager and it still gives me chills. Janos Starkers' technical ability on the cello is devastating  he play's Kodaly's cello sonata like it's on fire; with the right gear Starkers cello comes alive. I picked this album because I am extremely familiar with it and have heard it on everything from $33 JVC HARX700's to a $250000 dollar Wilson Audio speaker setup, as well as hearing it played live by various performers. Mid range trial by fire. That said, this album changed my life and I was deeply saddened by Starkers recent passing.
 
Diana Krall: Live In Paris - Lady Krall consistently has the best recorded albums out there and this one in my opinion is the best. Her vocals out of a warm tube amp are something wonderful, it makes it quite difficult not to fall in love with this album. The live audience also helps show how well your headphones resolve detail. The imaging on this album I feel is also particularly good.
 
RCA In Living Stereo: Bartok Concerto for Orchestra - I almost have a hard time believing this album was recorded under Fritz Reiner in the 50's. It sounds better then basically anything today and was a personal revelation for me when I first heard it. I have since listened to every RCA In Living Stereo SACD Hybrid they've released and they are all a gold standard in quality. Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play it as if it is the last time it will ever be played, with a real sense of urgency. The separation between instruments is spectacular with this recording.
 
John Coltrane: A Love Supreme- As Douglas Adams said “Beethoven tells you what it's like to be Beethoven and Mozart tells you what it's like to be human. Bach tells you what it's like to be the universe.” This album I feel could be interchanged with Bach and nobody would complain. I've heard it best described as "sheets of sound" which seems to be the best description. The amount of humanity and passion that comes across in Mr Coltranes saxophone could not be understated. The resolution of details in this album with a good set of headphones or speakers is truly great and I fear that most people will never get to hear what it can sound like, which is a shame.
 
Katy Perry: Teenage Dream - This album sounds dreadful. Why does she emphasize each word? It sounds like she said each word individually and was then stitched together. Nothing remains of the humanity in her voice, it has been evacuated, presumably digitally. Some of the songs, like Peacock, I don't think qualify as a song let alone a chant. This album did not benefit at all from any sort of amplification or any headphone in any price range and am a worse person for listening to it. Her music is distinctly both nasal and phallic. Also, loudness war.
Also listened to: Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, Bach, Beethoven, Charles Mingus, Ali Fark Toure, and Macklemore.
 
Through with the music on to the headphones. 
 
I will be very upfront about this, the Sennheiser HD800's are absolutely spectacular and are easily my favorite headphone. The clarity and the neutrality of the sound haven't been touched by anything I have heard. Do keep in mind I have not listened to Stax's latest high-end offering. But when compared to basically any other phone, it bury's the competition. Out of the Woo Audio 5LE the HD800's sound gorgeous, warming them slightly and softening the highs it removed any sort of fatigue I experienced out of the Rhinelander. This was most evident in Mezzanine when listening to Teardrop the sibilance disappeared and the harshness mellowed. I listened for hours no problem. The WA5 provided excellent bass response not overpowering but tight, deep and accurate. In the song Angel (Mezzanine) bass and details were resolved that I had not heard before. I try and avoid saying this since it gets thrown around constantly in certain circles and has become something of a banality. The soundstange of the HD800's is enormous so with proper orchestral music like Bartok Concerto for Orchestra or Mahler the music engulfs you and the WA5 only helps this by improving transient response, and making the soundstage more whole and rounded. As a frequent attendant of orchestras I sometimes feel the HD800's go a bit overboard with the soundstage. The mid range in A Love Supreme was lush and smooth and Mr Coltrane never sounded so good, the mids felt more emphasized then on any other amp I've listened to before, which is a good thing and the double bass solo was satisfying. Again due to the mid range emphasis Diana Krall's vocals were intoxicating, she almost hypnotizes you. Then there was Starker, listening to this, on this amp, with these headphones, was like I was listening to it for the first time. It was everything it could be and sounded beautiful.
 
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The Audio Technica ATH W1000x are in an over crowded price bracket with a lot of crappy headphones and some good ones. My initial apercu with these headphones listening to classical was not good but I almost exclusively keep these for jazz and they do it brilliantly with their warmish, wholesome sound signature. More like the HD650's then the HD800's in my opinion. Out of the WA5 and listening to  John Coltrane A Love Supreme a permanent unfading smile came across my face for the entirety of the album and brought me 30+ minutes of pure happiness easily paying for the thousands of dollars I spent. I listened to it again and again enoying every minute of it. Charles Mingus Ah Um and Dave Brubek Take Five are also worth mentioning here because they made these headphones sing with this amp. Charles Mingus Moanin, the baritone sax sounded perfect. This headphone/amp pairing didn't seem to take to classical music as well as the HD800's did. Still can't figure out what it's missing, a certain je ne sais quoi. While the WA5 helps the headphone resolve more detail, it doesn't compare to the HD800's missing a lot of nuances or not emphasizing things that are stark and clear in Mezzanine on the HD800's. At the same time one wouldn't expect it to, as the HD800's are over double its price. One thing the headphones didn't need was added warmth that the WA5 did add, while I love it for jazz it leaves something to be desired for piano sonata's.
 
Finally, please be aware this is very subjective and what sounds good to me may sound like somebody throwing turds in your ears.
 
Onwards and upwards.
 
The amp itself is stunning to look at and made out of machined aluminum, it looks like it will last 10 life times. It is clear that with a lot of audiophile gear your paying for the chassis, the WA5 is no exception. The separate PSU connected via an umbilical cord to the amp portion kept the noise floor dark. The volume knobs are perfect and an audiophiles wet dream. I loved the sound with my MHDT Havana DAC and sounded a little worse out of a Wyred 4 Sound DAC-1. The input selector wasn't really of much use to me but is a nice feature that wasn't on my WA6. It did not come with a power cable which for $3600 it should come with 5. As I said earlier the whole unit weighs 75lbs and it actually makes the shelf I have them sitting on bow a little. If I had to nitpick, the blue power light is super obnoxious and I wish the umbilical cord was a little longer just in case. Shipping was 125$ and Jack Wu responded to my emails in less then 24 hours and notified me with a tracking number right when it shipped.
 
This amp sounds significantly better then a Woo Audio 6. With the HD800's the WA6 sounded like it had to work but with the WA5LE it's like getting chemotherapy because you are tired of shaving your head. I find it only sounds a little better then the Lehmann Audio Rhinelander, a wonderful solid state amp and you really notice diminishing returns. At work I have a Musical Fidelity HPA, but haven't had enough time to bring it home with the HD650's to make any real comparisons but I did notice a dramatic improvement in the small soundstage of the HD650's on the WA5LE. I have also heard it is a fantastic pairing with the Hifiman HE-6, which hopefully I can get my hands on a pair shortly.
 
In summation this headphone amplifier has a dead quite background, beautiful mids and upper mids that stick out, tight deep bass, effortless sound, an imposing beautiful look, famed 300B characteristics, somewhat headphone picky endgame headphone amplifier. 
 
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OMG *sits here thinking one day, one day* I cant imagine how nice that would sound i really cant, you are one lucky person and its nice to hear your happy with your investment, hopefully the audiophile bug doesn't bite you again for a while haha. I've been thinking once i finish my certificate and get employment i might get a WA 7 fireflies and a pair of Grado  PS1000s but that's still nowhere near the level of yours! Awesome review, well done!  

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DDDDDrrrrrrrrooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

 

Also, I loved your review style - i literally lol'd a few times.

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Also, I loved your review style - i literally lol'd a few times.

Same lol.

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What an entertaining review. And so true; getting stuff shipped to you in wooden crates IS sexy.

 

Especially if it's insulated with hay and some is sticking out from under the lid, very very sexy. Oh how I long for another crate.

In case the moderators do not ban me as requested, this is a notice that I have left and am not coming back.

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What an entertaining review. And so true; getting stuff shipped to you in wooden crates IS sexy.

 

Especially if it's insulated with hay and some is sticking out from under the lid, very very sexy. Oh how I long for another crate.

But did it have any closed cell foam?

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  • 5 months later...

Update. Suggest you read my first post...first.

 

It's been about 5 months since I made this post and I've finally upgraded, burned in, and listened extensively with all the new tubes I purchased for this amp.

 

I purchased:

 

Sophia Royal Princess 300B Matched Pair

Sophia Princess Mesh Plate 274B Pair

Sylvania 6SN7GT NOS tubes Pair

 

All through www.wooaudio.com which is where I purchased the amp originally. This brings the total cost of the amp to $5500 USD which is not for the faint of heart and a hefty investment for mere headphones. For that amount one could buy some very good used B&W speakers, unfortunately I live in an apartment with walls made of tracing paper and retired SS guards as "community managers." They would quickly put an end to any Shostakovitch playing at above average volume. Moreover, I've come to enjoy the ruthless amount of details that are resolved by headphones and the intimate soundstage.

 

First, the Sophia Royal Princess 300B pair. These are Sophia Electrics flagship and you can tell. They can also be purchased http://www.sophiaelectric.com/pages/se/royal_300B.htm there. I decided not to take shitty pictures with my cellphone - and let you view their website made in Notepad, in 5 minutes, in 1998. But they arrived safely in that beautiful wooden box, unharmed. I am not an expert when it comes to tubes, and know very little. I felt like a sheep buying them because I didn't feel like I knew what I was doing and just kind of bought them because everybody liked them on HeadFi; but apparently they use a different material internally. The cheaper carbon versions which I almost bought instead have received even more adulation. Most of my initial timidity came from spending $1200 and not liking how they sound and then having a pair of really expensive shitty light bulbs. Thankfully this didn't happen. I popped them into the amp, leaving all the other stock tubes so I could tell which tubes made which difference, if any. Then, I left the amp on for a couple of hours a day, running music through them and burning them in for about 100 hours. I listened to the same music as in my first post, minus Katy Perry.

 

The first thing I noticed in Mezzanine was the bass, it has gravitas now. Before I couldn't find really anything at fault with the bass but now when I switch back to the old tubes, my ears bleed. The bass reaches deeper with both headphones (HD 800's, ATH 1000x) but not sloppily so. It is tighter and more defined and feels heavier especially on the HD800's which is a slightly bass light headphone. At the risk of sounding terse, the exact same can be said for the treble it extends further and does so cleaner and with less distortion. Both of these were not changes that took several listens of multiple tracks to pick up, these changes were apparent immediately and stark and clear. The opposite can be said of the midrange, I noticed very little change. The vocals became slightly more recessed which made them sound more natural in certain tracks like Diana Krall but in others to recessed like in some of the lyrics in Mezzanine. 50/50 improvement on the midrange depending on the track. These also slightly shrunk the enormous soundstage of the HD800's when playing classical music. If a symphony hall is your ideal sound the HD800's will frequently do better and is sometimes more then realistic to the point where the soundstage just gets obnoxious. So the slight shrinking of the soundstage is inconsequential to me, even for classical where I feel it matters most.

 

 

Onwards to the rectifier tubes. The Sophia Princess 274B is a tube I have experience with. I only had to purchase one because I still had the one I used with my WooAudio 6 before this amp. If you can only do one tube upgrade I would suggest getting a pair of 274B's, they are fantastic. Everything becomes smoother, they remove any remnants of sibilance. Vocals feel like you are listening to lotion. With the Audio Technica's they add some warmth to Coltranes saxophone and the opening baritone sax in Charles Mingus' masterpiece Moanin' would probably be in my top five favorite sounds. These things have a longer plate structure, whatever that means, but it completely reverses any effect the 300B had on the soundstage. The soundstage essentially is as large as when I just had the stock tubes maybe a little larger. The Audio Technica's with only the 300B upgrade felt like I was sitting at the front table right next to the stage at a jazz club, with the 274B's it moved me a couple of tables back. Out of all the tubes including the 6SN7GT which I have not talked about yet, the 274B easily had the largest impact on the sound signature of the amp. For $320 each they are a steal and if you buy the Woo Audio 6 they are a mandatory upgrade. The 300B and the 274B working together compensate for each others negatives and all your left with is something brilliant.

 

 

Interstitial note: On the Sophia Electric website it says the tubes sound light-years ahead of the competition. Light-years is a measure of distance not time. So their tubes are really far away. This is irritating.

 

The Sylvania 6SN7GT tubes improved the bass another level. It also seemed to bring out more detail or at the very least made the little things louder. The bottom of the sound floor was reduced and I can turn the sound all the way up with nothing playing and not hear a thing, this also seemed to improve the dynamics making all my headphones sound more like speakers when playing classical. Sibelius sounded especially excellent with his nearly impossible to play violin concerto. The transient response during that piece with the HD800's seemed highlighted and improved. A minor improvement but an improvement nonetheless. Overall I noticed much more granular improvements adding these tubes then the other two. One must wonder if my impressions would have been completely different had I just burned them in all at the same time and used them together, rather then adding one at a time. With my methodology my improvements were definitely incremental.

 

While I wouldn't recommend these exact tubes to everybody and upgrade from the WA5 stock tubes is a must. If you are going to buy an endgame headphone amplifier, you want end game sound and the stock tubes at first appearance seem like they offer that but much more good sound is to be had with a tube upgrade.

 

I'll be posting a review for the Westone ES5 CIEM sometime as well.

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Figured its good though.

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