MrRIP OP t1_ja6h4va wrote on February 27, 2023 at 4:52 AM

Reply to comment by SchiitMjolnir2 in CanJam2023 First Day Impressions by MrRIP

Interesting. I’m not well versed in tube amps at all, but now I am. Did you go to can jam? Or heard the wa33 or Feliks envy? I’d like to know your opinion on the sound differences you’d noticed between them all with your pair.

Also is every input hole like adding gain on a standard amp?

I’m at the point of where I was when I was searching for a “perfect” pair of headphones. So many options between tube amps and I have no idea on how they work and it looks like the only place I can demo them is at shows like these which is frustrating.

SchiitMjolnir2 t1_ja6kfs3 wrote on February 27, 2023 at 5:25 AM

I've heard both during my time at CanJam 2022 Socal. From what I recall, WA33 is more technical and less rolled-off in the treble than the Envy. I believe, I used the low-impedance setting in the WA33 and medium impedance with the Envy with the Suvara pairing. The Envy has a more "expressive" mids than the WA33, and both have that concert-hall imaging that is the trademark of tube amp.

When it comes to tube amps, the best breed would be the "Directly Heated Triode" Single Ended Tube amp (WA23, WA5 LE, Feliks Envy, Eddie Current amps) or Fully Balanced Push-Pull directly heated triode amp (WA33). They differ in output power as well as output transformers and as such will react differently with the same headphones. Only way to tell is to actually demo them with your headphone of choosing.

> Also is every input hole like adding gain on a standard amp?

Nope. If you use two of the headphone amp outs at the same time, you increase the load of the amp (on the output transformer specifically) and depending on the sensitivity of the headphones used, one will sound louder or quieter than the other