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Walter Woods Amps History and Development

#741
I still have yet to find an an amp that is as compact and sounds similar to a WW. A Broughton Messenger into the power section of a 900 watt Acoustic Image is darn close, but still takes two pieces of gear to get there. Have looked at the Trickfish .5, but it seems to be wide like an older amp. I love Jim Bergantino but am not a fan of the sound of his amps personally. Funny how right Walter got it so many years ago, and how no one has really matched it with all of the newer technology.
 
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#744
dylanjohnson said:
Walter fans! There's a one channel MI-100 for $650 on EBay right now. No affiliation whatsoever. I have the same amp and love it.
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It is a lovely amplifier, I owned on for nearly 25 Years and then purchased the MI-400-8 which I owned until very recently. Understand, that the seller is asking the price that Walter charged for a new amp

circa 1977. I still have my Woods Electroacoustic Ultra. (blue light) Even based on what I know about Walter's amplifiers with their longevity and reliability, purchasing a 20 year old amplifier that only one

person can service isn't an ideal situation, especially if it's going to be your main amp. My personal experiences with Walter have all been great, but the cost of getting one repaired keeps going up.

For my last service on the Electroacoustic, Walter charged me $500.00 including return shipping, to clean the circuit board. While it corrected the issue, if you were to need a MI-100-8 repaired, having

that done will cost you nearly as much as you payed for that particular amplifier. Just my take. I just wanted to provide my perspective on purchasing a 25 year old Walter Woods.
 
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#746
Ric Vice said:
It is a lovely amplifier, I owned on for nearly 25 Years and then purchased the MI-400-8 which I owned until very recently. Understand, that the seller is asking the price that Walter charged for a new amp

circa 1977. I still have my Woods Electroacoustic Ultra. (blue light) Even based on what I know about Walter's amplifiers with their longevity and reliability, purchasing a 20 year old amplifier that only one

person can service isn't an ideal situation, especially if it's going to be your main amp. My personal experiences with Walter have all been great, but the cost of getting one repaired keeps going up.

For my last service on the Electroacoustic, Walter charged me $500.00 including return shipping, to clean the circuit board. While it corrected the issue, if you were to need a MI-100-8 repaired, having

that done will cost you nearly as much as you payed for that particular amplifier. Just my take. I just wanted to provide my perspective on purchasing a 25 year old Walter Woods.
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Sage advice, Ric. I'd imagine some of the parts are no longer available, as well. My thought is that if one is wanting to get their hands on an older WW to check them out, this would be at least a cheaper opportunity than most.
 
#747
Walter has mentioned in passing that he can no longer repair the original MI-225 because it had two digital power supplies that were ganged together. It may be that Walter can now no longer repair the early MI-100's.

You'd want to check with him( if he answers the phone) to see if he can before you bought one. Understand, I love Walter's amplifiers, but I felt that sadly, it was time to move on. If you're in Berlin there is a service that

says they can repair any Woods amplifier.
 
#751
Ric Vice said:
It is a lovely amplifier, I owned on for nearly 25 Years and then purchased the MI-400-8 which I owned until very recently. Understand, that the seller is asking the price that Walter charged for a new amp

circa 1977. I still have my Woods Electroacoustic Ultra. (blue light) Even based on what I know about Walter's amplifiers with their longevity and reliability, purchasing a 20 year old amplifier that only one

person can service isn't an ideal situation, especially if it's going to be your main amp. My personal experiences with Walter have all been great, but the cost of getting one repaired keeps going up.

For my last service on the Electroacoustic, Walter charged me $500.00 including return shipping, to clean the circuit board. While it corrected the issue, if you were to need a MI-100-8 repaired, having

that done will cost you nearly as much as you payed for that particular amplifier. Just my take. I just wanted to provide my perspective on purchasing a 25 year old Walter Woods.
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Why would a circuit board need cleaning, unless a drink was dumped into it?
 
#753
Jerry J said:
I briefly scanned this thread and didn't see any mention of a manual other than the M1. Was there ever an owner's manual for the high power blue light amp?
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All the MI manuals were essentially the came two sheets of paper he sent with that entire series of amps. Same for the Electroacoustic's it's not really a manual just a sheet of instructions.:)
 
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#754
Ric Vice said:
All the MI manuals were essentially the came two sheets of paper he sent with that entire series of amps. Same for the Electroacoustic's it's not really a manual just a sheet of instructions.:)
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Yeah, WW amps, and most amps, really are pretty simple to grasp, unlike the 750 page manual I am reading through for the new car we'll be getting in a few weeks. When did cars stop being simply that, cars?
 
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#755
Jeff Scott said:
Yeah, WW amps, and most amps, really are pretty simple to grasp, unlike the 750 page manual I am reading through for the new car we'll be getting in a few weeks. When did cars stop being simply that, cars?
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Amen to that, I still haven’t been able to sync my garage door opener with the rear view mirror on my Subaru:D
 
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#757
Ric Vice said:
A few drops water condensation from an overhead pipe at the venue dripped down onto the top of the amp. So, similar to having a drink spilled into it, but

fortunately less damaging abet expensive to have Walter do.
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It doesn't sound like he had to replace any parts, if he only charged you for cleaning the PC board. Seems kind of a steep charge for that.
 
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#758
byacey said:
It doesn't sound like he had to replace any parts, if he only charged you for cleaning the PC board. Seems kind of a steep charge for that.
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Indeed it was, that’s why I moved on to a different setup. I used and loved Walters amps for over 20 years. Supposition and guesses as to why he charged me that much are just that. I just decided to move to something easier and less expensive to repair.

P.S. I chose the Grace Designs Felix as the successor to the Woods for several reasons. One it sounded incredible, two it had a five year transferable warranty, 3 it was build in Colorado, 4 the companies reputation with repair service.
 
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#759
Jeff Scott said:
Yeah, WW amps, and most amps, really are pretty simple to grasp, unlike the 750 page manual I am reading through for the new car we'll be getting in a few weeks. When did cars stop being simply that, cars?
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Only 50 pages of that manual are actually about the car, the rest are warnings about potential death and dismemberment you could experience if you deselect the traction control button or something like that LOL

Analogeezer
 
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#760
Both myself and my father in-law have Walter Woods amps that stopped powering on (no it's not the fuse), around a month ago... We have both tried calling walter to no avail, and i've talked to him a half dozen times over the last 20 years. i'm worried. Is anyone in the states aware of his situation and possible alternatives for getting these 2 amazing amps repaired? thanks in advance
 

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