WAVAC and Steve Hoffman

WAVAC Amplifiers in the Mastering Studio

In the early 2000s, renowned American mastering engineer Steve Hoffman used WAVAC vacuum tube amplifiers in his mastering work.

The WAVAC HE-833 was used in the mastering process for SACD releases by Audio Fidelity. This collaboration was documented in contemporary audio publications.

The Beginning: CES 2001

According to David W. Robinson’s 2003 article in Positive Feedback, Steve Hoffman encountered WAVAC amplifiers at CES 2001. The meeting led to an arrangement involving Jim Ricketts of tmh audio, WAVAC’s North American distributor, to provide amplifiers for Hoffman’s mastering work.

WAVAC in the Mastering Studio: 2002

On March 11, 2002, Enjoy the Music reported that Hoffman had added the WAVAC HE-833 monoblock amplifiers to his mastering reference system.

The same report also documented the use of the WAVAC MD-300B during mastering work on Judy Garland’s albums Alone and Judy in Love.

In 2003, Positive Feedback reported that the pair of HE-833 amplifiers used by Hoffman for Audio Fidelity SACD mastering was subsequently provided to reviewer David W. Robinson.

SACD Releases Crediting WAVAC

More than twenty years later, we rediscovered several SACD releases that explicitly credit “WAVAC amplifiers” in their liner notes.

Sonny Clark Trio – A Session With Sonny Clark (AFZ 006)
Bob James – In Hi-Fi (AFZ 009)
Donovan – Storyteller (AFZ 015)

These recordings are part of WAVAC’s history and provide a lasting record of its contribution to music mastering. The liner notes do not identify the specific WAVAC amplifier model used for each release.