Help buying an 1176 - I have option anxiety!

I'm probably the wrong person to reply to this because I don't have the ears, talent, experience, or discriminatory ability of most the guys on here.

I've had 2 WA76's. They both sounded great on bass and vocals, though I've never had the original for comparison. The first WA76 had problems with the push-buttons. Each button had to be pushed several times before engaging, and within a few days they couldn't be engaged at all. The second WA76 had working buttons, but the meter was wonky. It would be calibrated, and within a few minutes it was all over the place, no reflection of what's happening. I know I should be able to ignore the meter and just listen, but when punching in bass or vocals at a later date, I just find it easier with a working meter. My experience is very unusual, most people who have the Warm gear are very happy with it, so this was just my personal experience. Every equipment maker has some duds, I'm sure Warm would have done something if I asked, but I just didn't want to spend time on it. I think my magnetic personality causes problems with sensitive equipment.

I finally got a Serpent Audio Splice MkII when Zenpro had a sale, and so far I'm very happy with it. The switches, meter, and overall build quality are rock-solid and the sound is great. Flexibility is amazing, including the side-chain filters, the relay-controlled bypass, switchable blackface/blue-stripe modes, compression ratio options, and it has built-in stereo linking if you decide you need two.

Again, I think the WA76 and the Splice are both capable of delivering terrific sound, I just found the Splice to be more solid and quicker to get a sound I like. I just wish I had more time to use it.

Serpent Audio Splice. Both Rev A and Rev D and you can swap input and output trannies for A/D or D/A revisions. Mike @ serpent is a genius and the amount of time and engineering put into the Splice puts it way out ahead of anything else available IMO.

I found that I needed to break in my WA76, as too, the buttons were wonky upon delivery and it wouldn't pass sound. I did an all buttons out and then all buttons in maneuver which seemed to cure the malady for what is now and about 10 months or so. The same thing happened when I was visiting Dale Pro Audio while auditioning a Beez Neez Mahalia early last fall while visiting NY. Eric (runs the recording demo room and is a fine and helpful fellow by the way) was in the room when the WA76 unit just plain went silent. His face looked as hitting the floor until I pulled my trick out of the bag and it was once again good to go (didn'the buy the Mahalia but bought the Gefell UMT 70S down the road a bit, albeit from my local Musix here in Baselland, Switzerland). My Tonebeast came delivered to me with a bad op-amp but was quickly sorted out by Bryce quickly and efficiently. And yes, the knobs on the WA76 were totally askew upon unpacking and loose enough to be unusable until I took a tiny screwdriver to them and worked them until there was a semblance of normalcy (they seem to be real cheapies). I cannot fault the sound of either unit, but rather enjoy what they do when I feed them some or lots of signal. I kind of knew what I was buying at this price point, and in lieu the cost of both units am completely and totally satisfied with their tonal qualities (something needs to give). Customer service was stellar and I couldn't have asked for better access to Bryce, his dealing with the distributor and the incredible speed of the replacement of the op-amp in question. As I am within the next six to nine months or so looking to buy an LA 2A clone as well as some stereo eq, some preamps, etc and at this point in time am not completely or partially certain that I will revisit Warm for my needs in the future, that is if I feel that other makers can offer better physical quality and comparable or superior sound at prices that I feel I can live with. Daking comes to mind, amongst others. I know that Warm is an advertiser here (I push the button to peruse the Warm Audio site from time to time), but I feel a need to add my voice to this discussion in weighing cost vs tonal quality vs build quality. There, my ear is back on the keyhole to listen in on the conversations and learn what I can from you guys. This place is fucking awesome, maybe the best of the best, at least to me.

I have 2 WA76's and have had zero issues with them! Just wanted to state that for some balanced opinion...

OK if you want as close as you can get to a favorite version of the original without the silly money 3 choices
1 Used purple MC 76 ! Good luck finding one for sale!
2 Seprant Splice !
3 DIY a Hairball
!
For the money
Warm WA76, For the Money I'll put one next to a new UA any day and be happy, put one on 4 pay at Zzounds, plug it in and run, then 4 months later repeat!

Or Let's be a bit different, The CAPI FC526? Jeff's DIY version of a 1176 either the API Tone, don't have one yet but so far everything I hear it on sounds yummy!

Can't go wrong with a real Daking FET either it's a different tonal take but with the 1176 gain reduction, I mean real Daking FET New 500 and 2 ch VCA's not bad but not the original.

I have the hairball rev A 500 series -- It really sounds great, and I would go that route (or rev d) if space is a consideration. However, I also have a hairball rev D, rack version, which I prefer simply because it's not as cramped as the 500 series version, and the knobs have a little better feel.... also I prefer the VU meter. Of course, the 500 version has an extra compression ratio (2:1), which is cool.

KMR in the UK have the Splice MK2 .... it looks fantastic as does the Chimera.

I happy to wait and get something a bit special that will last me as it will be better value on the long run.

I'm glad I started this thread as I wasn't really aware of Serpent Audio.

IMO, Serpent is the leader in modern compression with vintage design.  Or is that vintage compression with modern design.  I suppose either is true.  I'd even hazard to guess that Tony would agree with me on this.  That in and of itself is enough recommendation - no???  

I have the hairball fet500 rev A and love it. VERY aggressive tho. Only usable on certain sources.

Don't have the Splice but I do have the Serpent sb4000 and it's a beast.

well, by my "special" math it's a Rev A and D, so that's.... one.... two..., and then there is all the true to the original components and extra super useful features like, filtering, side chain, blah blah, makes equal.... 1, 2,... 3, damn, i was wrong, it's 3 times the nearest haha.