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Wadia think about expensive CD Players ?

Hi , I live in an area where its difficult to demo the really high end digital gear. Honestly I dont mind paying a high price for CDP Playback , but w/o a demo , Im wondering if its worth it. Let me define worth it if I may. Will a top of the Line Wadia for example sound clearly better than say a Rega , or a Sony ES. Im not expecting it to trounce it, Im just asking if you have the bucks , is the improvement clearly audible ? Im looking for warm ,detailed involving sound, my speakers are Electrostats, Amp top of the Line Sunfire. Appreciate your thoughts .
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bigkidz
1,784 posts
 
Mefge03 is correct, about the Wadia 861 SE. But like I already said the 861 basic is a great player and is not the digital sounding Wadia that some think about other Wadia CDPs.

Happy Listening.
budrew
467 posts
 
In my experience with direct comparisons there can be little difference between players. The differences are subtle and exagerated by direct comparisons. Synergy plays a role too. There are some great players for around $3000 that come close to the real high-end models. RA Opus 21, Ayre CX-7, Sim Audio (Nova?). I've heard many good things about the Arcam CD33. The more expensive players are better, but diminishing returns kicks in. I think the Opus 21 with good isolation and a good power cord is a great CDP.
ed_sawyer
588 posts
 
considering any player over $1000 that does NOT do SACD is a bad choice, IMHO.

The BAT VkD5 is overly warm (syrupy... yuck), to an extreme, at least the one I heard. Forget that. (as a side note, tubed CD players are the answer to the question no one is asking. Tubes are for gain stages. A CD player needs no gain stages. Why are the tubes there? harmonic flavor? noise? a 'buffer' (lame idea IMHO)....)

Under $1000, the XA7ES is hard to beat if you want CD only.

I still think the SCD-1 in the $2-3k range is a killer CD player, an epic SACD player, and ripe for mods if your tastes run in that direction.

Wadia makes some nice stuff that seems really well built, but the stability of the company leaves a lot to be desired. They seem flaky, lacking direction. They have an SACD piece supposedly coming out this fall. It will be pricey, but perhaps worthy of the coin level.

YMMV,
-Ed
vvrinc
323 posts
 
Don't buy without trying!

Warm is for me what freezing is to my wife!

Take a ride (flight) and go somewhere to listen...it'll be cheaper than a mistake.
mahandave
152 posts
 
The answer is no- With out listening in your system and knowing exactly what you need for your system, it's impossable to pick the better player by just throwing more money at it. I agree with many of the quotes above- yes $5000. players are better built than the under $2500 ones but many of those cheaper players sound much much more lively and engaging than the typical boring sound of the big bucks players. Take Ayre(3k) verses ML360(6k) for example-the ML sounds more refined but the Ayre crushes the ML in musicality and bounce. Which one do you need?? only you can tell. If you can't demo,then go cheap like the Rega or naim or Gamut/Ayre/Cary if you feel better spending more money-I do.
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