Wadia direct into amp, Sound a bit too lean??

Hi Jerry, yes, I too have experienced the same result: thin, bright sound. The soundstage also became slightly compressed with direct mode opeartion. I'm using the Wadia 301 & M/F XP-200 mono blocks. Auditioned a VTL 5.5
tube preamp and the "problem" disappeared! So I bought it! Even though it's another link in the chain, the musical result was very satisfying. All the best, Mark.

The one and only solution for you is to get a top preamp. I had the same setup (861 se going directly into solid state power amp) and the sound was exactly as you describe. Good but dry! I got Mick Maloney in Australia to make me a preamp (see his website - Supratek) and I have never looked back. IMHO matching powerful solid state amps with a valve pre and a top quality source gives you the best of all worlds.

Your sound is anaemic because you're starving your amp. Up the voltage (and set the gain on the Rowland on 26db if you;re not there already). OK, so the volume won't go over 90... but, at least you'll get to judge the combination by the actual sound the thing produces -- not by lack of energy.

Ch5588, I'm curious where you heard that an output voltage of 1.0 V is best for balanced interconnects? I too have a Wadia 861se and am running balanced into a Bat vk5i preamp and then balanced into a Rowland 302. I contacted Wadia today because of this thread. They emailed the instructions for adjusting the output voltage. The thing is, in the instructions, it says that the output voltage can be adjusted for 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.13*, and 4.25 Vrms. (*= factory setting) I asked the customer service person about 1.0 Vrms for balanced. He had never heard of that, but said that he didn't know everything about the unit. Did you try your unit at the 2.13 setting? I did try my Wadia directly driving my Rowland 302 amp and my listening level was about 85-90. I think that my unit is at the factory 2.13 Vrms setting. I preferred the sound of the Bat preamp included in the audio chain. It gives a fuller (better body/texture), more musical sound, than the stand alone Wadia. Although, the Wadia by itself was slightly clearer. Stan

Hi Stan,
The voltage setting for my Wadia is 0.5vrms, and I'm using Balanced outputs which doubles up to 1.0vrms (I think I found this info in Audio Asylum). I can only keep my volume level above 85 with this setting to get the maximum resolution from its digital based volume control. In other words, this setting is my only choice. Do you prefer Wadia with a preamp or without?

Jerry