Emm Labs SE combo versus Wadia 581-SE

It will take over 1000 hours to break in. It may sound disjointed and raw for the first 400-500. Then things will start to congeal.

There is also a decrease in performance when cold. It takes about 24 hours to warm-up. Not an issue, since you will leave it on all the time. My amps are the same way.

I've had good success with Elrod power cords. They tighten-up the base, and with increased dynamics and energy throughout. The 27ix sounded flat with stock cords, and the upgrade was truly eye opening. Some people like Virtual Dynamics, but I'd rather give my money to David Elrod.

Shunyata and VH Audio Airsine also work well.

I have the 581se and I disagree with Rtnl when he says that the Wadia will take 1000 hours to break in. Mine was pretty amazing right out of the box. I will say though that after about 200-300 hours it moves to an even better level of production where it has now seemed to settle.

Agree that Wadias in general take some break-in time, and also that they sound best after they've been plugged in and turned on for a good 24 hours or so.

I owned an 861SE and it sounded perfect out of the box. the 1000 hours is bs. i put on several thousand hours and my system never got better.

i ran it direct to my speakers and kept it on 24/7 as i used it as a preamp for multiple sources. i replaced it with a Linn Unidisk 1.1.