Does Wadia need supratek ?

The best thing to do with your Wadia is to set the voltage as low as you can so that the volume stays between 80-100 to get the full resolution. Some people crank the wadia volume, then connect a preamp of some type to get full resolution at any volume, but this just degrades SQ in my book with all the added circuitry in line that just isnt needed. If your trying to get full resolution at much lower listening levels then chances are your not going to be doing critical listening anyway. And if your not having a critical evaluation its going to be 100% impossible to tell a difference of resolution regardless whether its a full 21bits at wide max volume of 16bits at the lower volumes, the ear isnt going to tell. If the Wadia is your only source, dont waste money on a preamp. Use that money to improve other aspects of the system.

I have used the Herron linestage and Thor TA-1000 linestage with great success with the Wadia 861, and I prefer both linestages to the Wadia running direct.

thanks for all answers

Bmotorcykle,
"too much of a good thing".
a like that, now I have too little of everything

Keithr
Wadia works best balanced,
yes, but I have Clayton monoblock they are not balanced too :(

Is there somebody who actually tried and liked Wadia with Supratek more them without ?

I f you are going to use a preamp with a wadia it must be
reference level ie classe omega,levinson 32,krell reference.

Does Supratek need Wadia? No insult meant toward Wadia owners. I am just trying to provoke a little "out-of-the-box" thought. Going direct from DAC to power amp means listening to one less component and one less set of internconnects. That doesn't necessarily mean you are hearing accurate, or transparent, or even realistic sound reproduction. You are still listening to the components in your signal path.

Consider this. It is very difficult for a solid-state output stage to reproduce the musical nuance, prescence, and tone that tubes do so well. FWIW, I have a Supratek Sauvignon preamp and before that I went direct from DAC to power amp. With the Supratek the noise floor of the recordings isn't so obvious but it is still quiet as a SS preamp, no tube rush, and I still have all the detail that I had with no preamp.

It doesn't even have to be a Supratek. First Sound and others make fine tube preamps also. I think your Clayton amps will mate well with a good tube preamp.