Wadia vs. Audiomeca


Specifically in the bass. Going thru the old posts, bass was not great on the early Mephistos, but improved with the IIx. I have a GNSC modded Wadia 850, which has outstanding bass control, power and depth. I have the itch to try something new, and am wondering if I will lose or gain in the lows with a Mephisto II X.
honest1
Forgive The Caps In Advance But I An Writing From My Cell. I Can Offer Some Slight Insight Possibly. I Own An Audiomeca Enkianthus X Dac That Was Modded By Trl For Like 295. On Its Own The Dac Displayed Great Bass And Was Great All Around But After The Mod The Bass Is THUNDEROUS and the Dac unreal in general. i couldnt be happier and the folks at trl are amazing. hope that helps at all.
I have heard various Wadia models but have never done a direct comparision. In my system I am using the Audiomeca Mephisto IIx with Parsifal Encore Sspeakers and Joule Electra pre & amps and the bass is very deep and tight. Actually the bass is quite powerful. The Audiomeca extracts a lot of detail from CDs, you will hear everything. Its a treat for your ears and its not too bad on the eyes either.
I have compared the "Wadia sound" to many other top players over the past 6 years (home auditions using my GNSC-modded 850 or current 861). IMHO, while a number of other players are more refined and open, often with better soundstage definition, Wadia has a "solidity" and "presence" in the bass and lower midrange that is simply unmatched. I'm not quite sure how they do it, but I've noticed this no matter what downstream cabling and amplification is involved. Wadia better simulates the "impact and texture" of lower octaves which you would hear from real instruments in the room. (E.g., cello and piano, not just drums, synthesizer, etc.) But again, the weakness of Wadia is a certain lack of refinement on top (even with GNSC), which becomes more noticable with classical music.