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Wadia CD player

post #1 of 13
7/10/08 at 11:35pm
Thread Starter 
There is one at Ebay Australia. Has anyone got one ? They don't make cheap CD players.
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post #2 of 13
7/10/08 at 11:43pm
Yeah, that thing is pricey, but I have a feeling I want one, lol...
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post #3 of 13
7/11/08 at 12:22pm
Well, I haven't heard the Wadia 6, which is the model listed on eBay Australia, but I do have a Wadia 581i SE. If you think the player on eBay Australia is pricey, there's a new 581i SE on the regular eBay site that's available for US$8200 (which is still over US$3000 less than the retail price).

I still really like my Wadia, primarily because it seems to be built just for me. A solid build. A very nice-looking display, which can be shut off when listening to music (which actually makes a difference on this player; when the display is on, it lets out a faint, but audible high-frequency sound, which becomes immediately apparent when the display is switched off). A great-looking and solid remote control. Buttons on the front so that I really don't need to use the remote for everyday usage. Digital inputs and outputs on the back for use as a separate DAC or transport. Balanced and single-ended outputs, which can be used simultaneously (allowing the use of a balanced amplifier and a single-ended headphone amp at the same time). Three different D/A conversion routines in case one of them doesn't float your boat. A well-defined upgrade path to the 781i model. And it sounds great.
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post #4 of 13
7/13/08 at 2:28am
Thread Starter 
Is it the best CD player you have ever listened to ?
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post #5 of 13
7/13/08 at 3:07am
I actually heard the 581i SE again at the local stereo shop, and it never ceases to amaze me. Today it was hooked up to some Krell evolution amps with the Wilson Audio Thor and Alexandria... It was awesome.
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post #6 of 13
7/13/08 at 4:33am
Yup...nice CD player...I prefer the Reimyo for it's vinyl like midrange even if the bass could be a tad tighter and focused.
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post #7 of 13
7/14/08 at 4:11pm
Yes, the Wadia was the best CD player I have ever listened to, but I haven't heard the super high-end players. Here's a link that describes my search for a new source:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f7/hi-...9/#post4123173
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post #8 of 13
8/23/08 at 3:02pm
I've got a Wadia 6 and a Sony SCD-1 and the Wadia simply walks all over the Sony. Of course, only on Redbook. The Wadia is very musical and conveys every sense of micro and macrodynamics in the recording. The 6 is very analogue in sound. Beautiful, lush, and warm. I've had it for over 13 years and am still amazed how wonderful it sounds. The Sony is a bit sterile and lacking dynamic range. It's hard to believe but, there is no "soul" to the music. It sounds good, but not musical. I'm am running both through a Spectral DMC-12 pre-amp, via Nordost Frey, out to a Gilmore V2 and last Sony SA-5000 headphones.
This combination will reveal most likely any flaws in any source. It's ruthlessly revealing and that's what I came away with.
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post #9 of 13
8/23/08 at 4:18pm
I have a Wadia 6i (the "i" meaning it's a cd player, not just a drive). It's an amazing piece of gear, that will walk over just about anything below $5k.
You must feed it with great gear all around, or you'll regret it.
I have Kef Reference 4 speakers, with a Micromega Tempo 2 amp, and use MIT 2 cables.
An amazing piece of equipment. It's based on the Teac VRDS T1 drive, with proprietary Wadia DAC. It's balanced and unbalanced.
It's able to extract the sublest information on a CD. Quite scary frankly, it's utterly analytic and yet very musical. I can't imagine listening to anything else...
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post #10 of 13
8/23/08 at 10:31pm
Quote:
I have a Wadia 6i (the "i" meaning it's a cd player, not just a drive)
It's based on the Teac VRDS T1 drive
The "i" upgrade to the Wadia 6 is an upgrade to the power isolation, filtering and such. It has nothing to do with being it being a CD player vs a transport. Also, the transport is based off a Teac VRDS CMK-3.
There is no such product as a T1. Yes, it's a very good CD player.
My favorite.
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post #11 of 13
8/23/08 at 11:00pm
I have listened to a Nagra in an attempt to find the best possible SQ for redbook (without spending the price of a new car). To my ears it seemed Nagra was indeed the answer; it beat Meridian hands down (there are always Meridians at every meet). I even declared here that I was buying one. There was no doubt in my mind.

Then I heard a Wadia.

OMG!

Nothing more to say. Except that I don't have a Wadia yet. Nonetheless I believe one is measured by one's aspirations.
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post #12 of 13
8/24/08 at 12:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister Crash View Post
Yes, the Wadia was the best CD player I have ever listened to, but I haven't heard the super high-end players.
what would you consider to be the super hi-end players?
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post #13 of 13
8/24/08 at 12:19pm
Well, the high-end brands I haven't heard include:

Esoteric (I've heard a couple, but they were lower-end models)
dCS
EMM Labs
Nagra
Weiss
APL
Reimyo
Simaudio

Most of the players I auditioned were in the $5,000 and under category, except for an Electrocompaniet EMC-1 upsampling CD player, a Chord transport/DAC combo and an Oracle 2500 mkII CD player. The Wadia was, I thought, substantially better than the Oracle and the Chord, and a little better than the Electrocompaniet. The Oracle was in the same store as the Wadia, but in a slightly different setup, while the other two were in a different store in a totally different setup.
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