elrod-tom
Moderator - Prefers "stereo weirdo" to "audiophile"
I dropped off my Wadia 830 recently for "I" and "P" upgrades - I work 10 minutes from their HQ - and had a chance to give a quick listen to their newest CD deck, the Wadia 381.
Shortly after arriving, John Schaffer asked if I had a few minutes to give something a listen. Oh, OK...twist my arm why don't you.
The Wadia 381 is Wadia's newest offering. I'm told that it shares its internal components with the Wadia 581, with the exception of SACD playback. It will of course be available with optional digital inputs, which allows us to make use of a variety of other digital signal sources....including an optional USB input for those of us who are doing serious listening with a computer audio rig.
Now, I should add a cavaet - I've not yet heard it with headphones. In fact, the environment I heard it in (Wadia's listening room) and the system I heard it in (Pass Labs mono amps, Dynaudio Sapphire speakers) surely eclipse anything I'm likely to have in my home in my lifetime. I'm hopeful that we'll have a chance to get back to Wadia for a meet one of these days soon, so that I can experience it in a system I'm more familiar with.
Having said all that, I must say that it sounds terriffic.
The first thing John played for me was a track with kettle drums. I have to tell you, the fine detail and the thump of those kettles was astonishing. The next track was a 24/96 FLAC file of Diana Krall's rendition of "Temptation" that he played off of a CD - it sounded rich, expansive beyond words...it was gorgeous.
Nice product, I thought.
Fast forward a few days, and I find myself at AKFest, a local audio show put on annually by the good folks from Audio Karma in Livonia, MI. I should have more to say about the show in a separate impressions thread at some point. However, I had another chance to give a listen to the 381 in a room with Dynaudio Focus 360's and an Octave tube amp (didn't get the model #...I know, I suck). It sounded fantastic, of course...particularly when I had an opportunity to listen to my new favorite reference track, "Baby Please Don't Go" on the MOFI version of the Cowboy Junkies' Whites Off The Earth Now CD. One thing I noticed right away at Wadia, and also noticed here, is the level of detail that's present...but without a loss in musicality. It's a nice deck, there's no doubt.
I also had a chance to listen to a few tracks using the USB input, and they also sounded great...though it was hard to make any conclusive judgments as I was unfamiliar with most of the tracks we played.
I have one funny story to share:
One thing about going to meets with "serious" audio folks, is that you end up listening to a lot of classical, a lot of jazz, lots of Patricia Barber and Diana Krall. Nothing wrong with that...we need well recorded music to do serious critical listening. That said, I love music for music's sake...and that includes music that, shall we say, doesn't necessarily lend itself to true critical listening.
So at some point, I pull out my newest MOFI CD - Foghat's Fool for the City. I grew up listening to this LP - I can practically see the turntable turning round and round and the Bearsville label in my mind's eye when I listen to the title track. So we put this in, turn it up, and just rock and roll for a while. It was great!! Like me, these guys grew up listening to this stuff...one can only listen to so much Diana Krall.
So we're sitting in this room, cranking out Foghat on these Focus 360's, and just having a great time listening. All of a sudden the door opens up, and closes just as quickly. Then it happens again...and again.
"What's this? This doesn't sound like Patricia Barber!"
One guy actually looked startled...you could practically hear him say "oh dear!" as he quickly closed the door.
Good time!
At any rate, I really liked what I heard so far from the Wadia 381. I'm hopeful that I'll get an opportunity sometime soon to check it out with headphones on, but even still I think I can safely say that it's a very musical, very detailed, and very enjoyable listen. Anyone thinking about a higher end source would do well IMHO to give it strong consideration.
Shortly after arriving, John Schaffer asked if I had a few minutes to give something a listen. Oh, OK...twist my arm why don't you.
The Wadia 381 is Wadia's newest offering. I'm told that it shares its internal components with the Wadia 581, with the exception of SACD playback. It will of course be available with optional digital inputs, which allows us to make use of a variety of other digital signal sources....including an optional USB input for those of us who are doing serious listening with a computer audio rig.
Now, I should add a cavaet - I've not yet heard it with headphones. In fact, the environment I heard it in (Wadia's listening room) and the system I heard it in (Pass Labs mono amps, Dynaudio Sapphire speakers) surely eclipse anything I'm likely to have in my home in my lifetime. I'm hopeful that we'll have a chance to get back to Wadia for a meet one of these days soon, so that I can experience it in a system I'm more familiar with.
Having said all that, I must say that it sounds terriffic.
The first thing John played for me was a track with kettle drums. I have to tell you, the fine detail and the thump of those kettles was astonishing. The next track was a 24/96 FLAC file of Diana Krall's rendition of "Temptation" that he played off of a CD - it sounded rich, expansive beyond words...it was gorgeous.
Nice product, I thought.
Fast forward a few days, and I find myself at AKFest, a local audio show put on annually by the good folks from Audio Karma in Livonia, MI. I should have more to say about the show in a separate impressions thread at some point. However, I had another chance to give a listen to the 381 in a room with Dynaudio Focus 360's and an Octave tube amp (didn't get the model #...I know, I suck). It sounded fantastic, of course...particularly when I had an opportunity to listen to my new favorite reference track, "Baby Please Don't Go" on the MOFI version of the Cowboy Junkies' Whites Off The Earth Now CD. One thing I noticed right away at Wadia, and also noticed here, is the level of detail that's present...but without a loss in musicality. It's a nice deck, there's no doubt.
I also had a chance to listen to a few tracks using the USB input, and they also sounded great...though it was hard to make any conclusive judgments as I was unfamiliar with most of the tracks we played.
I have one funny story to share:
One thing about going to meets with "serious" audio folks, is that you end up listening to a lot of classical, a lot of jazz, lots of Patricia Barber and Diana Krall. Nothing wrong with that...we need well recorded music to do serious critical listening. That said, I love music for music's sake...and that includes music that, shall we say, doesn't necessarily lend itself to true critical listening.
So at some point, I pull out my newest MOFI CD - Foghat's Fool for the City. I grew up listening to this LP - I can practically see the turntable turning round and round and the Bearsville label in my mind's eye when I listen to the title track. So we put this in, turn it up, and just rock and roll for a while. It was great!! Like me, these guys grew up listening to this stuff...one can only listen to so much Diana Krall.
So we're sitting in this room, cranking out Foghat on these Focus 360's, and just having a great time listening. All of a sudden the door opens up, and closes just as quickly. Then it happens again...and again.
"What's this? This doesn't sound like Patricia Barber!"
One guy actually looked startled...you could practically hear him say "oh dear!" as he quickly closed the door.
Good time!
At any rate, I really liked what I heard so far from the Wadia 381. I'm hopeful that I'll get an opportunity sometime soon to check it out with headphones on, but even still I think I can safely say that it's a very musical, very detailed, and very enjoyable listen. Anyone thinking about a higher end source would do well IMHO to give it strong consideration.