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Despite having built a reputation over the last 16 years as a producer of digital audio masterpieces of the highest regard, Wadia still remains an enigma in the world hi-fi. It is a company that faced its demise in late 2000, only to be quickly reborn again under strong new ownership. Since then, careless rumors of Wadia's demise have surfaced from time to time, as they have again lately due to stubborn telephone problems encountered during their recent move from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Saline, Michigan. Trust me when I say that Wadia has too much fantastic stuff going on to meet its demise in the foreseeable future.
On May 19, 2004, I was given a tour of their new Saline headquarters by Head-Fi member jefemeister (Jeff Brockmole), a Wadia engineer. On the day of my visit, Wadia's new HQ was a nearly-completed work-in-progress. Having visited their previous HQ in Ann Arbor a few times (they hosted a Head-Fi meet for us there a year ago), it was very clear to me that Wadia is clearly ramping up to meet the high demand for their products (that currently exceeds their production levels), as well as to continue the ongoing innovation that has made most of their products legendary. Their new Saline facility is a definite upgrade, with far more square footage dedicated to engineering, production, and service than their previous HQ, all of it custom-designed to Wadia's specifications. And their new listening room….their new listening room….well, I'll get to that shortly.
Following is a photo summary of some of the things I saw at the new Wadia HQ that I was allowed to photograph:
Now this (below) is an audiophile-approved conference room! Hales Transcendence Five loudspeakers up front flank either side of the large projection screen. (The Post-It note on the projection screen had me laughing, reading "This is NOT a whiteboard!") Completion of this conference room will include the installation of a Hales center channel and Hales Trascendence Three speakers as surrounds.
[align=center]
[/align]
This corridor leading to the production side of the facilities (below) will eventually be host to an exhibit that will have me coming back for another visit: a Wadia timeline display. This display will include a sample of every single product ever manufactured by Wadia.
On the floor, on the right side of the photo, are several incomplete 790 PowerDAC towers in various states of assembly.
[align=center]
[/align]
Let’s take a closer look inside those 790 PowerDACs (below):
[align=center]
[/align]
For those of you not familiar with the 790 PowerDAC, it was a statement product by Wadia that combined the best DAC architecture they could develop at the time (I believe it was around 1999), coupled with digital amplification to directly drive loudspeakers. To this day, the abundant technology that came from developing the 790 PowerDAC continues to permeate Wadia’s product line, and the DAC architecture they developed for the 790 PowerDAC was way ahead of its time, and still considered technologically cutting-edge five years later. How does it sound? Well, I’ve heard the 790 PowerDAC at Wadia’s old building, where it was powering a system sitting in the middle of a very open area (read: far from acoustically ideal). Now that they have it in a proper listening room (which I’ll get to shortly), the 790 PowerDAC is part of one of the best audio setups I’ve ever heard (I will be editing my post in the “Best Setups You’ve Ever Heard” thread to include this one). The 790 PowerDAC retailed for $85,000 and weighs about 600 pounds. Want one? Good luck. I believe there are only three fully operational 790 PowerDAC setups in the world, and they’re all spoken for.
As might be expected, the production area was loaded with interesting things to look at. The day of my visit was a day before full production resumed, so it wasn't as full of people and things as it would be the following day, but there was still much to take in.
While cruising through the production area, I was greeted by Paul McNeill (below), a Glaswegian with a hilarious, deadpan sense of humor -- something I imagine will come in handy (in combination with his background as a lifelong audiophile and seasoned executive) as the new General Manager of Wadia. Based on my conversations with everyone at Wadia, there is much to do, and so much going on, as they continue to expand their production capabilities and innovate new products. Though our meeting was brief, it seemed very clear to me that Paul is a man up to the tasks.
[align=center]
[/align]
What Paul is leaning against are the digital audiophile dreams of many, soon to be fulfilled -- more Wadia 302’s than I took the time to count, in the process of being assembled (below):
[align=center]
[/align]
Being in Wadia’s development and production areas is being in audiogeek heaven. Yes, seeing their final products, always built to extremes, is a treat; but being able to see all of the parts that go into making them, that’s something most people (including Wadia component owners) rarely get a chance to see. Here are just a few of the groovy things I saw:
Open up a Wadia 861 or Wadia 270, and this (below) is the transport you'll find inside:
[align=center]
[/align]
Open up a Wadia 861se or 270se, and this (below) is the platter and bridge you'll find inside:
[align=center]
[/align]
Notice the se platter is colored green to prevent laser reflections. Also, the bridge/clamping mechanism is a lot beefier than the already-beefy one found in the standard 861 and 270. There are other improvements to the transport used in the 861se and 270se that further reduce mechanical sound and vibration.
This is jefemeister (Jeff Brockmole) holding a 0.1-Farad Nichicon Super-Through capacitor with the Wadia logo on it (below). Two of these are used in each Wadia PowerDAC tower (so four total for the two channels/towers). I believe they may be selling these capacitors, as the PowerDAC is no longer being manufactured. (I can imagine Mikhail from SinglePower drooling over these caps!
)
[align=center]
[/align]
Speaking of PowerDAC parts, this is John Schaffer (Vice President, Sales & Marketing) holding a transformer that was used in the PowerDAC (below). I believe there are two of these in each of the PowerDAC's two towers.
[align=center]
[/align]
As the VP, Sales & Marketing, John will obviously play a key role in Wadia’s future push into the U.S. market. They've been successful in the U.S., and have big plans to increase their presence here further. John is someone I've spoken with on several occasions over the last year or two, and his enthusiasm and market knowledge inspire confidence in Wadia's bright future.
Here are some other interesting sights from the production area:
(Below, clockwise from top-left) The front panel from a Wadia 861, as you can see, is substantial, to say the least. ▪ Also very hefty is the left-side corner of a Wadia 302 front panel -- one of several pieces of what is actually a rather intricately assembled face. ▪ Most Wadia CD components will sit on a shelf too far to reach from one’s listening seat -- so, to make sure you can feel the heft of Wadia from anywhere, they craft their remote control chassis from a solid block of aluminum (drop one of these on your foot, and an X-ray would likely be doctor's orders).
[align=center]
[/align]
So, as a Wadia engineer, what does our fellow Head-Fi’er jefemeister actually do? Rather than attempt to explain everything he does, and how it applies to their products, I’ll show you a photo of an example of his work. Below is a photo of three components that Jeff designed that go into a Wadia 302. (Below, from top to bottom) Display controller ▪ Display ▪ Transport interface. (Jeff also wrote all the control software for the Wadia 302.)
[align=center]
[/align]
(Below, clockwise from top-left) A DAC board from the Wadia 302 ▪ A DAC board from the Wadia 861 ▪ The front side of a silver Wadia 302.
[align=center]
[/align]
If I had to pick a favorite part of the tour, it would definitely be relaxing in Wadia’s new listening room with my own CD’s. This room is as extreme as the components they build. How so? First of all, the entire foundation of the room is cut off from the rest of the building (despite the fact that the listening room sits somewhere in the middle of the building). The walls contain four layers of drywall, a layer of acoustic foam insulation, and another special layer of sheetrock (click here to see how thick the walls are). The door is a studio door, with a mechanism at the bottom of the door that drops a barrier between the bottom of the door and the floor when the door is closed (click here to see it). The listening room has its own HVAC system. The louvers have been removed from the air outlets so they don’t rattle. I believe even the carpet is a type made for this kind of room. Every single outlet in the room is on its own circuit-breaker. There are two isolation transformers for the room, at least one of which (if I recall correctly) weighs approximately 700 pounds. The room’s dimensions are based on the Golden Ratio method described on Cardas’ web site. And, as you can see from the photos below, there is extensive acoustic treatment in the room. Soon, even more custom-bult acoustic treatment will be built in place, targeting the bass region.
The components that were hooked up in the room at the time of my visit were the Wadia 7 CD Transport (which has its own outboard power supply, and is still considered a top transport choice) feeding the Wadia 790 PowerDAC, which in turn was driving a pair of Hales Transcendence Eight loudspeakers. Coupled with the carefully constructed room, how did this system sound? Oh. My. Goodness. Having just attended a private piano recital the previous weekend, the first thing I wanted to hear in the listening room was piano; so in went Tord Gustavsen Trio's Changing Places and, as the CD started, into the room entered Tord and his mates. Permeated with mellow, romantic cadences, and all three musicians playing with beautifully gentle restraint, Changing Places calls for moderate volume levels to achieve they're right here realism. The challenge with music like this is achieving the room-fill at modest amplitude that live instruments can do so well, but that audio systems typically fail at. As did the Steinway concert grand at last weekend’s recital, the Wadia rig was able to make even Gustavsen’s softest piano notes waft through the room, seemingly from corner to corner (and, if you look at the photos below, you’ll see it is quite a large room), with the convincing immediacy of live piano.
Other CD’s I used to listen to that rig included Modest Mouse’s Good News For People Who Love Bad News and The Moon & Anarctica, XTC’s Nonsuch, and Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson (a gift from Head-Fi’er elrod-tom -- thanks again, Tom). If you’d peeked in the window during Modest Mouse’s “Float On,” you’d have seen me almost jumping out of my seat and lip-syncing the hilariously upbeat lyrics (I wouldn’t sing out loud and adulterate the sound of the rig, man!) -- and the sight would have largely been the same during XTC’s “Peter Pumpkinhead.” And on Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson, Ben Webster’s tenor sax never sounded more breathy through anything else I’ve played this CD through than it did through that rig. Especially with this CD and Tord Gustavsen Trio’s CD (especially with the latter), it was clear that this rig gets its hands around treble presentation correctly, which is where most CD players begin to at least let go of reality a little. Not so with this rig -- analog-like treble wholeness and presentation is a hallmark of every Wadia component I’ve ever listened to.
Long story short, this rig presented with outstanding realism -- easily the best of any digitally-fronted system I've yet heard.
[align=center]
[/align]
Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to listen to production Wadia 921 monoblock DACs (I heard prototypes last year). Any 921’s they had were either shipped, or at HE2004 in New York. In addition to the Wadia timeline display they’re building, the opportunity to hang out with the 921 monoblock DACs will be sure to draw me in for another visit.
I want to thank Wadia for the awesome tour of their new home. I’ll be back!
You can visit Wadia's web site at http://www.wadia.com.
_
On May 19, 2004, I was given a tour of their new Saline headquarters by Head-Fi member jefemeister (Jeff Brockmole), a Wadia engineer. On the day of my visit, Wadia's new HQ was a nearly-completed work-in-progress. Having visited their previous HQ in Ann Arbor a few times (they hosted a Head-Fi meet for us there a year ago), it was very clear to me that Wadia is clearly ramping up to meet the high demand for their products (that currently exceeds their production levels), as well as to continue the ongoing innovation that has made most of their products legendary. Their new Saline facility is a definite upgrade, with far more square footage dedicated to engineering, production, and service than their previous HQ, all of it custom-designed to Wadia's specifications. And their new listening room….their new listening room….well, I'll get to that shortly.
Following is a photo summary of some of the things I saw at the new Wadia HQ that I was allowed to photograph:
Now this (below) is an audiophile-approved conference room! Hales Transcendence Five loudspeakers up front flank either side of the large projection screen. (The Post-It note on the projection screen had me laughing, reading "This is NOT a whiteboard!") Completion of this conference room will include the installation of a Hales center channel and Hales Trascendence Three speakers as surrounds.
[align=center]
This corridor leading to the production side of the facilities (below) will eventually be host to an exhibit that will have me coming back for another visit: a Wadia timeline display. This display will include a sample of every single product ever manufactured by Wadia.
On the floor, on the right side of the photo, are several incomplete 790 PowerDAC towers in various states of assembly.
[align=center]
Let’s take a closer look inside those 790 PowerDACs (below):
[align=center]
For those of you not familiar with the 790 PowerDAC, it was a statement product by Wadia that combined the best DAC architecture they could develop at the time (I believe it was around 1999), coupled with digital amplification to directly drive loudspeakers. To this day, the abundant technology that came from developing the 790 PowerDAC continues to permeate Wadia’s product line, and the DAC architecture they developed for the 790 PowerDAC was way ahead of its time, and still considered technologically cutting-edge five years later. How does it sound? Well, I’ve heard the 790 PowerDAC at Wadia’s old building, where it was powering a system sitting in the middle of a very open area (read: far from acoustically ideal). Now that they have it in a proper listening room (which I’ll get to shortly), the 790 PowerDAC is part of one of the best audio setups I’ve ever heard (I will be editing my post in the “Best Setups You’ve Ever Heard” thread to include this one). The 790 PowerDAC retailed for $85,000 and weighs about 600 pounds. Want one? Good luck. I believe there are only three fully operational 790 PowerDAC setups in the world, and they’re all spoken for.
As might be expected, the production area was loaded with interesting things to look at. The day of my visit was a day before full production resumed, so it wasn't as full of people and things as it would be the following day, but there was still much to take in.
While cruising through the production area, I was greeted by Paul McNeill (below), a Glaswegian with a hilarious, deadpan sense of humor -- something I imagine will come in handy (in combination with his background as a lifelong audiophile and seasoned executive) as the new General Manager of Wadia. Based on my conversations with everyone at Wadia, there is much to do, and so much going on, as they continue to expand their production capabilities and innovate new products. Though our meeting was brief, it seemed very clear to me that Paul is a man up to the tasks.
[align=center]
What Paul is leaning against are the digital audiophile dreams of many, soon to be fulfilled -- more Wadia 302’s than I took the time to count, in the process of being assembled (below):
[align=center]
Being in Wadia’s development and production areas is being in audiogeek heaven. Yes, seeing their final products, always built to extremes, is a treat; but being able to see all of the parts that go into making them, that’s something most people (including Wadia component owners) rarely get a chance to see. Here are just a few of the groovy things I saw:
Open up a Wadia 861 or Wadia 270, and this (below) is the transport you'll find inside:
[align=center]
Open up a Wadia 861se or 270se, and this (below) is the platter and bridge you'll find inside:
[align=center]
Notice the se platter is colored green to prevent laser reflections. Also, the bridge/clamping mechanism is a lot beefier than the already-beefy one found in the standard 861 and 270. There are other improvements to the transport used in the 861se and 270se that further reduce mechanical sound and vibration.
This is jefemeister (Jeff Brockmole) holding a 0.1-Farad Nichicon Super-Through capacitor with the Wadia logo on it (below). Two of these are used in each Wadia PowerDAC tower (so four total for the two channels/towers). I believe they may be selling these capacitors, as the PowerDAC is no longer being manufactured. (I can imagine Mikhail from SinglePower drooling over these caps!
[align=center]
Speaking of PowerDAC parts, this is John Schaffer (Vice President, Sales & Marketing) holding a transformer that was used in the PowerDAC (below). I believe there are two of these in each of the PowerDAC's two towers.
[align=center]
As the VP, Sales & Marketing, John will obviously play a key role in Wadia’s future push into the U.S. market. They've been successful in the U.S., and have big plans to increase their presence here further. John is someone I've spoken with on several occasions over the last year or two, and his enthusiasm and market knowledge inspire confidence in Wadia's bright future.
Here are some other interesting sights from the production area:
(Below, clockwise from top-left) The front panel from a Wadia 861, as you can see, is substantial, to say the least. ▪ Also very hefty is the left-side corner of a Wadia 302 front panel -- one of several pieces of what is actually a rather intricately assembled face. ▪ Most Wadia CD components will sit on a shelf too far to reach from one’s listening seat -- so, to make sure you can feel the heft of Wadia from anywhere, they craft their remote control chassis from a solid block of aluminum (drop one of these on your foot, and an X-ray would likely be doctor's orders).
[align=center]
So, as a Wadia engineer, what does our fellow Head-Fi’er jefemeister actually do? Rather than attempt to explain everything he does, and how it applies to their products, I’ll show you a photo of an example of his work. Below is a photo of three components that Jeff designed that go into a Wadia 302. (Below, from top to bottom) Display controller ▪ Display ▪ Transport interface. (Jeff also wrote all the control software for the Wadia 302.)
[align=center]
(Below, clockwise from top-left) A DAC board from the Wadia 302 ▪ A DAC board from the Wadia 861 ▪ The front side of a silver Wadia 302.
[align=center]
If I had to pick a favorite part of the tour, it would definitely be relaxing in Wadia’s new listening room with my own CD’s. This room is as extreme as the components they build. How so? First of all, the entire foundation of the room is cut off from the rest of the building (despite the fact that the listening room sits somewhere in the middle of the building). The walls contain four layers of drywall, a layer of acoustic foam insulation, and another special layer of sheetrock (click here to see how thick the walls are). The door is a studio door, with a mechanism at the bottom of the door that drops a barrier between the bottom of the door and the floor when the door is closed (click here to see it). The listening room has its own HVAC system. The louvers have been removed from the air outlets so they don’t rattle. I believe even the carpet is a type made for this kind of room. Every single outlet in the room is on its own circuit-breaker. There are two isolation transformers for the room, at least one of which (if I recall correctly) weighs approximately 700 pounds. The room’s dimensions are based on the Golden Ratio method described on Cardas’ web site. And, as you can see from the photos below, there is extensive acoustic treatment in the room. Soon, even more custom-bult acoustic treatment will be built in place, targeting the bass region.
The components that were hooked up in the room at the time of my visit were the Wadia 7 CD Transport (which has its own outboard power supply, and is still considered a top transport choice) feeding the Wadia 790 PowerDAC, which in turn was driving a pair of Hales Transcendence Eight loudspeakers. Coupled with the carefully constructed room, how did this system sound? Oh. My. Goodness. Having just attended a private piano recital the previous weekend, the first thing I wanted to hear in the listening room was piano; so in went Tord Gustavsen Trio's Changing Places and, as the CD started, into the room entered Tord and his mates. Permeated with mellow, romantic cadences, and all three musicians playing with beautifully gentle restraint, Changing Places calls for moderate volume levels to achieve they're right here realism. The challenge with music like this is achieving the room-fill at modest amplitude that live instruments can do so well, but that audio systems typically fail at. As did the Steinway concert grand at last weekend’s recital, the Wadia rig was able to make even Gustavsen’s softest piano notes waft through the room, seemingly from corner to corner (and, if you look at the photos below, you’ll see it is quite a large room), with the convincing immediacy of live piano.
Other CD’s I used to listen to that rig included Modest Mouse’s Good News For People Who Love Bad News and The Moon & Anarctica, XTC’s Nonsuch, and Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson (a gift from Head-Fi’er elrod-tom -- thanks again, Tom). If you’d peeked in the window during Modest Mouse’s “Float On,” you’d have seen me almost jumping out of my seat and lip-syncing the hilariously upbeat lyrics (I wouldn’t sing out loud and adulterate the sound of the rig, man!) -- and the sight would have largely been the same during XTC’s “Peter Pumpkinhead.” And on Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson, Ben Webster’s tenor sax never sounded more breathy through anything else I’ve played this CD through than it did through that rig. Especially with this CD and Tord Gustavsen Trio’s CD (especially with the latter), it was clear that this rig gets its hands around treble presentation correctly, which is where most CD players begin to at least let go of reality a little. Not so with this rig -- analog-like treble wholeness and presentation is a hallmark of every Wadia component I’ve ever listened to.
Long story short, this rig presented with outstanding realism -- easily the best of any digitally-fronted system I've yet heard.
[align=center]
Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to listen to production Wadia 921 monoblock DACs (I heard prototypes last year). Any 921’s they had were either shipped, or at HE2004 in New York. In addition to the Wadia timeline display they’re building, the opportunity to hang out with the 921 monoblock DACs will be sure to draw me in for another visit.
I want to thank Wadia for the awesome tour of their new home. I’ll be back!
You can visit Wadia's web site at http://www.wadia.com.
_
