[progo]

No, sorry, I don't own a Wadia,

but I'd like to hear about those who own.

Wadias are so darn beautiful for starters! And their sound has nothing to blame either. The newer ones with digital volume control, people say it can drive balanced headphones directly without a need for headamp!

Share your thoughts and experience on Wadia players!

 

[Mister Crash]

[Raises hand]

Wadia 581i SE here. When I first started looking at boutique CD players a few years ago, I was immediately drawn to the physical form of the Wadias. They just look rock-solid. At the time, I flirted with the idea of owning one, but ruled it out for two reasons: (1) I didn't know where to audition one, and (2) I thought it was insane to buy a CD player that was selling for several thousand dollars on the used market.

When I was ready to upgrade my source again, my first thought was that I would love to get a Wadia, but again, the price factor made me reluctantly dismiss that impulse. Sure, they look great, they were supposed to sound fantastic, and they seemed to have a fanatical fan base, but look at the prices! The bottom of their product line at the time was almost US$10,000. So, I started researching other high-end CD players, hoping to find one that would grab me the same way the Wadia did for a lot less of the long green.

Now, I tend to be a pretty picky person. The reason I was searching for a new source was not because I was unhappy with the sound I had from my source at the time. Rather, it was a series of niggling features that my CD player had that were cumulatively driving me crazy. I compiled a list of things I wanted to have in a CD player:

1. Great redbook playback (I didn't care about SACD, as I didn't have any SACDs at the time)
2. The ability to play CD-Rs without a fuss
3. Solid-state (my source at the time had tubes, and I didn't like having to wait for the player to warm up whenever I turned it on)
4. A solid build
5. A nice remote that did not resemble a prize from a Cracker-Jack box
6. Buttons on the front of the machine, so I wouldn't necessarily need to use the remote
7. A front-loading drawer that stayed open when it was opened (and did not automatically close just as I was about to insert a new disc)
8. Digital inputs, preferably including Toslink so I could connect my PS2/PS3 to the player's DAC
9. Digital outputs in case I wanted to try a different DAC in the future
10. The ability to display time remaining on a track, which seems to be a rare feature these days

As I read review after review of high-end CD players, I found that there was always something about each player that fell short of my criteria. I wanted to get a source that wouldn't require me to compromise what I wanted. I reasoned that if I were going to spend thousands of dollars on a CD player, it had better be something that would inspire absolutely no complaints. I kept reading about all of these so-called "giant killers", but there was always something that I felt would be a compromise. I was ready to get a giant.

On the surface, the Wadia seemed to match up with all of my needs, and after a lot of deliberation, I set out to audition one. This ended up being harder than I thought it would. The local Wadia dealer had sent its player back to Wadia for some update, and it took several weeks for it to return. In the meantime, I auditioned several other players, but none of them seemed to be a noticeable step up from my set-up. When I finally did hear the Wadia, it seemed to be immediately and noticeably better than anything else I had heard. I wanted this player.

And so I got one.

 

[elrod-tom]

Wadia 830 (with Great Northern Sound Company mods) here!

I've been impressed with the Wadia signature sound from the first time I visited their HQ for a Head-Fi meet almost 6 years ago. Among other things, there's something about the way that Wadia decodes that makes otherwise poorly recorded CD's sound less bad. I don't know why that is, but it is so.

They're also built like a tank!! EVERYTHING is built like a tank. You could kill someone with the remote.

I'm currently waiting to hear when the new run of digital input boards are ready to be installed in the 830/301/302 models. Then I'll hook it up to my home music network and extend that glorious Wadia sound to my computer files. Until then, I'm content to do my old school listening with CD's.

Oh, I'm also waiting for that board so that I can buy an iTransport for use with my iPod.

Long term, I hope to be a happy 581iSE owner...but it's going to be a couple of years yet.

 

[elrod-tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by progo /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, sorry, I don't own a Wadia, but I'd like to hear about those who own. Wadias are so darn beautiful for starters! And their sound has nothing to blame either. The newer ones with digital volume control, people say it can drive balanced headphones directly without a need for headamp! Share your thoughts and experience on Wadia players!

It's not just the "newer" ones btw that can drive balanced headphones directly. My 830 is nearly 10 years old at this point, and does a DAMN nice job doing just that.

 

[progo]

Oh damn me, this thread is such a turn on for me!

The local prices for the Wadias I've eyed at the official importer here are €10k and €12.5k for 581 and 581i respectively. So it's a long save ahead.

I'd like to think the GIGO principle is working so only the top notch sources are causing this hysteria.

 

[Mister Crash]

I keep forgetting how spoiled those of us in the U.S. are when it comes to electronics prices. The 581i SE has a retail price of US$11,450 new in the states, which would be something like €7,000 at current exchange rates. Even with voltage conversion and shipping, that's some markup for the European market.

In the interest of keeping things balanced, here are my comments on the bad things that I have noticed about my unit:

1. When the display is on but it is dim, there is a soft high-frequency sound coming from the player (this happens whether or not there is a disc playing). When a button is pushed on the unit or on the remote, the display goes to full brightness for a couple seconds and the sound disappears, but when it dims back, the sound comes back. It's not that noticeable on its own, but if you turn the display off, you instantly notice the sound goes away. Because of this, I've tended to keep the display off most of the time.

2. The remote control sometimes requires multiple button presses, and there can be a lag of a couple seconds between a button press and the unit's response.

3. The +10 button on the remote seems to do absolutely nothing. If I want to go to track 24, and I hit the +10 button twice, followed by the 4, it goes to track 4. There seems to be no way to access tracks directly above track 9.

4. The |<< (last track) button on the remote sends the player back to the previous track no matter how far into the current track the player is. For example, you could be four minutes into track 8, and if you press the |<< button, it will go to the beginning of track 7. This is different from every other CD player I have ever used.

5. There appears to be no Shuffle/Random button on the remote control. This would be a nice feature, and I'm not sure why it is absent.

6. On occasion, the different display modes will cycle with seemingly no provocation.

7. The tracking of time is not necessarily continuous. I've noticed that the time display may skip from, say, 10:01 to 10:03 without showing 10:02.

8. There have been a couple of instances when I've sat down for a listening session, popped a CD into the player and heard no sound. When I check the volume, it will be down to 0. I always listen with the volume level at 100, so I'm not sure why this would happen, unless there was a power cycle that shut the player off and then back on again.

Again, I love the player, and these aren't the sort of traits that would make me dispose of it, but I feel they should be mentioned.

 

[progo]

Wow, some flaws! Well I've heard about these problems on some versions or generations, or something. Perhaps we'll hear if someone knows about this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mister Crash /img/forum/go_quote.gif I keep forgetting how spoiled those of us in the U.S. are when it comes to electronics prices. The 581i SE has a retail price of US$11,450 new in the states, which would be something like €7,000 at current exchange rates. Even with voltage conversion and shipping, that's some markup for the European market.

Yeah, I've thought of buying one from the US but I wonder how the warranty deals and Co are handled. If I've understood correctly, I could order one from the US, and have it voltage changed at local importer. Hmm...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mister Crash /img/forum/go_quote.gif 3. The +10 button on the remote seems to do absolutely nothing. If I want to go to track 24, and I hit the +10 button twice, followed by the 4, it goes to track 4. There seems to be no way to access tracks directly above track 9.

This may sound stupid but have you tried pressing the +10 button first and then pressing the numbers?

 

[sabatar]

So does it drive balanced headphones directly without a need for headamp?

This is a burning question for me. I'm so tempted to upgrade to 581iSE from Linn Classik. I firmly believe that the source is extremely important.

On a different note, I want to buy the iPod dock called iTransport by Wadia too, so is it possible to link the iTransport to the CDP: 581iSE and get the sound from iPod upgraded passing through the DAC of the CDP?

 

[progo]

Yeah, the i version has digital inputs. And iTransport naturally has digital output, since it's the major seller of the device.

 

[elrod-tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sabatar /img/forum/go_quote.gif So does it drive balanced headphones directly without a need for headamp?

Yes...if you have headphones termined with XLR jacks, you can use the digital volume control to drive headphones in much the same way you would with a balanced headphone amp. Sounds pretty nice too!!

 

[panda]

i had the 301 in my system for about a week but ended up returning it. i purchased it because i heard it before with grado hp-1 and it was outstanding. also stemmed from when i heard their flagship 27 dac. however after listening to it, the output was too hot and while everything sounded nice and hifi, i got bored of the sugar coating that wadia's signature does to the sound and thought that the accented hyperdetail got in the way of the flow of music. it didn't have the rhythm and drive that gets my attention. i prefer a purer flat earth less filter/processing source. not to take anything away from wadia, i still think it sounds great, just not the direction i would want to go. and yeah their casing is pretty badass.

with its high voltage outputs, it would be a good player to use with active speakers. if i were to ever want to simplify a speaker rig, that would be a possibility in my list. using the outputs direct to senn hd600 sounded cleaner than through an amp, it lacked control of the bottom and assertiveness. sort of like using passive vs active preamp.

 

[LUMIERE]

I've had my Wadia 6 for nearly 13 years!!! It is simply amazing. It was one of the first one box CD players that really set some amazing audio standards. It still sounds wonderful and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I do think for most people in order to appreciate the Wadia sound as it were... you have to have a very high resolution system that is completely matched as a whole. Otherwise, you will most likely hear other short comings in your system. Just my opinion after fine tuning my Spectral/Wadia setup over the years.

 

[Golden Ears]

I had heard almost all the other Wadia units and wasn't very taken with them. Then I heard the 860 and realized digital could be enjoyable. I bought the 860 and currently a friend of mine is using it. No offense to other owners of Wadia products but I could not understand the fuss over the models below or before the 860. I also liked the 861 but was not fond of some of the other versions in between. I also think these single box players are more musical than the separates.

When I listen to other CD players I often am reminded that I am either listening to grainy bits or amplified sound. With my Wadia the music sucks me in and I forget that I am listening to a stereo- I just get more involved with the music. Also my musical tastes tend to broaden because more things sound involving in different genres.

 

[progo]

Hmm I'm not sure what is 860's relationship to 581.

It's only tad cheapier than 581 (but the SE version is expensiver than 581/se) on the local importer and since Wadia's website doesn't list 860s it must be the earlier flagship player. Please correct if I'm wrong.

 

[elrod-tom]

The 860 is the predecessor to the 861, which was Wadia's single-box flagship product prior to the development of the 581/781. If memory serves me correctly, it can still be upgraded to be the equivalent of a full 861iSE.