Hello Nsgarch, I liked the Wadia 861se with GNS Statement upgrade very much--awesome bass and backround detail, good precision. Steve @ GNS really knows how to improve an already good player. The EMM Labs CDSA-SE was the best that I have heard in the upper treble and it was very clear. The treble dynamics were spectacular, but the rest of the presentation was just OK. There was texture to individual instruments with the CDSA-SE, but not near as good as the Wadia. Another problem with the CDSA-SE was that only my newer cds sounded very good. Older cds lost clarity and soundstaging. I don't know the reason for the difference. Maybe the reason is the way that the newer vs older cds were recorded, or the way that the EMM Labs reads cds. At any rate, I researched cd players--Esoteric, Audio Research, etc., but never had a chance to actually listen to those brands, due to being so far away from an audio dealer. I also looked into an AMR CD-77 player, but there was a two month plus wait for delivery. After talking with several Wadia 581 owners, I took the Wadia plunge again. It looks like it payed off in spades... Overall, my new Wadia 581 is the best cd playback that I have had in my system... and it's not broken in completely yet.
