I was lucky enough to pick up a very old WADIA WT3200 in excellent condition for the right the right price some years ago. According to the Lampizator site this is just a Marantz CD(95 in a fancy case.(very fancy and robust I may add(). This thing has been a revelation. It immediately kicked out my expensive Meridian 508.24 transport to go into my main system.
When Philips made the CDM1 transport they committed the cardinal sin of consumer manufacturing;: they left inbuilt obsolescence out of the equation. Being a new medium and not knowing how long transports would last, they took a punt and basically built the best one they could. As it turns out, not only do they sound truly excellent, they basically never wear out, which in today’s era of planned obsolescence is commercial suicide. They learned their lesson, and have never committed the same error with their subsequent designs. So if you ever get a chance to pick up any unit in good condition with a digital out using a CDM1 leap in with both feet.
What amazes me is that something so old can still hold its own sonically agains much more recent offerings, and will probably outlast them all. It is one of those rare pieces of equipment that I never feel the need or urge to upgrade because it sounds so ‘right’. It has seen off or equalled everything people have brought round to my place (leaving some jaws on the ground), although by now I am sure better sounding transports must exist.
