dCS Scarlatti vs Wadia 931+921

I owned the DCS Elgar Plus Full stack with Rubidium clock, Esoteric P03D03 with same clock, and Wadia 921/931 simultaneously (and also the MPS5). I now own the MPS5, Zanden Signature and Boulder 2020. I would put the Wadia in its own sonic signature category. Incredibly clear transient/attack, an ethereal blackness that seems to make the edges of music more sharply defined and, when connected directly to an amp, earth-shaking, fundamentally deep/wide bass.

I am still impressed with DCS gear; I understand that the Scarlatti is an improvement on the Elgar but at least according to the DCS website, similar to the Paganini DAC. To quote: "The Paganini range has a similar feature set to Scarlatti with the main differences being in the chassis, CD/SACD transport mechanism and the remote handset. These differences mean little is lost in the resulting musical performance and we think Paganini has a very special kind of magic." I am not sure the Scarlatti DAC on its own is different from the Paganini. The Esoteric based transport should make a difference but again, you could use an Esoteric transport with a Scarlatti DAC.

Classicjazz thanks for the response! Can you please tell us more about treble air on the Wadia... say on cymbals and violin timbre, and its acoustic space? Did the clear transients make it sound too mechanical compared to the others? Also, why did you let go of the Wadia?

Well Karajan,

I have both owned the dCS Scarltti full stack included the Scarlatti clock.

The Scarltti full stack did not have the emotional musicality, according to my opinion it is more a technical sound rather than a musical sound, but extremely detailed and focussed.
The Wadia 931+921 was a much more musical emotional presentation.

Scarlatti full stack should be used with scarlatti clock because that will enhance the musicality a little.
but still it is not up the beautiful musical presentation as the Wadia 931+921 did.
In short I liked the Wadia combo much better than the Scarlatti full stack.

Rademaker,

That is interesting that you were able to compare Scarlatti and Wadia 931/921. There are probably very few who have had that opportunity. I would like to hear more specifics as to the pros and cons of each system.

I have a review of the series 9 on the audiogon review page under digital. Feel free to post your comments.

Rademaker,

Since you stated that the Wadia is heads and shoulders above the DCS Scarlatti, I'm curious to know why you are selling you Wadia currently.

Have you found anything better and could you share this with us?

Many thanks