Performance opinion of Wadia 850???

I've had an 850 for several years. I have no intention of selling it. In my system it sounds best thru its balanced outputs. I use goertz silver micropurls. One strength is its spatial and imaging qualities. If the effect is recorded on the CD, it can wrap the image around you. The only alternative today is one of the combo CD/SACD players, IMHO.

I had a Wadia 850 for about 7 months and thought it was the best player I had heard in its price range. I recently upgraded to an 860x and yes it is a more refined player but I would still highly recommend an 850. I agree w/ Ivanj, to get the absolute best perfomance take advantage of the Wadia's fully balanced design. I can't imagine you being disapointed with the 850. Give it a listen and you be the judge.

i've owned my 850 for a bit more than a year now and i agree with what ucmgr wrote and what jla did--i would only trade up for another wadia product. i compared and contrasted the 850 to a number of machines (see my 850 review at audioreview.com), was suitably impressed and absoultely swear by its warmth, detail and musicality. i run it directly into a pair of tube monoblocks. good luck.