Turntables better than a Wadia 861SE w/ Statement

Syntax......Amen.

I have both, Digital and Analog.

Personally, i do not think that Digital Red Book players can touch a well thought out Analog system at any price. Name them all. (Wadia, dcs, MBL, ARC, Simaudio, etc...). The closest thing to Analog is 96/24 downloads feeding into a top shelf USB or Firewire DAC.

I have many red book downloads (or ripped CD's) on my Ipod docked onto a Wadia dock feeding an ARC DAC7 (both modded by GNSC) with satisfying results. I take this up a notch hooking my my MacBook Pro to the DAC7 with a Bel Canto USB Link playing 96/24 downloads. Sound pretty darn good.

Queueing up Patricia Barber MOFI 45rpm Cafe Blue on a modded Sota Cosmos IV, Graham Phantom II and Ortofon A90 feeding an ARC Ref Phono 2 and Ref3 LE (both modded by GNSC) gives me gratifying results.

When i'm really lazy, i just hook up my Ipod to my Tivoli table radio with less than satisfying results but hey......some nights after returning from work late, i do not feel like firing up an all tube audio system.

Listen for yourself and make your own decision. I made mine.

Sly

If you are in the NYC area, OMA has a showroom in Soho, Manhattan and we have the only Wadia system 9 for public audition in the New York Metropolitan area, or so I've been told by Wadia. You can come in and here a direct A/B comparison with our turntables, using the same material recorded on both vinyl and CD. I've been told that we are getting the new Wadia transport in a couple of weeks by Wadia principal John Schaeffer.

Jonathan Weiss
Oswaldsmill Audio

This thread has taken a comical bent and I'd like to thank Weisselk for the entertainment.

I was worried for a moment. It's not every day we see a thread revived after FIVE YEARS of dormancy, only to become a platform for dealer adverts.

Fortunately I've heard OMA's system. I spent three enjoyable hours with it at RMAF 2008. Mr. Weiss clearly understands that no one with half a brain or even one functioning ear would accept an "invitation" to "compare" a low resolution, limited bandwidth medium with a high resolution, broad bandwidth one. Heh, that was clever!

Still, the humor was subtle. It might have tempted some well-heeled but clueless audiophile, if there were such an animal, so I was happy to see Mr. Weiss clarify his humorous intentions. Repeating his mock invitation AFTER Aoliviero debunked the whole question made it clear. From that point, no one could accuse OMA of pandering to the gullible on a supposedly non-commercial forum.

It's all in good fun. The mock adverts weren't serious. We needn't bother visiting. I'd even wager there's no NY area showroom at all!

Good one, OMA. Had us going for a bit...

Here's a nice comparison:

I have a Wadia 27ix/270 dac and transport and a VPI Aries 3 / Dynavector XV-1s. The digital rig costs 2x more than my analog set up while the analog set up is at least 2x more musical and enjoyable than the digital one.

Hi Doug,

I was pandering. And there is an OMA Soho Showroom, and you are invited to visit any time. And I will play the $40,000 plus Wadia system 9 against our turntables, and people can decide for themselves. Obviously, I am highly biased, but enough said.

Jonathan Weiss
Oswaldsmill Audio