Wadia direct into amp, Sound a bit too lean??

I own a Wadia 850 and had a similar problem with lean bright sound. When I ran short interconncets the sound changed for the better. I used Coincident CST's. They can take a while to break-in but well worth the wait. The change with the shorter ic's was not subtle. Try it. Also consider maple platforms and brass footers from Mapleshade. This to will reduce the internal vibrations which can brighten the sound.

I've noticed that although a preamp adds to another link in the chain. Running directly from source to amp (even though some sources have an attenuator) the sound is not as airy and the soundstage seems compressed.

Rob

i have also found that running my Wadia 861 thru my tube pre is much better than running directly into amp. I do not think that Wadia's digital volume is anything to write home about. It does the job of attenuating the sound but i personally do not think that it can provide the soundstage depth & width & height that a really good preamp can. Hence, after comparing w/ tube preamp & direct to amp for several weeks, i setup the system thru the tube preamp & I bypassed the DSP-based volume control (set it to 100). never regretted it one bit!

Another solution to consider is the Musical Fidelity X-10v3 tube buffer stage between CDP and amp. Only works single ended on RCAs though. Adds a little tube warmth. At $399 a lot cheaper than a lot of cables and maybe worth a try.

in trying to tweak your sonic signature you don't mention doing any experimentation with AC cords. Changing cords on the CDP & the amp (not necessarily / probably not using identical AC cords on each unit) you can accomplish a lot more change than you might believe possible. Also you can experiment with many different types of tuning products: shelving, footers, cones, bearings, etc. placed mainly under the source component; although whatever is supporting the amp can certainly also have a significant effect.