Wadia S7i direct to amp


Looking at simplifying my system, wondering if anyone has heard the new Wadia S7i direct into an amp, and if so, how did the pre section fare? My experience w/ an 860x years ago was that the pre wasn't good enough for me to get rid of my pre at the time (a Cary SLP98).
128x128dennis_the_menace
I have a Wadia S7i at home and play with the Pass XP20 and XA160.5 but I prefer the preamp. Without the preamp I miss some body and dynamics. For me the preamp adds something. But if you want to save money it works finr without a preamp.

Peter
If you have your internal switches controlling max output set in such a way that you can listen to a cd at the 100 setting without being unlistenably loud, compare the 100 setting on the volune control to 99. In my system with the 861SE, the 99 setting sounded compressed, flat, mechanical and "broken" by comparison to the 100 setting.i think the processing that takes place to control volume has a big impact on quality. You will not likely realice this unless you can compare it to 100.

I use my 861 into a preamp with it set to 100. While I may negate some of the sonic benefits of direct connection, I suspect that the negatives are not as bad as the negatives associated with using the volume control below 100.

The Wadia's are excellent units and should still be considered seriously even without the use of their digital volume control.

Andrew
Wadia direct to amp makes an impressive sound. As such, it is fine.

Add a great preamp, and it will make impressive music.

If you are budgeting money, I would probably first get the S7i with GNSC mods, running direct. Get the preamp later.
Concur with Rtn1. The nice thing about the Wadia with GNSC mods is that it sounds excellent without a preamp and you can add a preamp later after you get to know the player. Alternatively, you may just prefer direct and stick with that. It's nice to have the option.

06-26-10: Krellfan2002
I have a Wadia S7i at home and play with the Pass XP20 and XA160.5 but I prefer the preamp. Without the preamp I miss some body and dynamics. For me the preamp adds something.

the statement above makes absolutely no sense to me. the preamp can only work with the signal being provided by the source signal. so if the preamp "adds something" then what it is doing is coloring the source signal.

wadia provides variable outputs where the preamplification is performed in the digital domain. the biggest problem that i have observed is when you adjust the variable output level too low. in theory, once you get below an output level of 65, you are starting to lose significant bits in the digital stream. in theory this would translate into less resolution. if you are at an output level of 75 or above, you probably aren't losing any significant bits.

the other problem that you can encounter with direct connection is that with some low volume level source material (typically classical recordings since volume level is rarely a problem with popular recordings) the playback volume can be lower in comparison to connection through a preamp. by default wadia provides an output voltage of about 2vrms (i assume this is the output measured from the single-ended outputs and so i assume that the default is about 4vrms when using balanced outputs). as i stated, this is adequate for most recordings (for reference, power amplifier gain is usually measured based on a single-ended input signal level of about 2vrms). however, if it isn't the volume can be adjusted to produce a voltage output of up to 4.25vrms by setting all the internal DIP switches to the "open" position. if that output level is still not sufficient for the source material, then you would need to use a preamplifier. but presumably, in this case you are using the preamplifier to provide additional signal amplification with accurate reproduction of the source, as opposed to provide coloring of the source.

of course, if coloring is what you want in your preamplifier (which is basically what you get with tube amplification) then that is entirely legitimate since all this stuff is a matter of personal preference. the point i am trying to make is that if you seek "transparency", then you aren't going to do better than direct connection from the wadia to the power amplifier; the potential limitation being that the direct connection may provide insufficient signal gain depending on the source material.