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Which 3K CDP: Simaudio Nova, Ayre CX-7 Wadia 302

Unfortunately the market is saturated with many 'new' ~3K CD players, all of which are well reviewed. I have heard all 3, but do not have the opportunity to do A/B comparisons, as only the Simaudio is available where I live. It is tough to compare the 3 in your mind, when you have listened to all 3 in 3 different cities, using different electronics, speakers and in different rooms. All 3 sounded great, but without the possibility of direct comparison it is tough to choose among them.

I will likely be using them with Hovland HP200 pre vs. Simaudio P-5 pre, Simaudio LE W-5 amp, and speakers still undecided (JMlab Alto Be vs. Dynaudio Confidence C2 vs. Wilson Sophia)
thom_y
thom_y OP
195 posts
 
Sorry,

I forgot to add, as a reference I listen to mainly alternative. The discs rotating on my second system CD player include:
Radiohead, Muse, Ryan Adams, U2, Beck, REM, White Stripes, Strokes, Lucinda Williams, Wilco, PJ Harvey etc.

Second, I should add that I don't want to go with a used CD player.
bsal
41 posts
 
What's your aversion to going used? You'll get much more for your money and you'll lose less when you decide to upgrade (which will probably be sooner than you think!).
mdp0430
60 posts
 
I'd stay away from anything Wadia... The company has changed over many times, which is enough for me to worry about possible future service issues... Especially for that kind of money...
cytocycle
1,043 posts
 
Gamut CD1R or the newer version is pretty amazing.. I am a fan of Wadia but the Gamut got me more for my money.. The R version fixed the bass problem with a powersupply upgrade. It sounds increadible on my Wilson Watt Puppy 7's (Sophia would be just as revealing). Just make sure you preamp can handle the 5 volt output (the Wadia's are hot also 5volt-10volt)
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
Ahhhh....I disagree with Mdp0430 quite a bit! Looks like Mdp0430 is just looking for some excuse to reject a manuf.

>>The company has changed over many times
Wrong! The company has changed hands just once! That was in year 2000.
It is probably true that their former financial ill-health had many worried about the viability of their product but I think that it is quite safe to say that Wadia is here to stay. There is an excellent post on Head-fi.org detailing a trip to their factory. Here is the link:
http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=73480.
There are more Wadia 302s on the production floor than you can shake a stick at. Wadia just moved into a new building to *expand* production! There do not seem to be any signs of Wadia going under. I have no financial numbers to prove this beyond a reasonable doubt nor can I say that this won't happen again.

Wadia products are supported by Wadia themselves & by Steve at Great Northern Sound. If Wadia fails, Steve will be able to take care of their products thereafter.

I think that it would be quite wrong to rule out Wadia in the running based on speculative info about their going under.
The Wadia products are expensive & they might not fit your budget. That is true.

I was searching for a redbook player for many months & I chose Wadia for the long-term potential that it has & the fact that their upper tier models can be upgraded & can work with other formats (DVD-A for the time-being). You can view my opinions as biased as a product owner but I can tell you that I do not want to be saddled with a product from a defunct company any more than you do.
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