Wadia 781i. No, its not an inexpensive player but after leaving APL HI Fi as Customer Service Manager and dealer , I was forced to audition many players to fill the void. I had heard mixed reports of the Wadia 581 and 861 . Some claimed it was the perfect balance and some claimed it needed the GNS mod to become more organic . I picked a Wadia 781i up new and it was horrible out of the box . Patience and burn in was mandatory . As it burned in , it unfolded unlike any player I have ever worked with . I broke SACD in first and it evolved rapidly . It now stands as the finest SACD playback I have ever heard . Redbook was a mess . The Sonics were constrained and imaging was jumbled up with harsh edge and no dimensionality . It bloomed far slower then SACD for some reason . I thought that at 300 hours it was simply going to be a mediocre Redbook player and was disappointed and sorely missed my NWO3.0SE . I ran it in another 200 hours without listening . When I returned it was obvious that it had exploded through a performance barrier . It is hard to describe what is so amazing and that is what has me puzzled . It is as if it is has no single attribute that distinguishes itself as superior yet it presents music in such a way that I am glued to my chair. Micro detail is the best I ever heard and listening at very low levels is now addicting . The space breathes with life : small trios become situated between the speakers in an intimate space and large works not only expand beyond the speakers but often wrap around you. Mid bass to low bass is the best I have ever heard , period. Nuances of upper bas and lower midrange glow with color and pitch. Midrange and upper midrange is controlled and rich in gradations of harmonics . Lower treble through upper treble still needs air , presence and palpability and I expect that will be coming with more break in as the top end almost always fleshes itself out last in my experience .
Yes, I am a dealer but I just needed to " shout it out " about this player because first and foremost , I am an audiophile and this is a break through cd - sacd player IMO and its the best cd player for the money I have yet encountered
