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Comparing Wadia vs. Meitner

I believe that this represents the pinnacle of CD playback. Jerry, a fellow audiogoner was gracious enough to allow me to audition his broken-in Meitner CDSD / DCC2. In my system, the boxes were switched with mine, so they each had the same cables, power conditioning, power cords, and stand. Both were run directly into the amp without a preamp. My CD playback system includes the Wadia 27ix / 270se with the latest software and full modifications from Great Northern Sound. Also included are Elrod Statement power cords, a Hydra conditioner, and a Mana rack.

In short, I think that these are both excellent units. They are also very different in what they do. In my system, it was easy to distinguish between the two within several minutes. It probably comes down to personal preference in deciding which is best here. I’ll just simply say that I’m keeping the Wadia because I think it is a perfect match for my musical preferences, my system, and what I appreciate in music.

What I love about the Wadia is its ability to convey an (absolutely) astonishing amount of detail without being harsh or fatiguing. Not only is the melody and rhythm imaged with speed and coherence, but you can actually appreciate the musicians technique, the weight and color of the instrument(s), and the ambience of the recording venue. It simply presents a convincing image of a live event. The emotional quality is all there. You can understand what separates a great and (justly) famous professional musician from a pretty good one. Everything is properly proportioned, the soundstage is appropriate and believable, everything is audible, and the background is silent. From complex orchestral pieces and opera, to vocals, to solo instruments, I do not believe there are any weak spots. Again, it simply convinces and fools the mind into believing that you are sitting in front of the performance. I have frequented the concert halls, and I’d hate to say it but sometimes the recording is better.

I think that just about anybody could probably be happy with either of these 2 systems. Of course, curiosity makes us wonder if the grass is greener. I am just very content with where I am right now. I'd invite Jerry to make some comments when he gets a chance.

Rob
rtn1
robm321
932 posts
 
Panarama, you sound like an angry angry man -- maybe it's the digital edge on your CD player that is keeping you from relaxing. You probably see my moniker in your nightmares.

Boo!

Rob ;)
alfatone69
6 posts
 
Hello Gents,
Hope you don't mind a Limey adding a little spice to the Proceedings.
Having heard the Meitner combo on 3 seperate occations, in 3 pretty fair systems (One of them possibly Macallan 25's!!!)
And owning one or two Wadia pieces myself, I feel that both pieces of digital reproductive hardware, do a rather special job of managing to communicate that 'magic of the preformance' to the individual. Each in their own way, noneless valid, and purely down to presonal preference.
I find the wadia's give more of a feeling of 'Being there & solidity' where as the Metiner expansive presenation & detailed openiness gave an impressive mix.
Though we did find the use of an AES cable between the Philips & the DCC2 to give a more natural presenation that just the AT&T's (Surprising but true)
Both sets of beasts need quality gear surrounding them to extract the most from there presonalities.
If you liked the Elrod Sig, then try the UKhan Statement II, nice dynamics/speed, detail and weight, with rather good mid band projection
Being a musician (Drummer, is that some one who hangs around with musicians???) I personally find the Wadia, more akin to my musical preference and ability to convey my style of rightness to the music being sampled, this however doesn't make the Meitner any less of a digital warrior, just merely another slant in the land of Binary.
You pays your money & takes your choice.
tireguy
1,964 posts
 
Alfatone69- That is really weird your experience using an AES cable instead of the fiber optic cables, not only are you not able to listen to SACD but your not able to upsample to DSD. You may want to have your unit(s) checked to see if they are working properly, from my experience the decoding to DSD is 90% of the "magic".
alfatone69
6 posts
 
Tireguy,
Might have been a problem if we listening to sacd, I grant you, however redbook was the order of the day.
pretty sure they were glass optic cables too.
Have you listened to the DCS combo upsampling redbook to DSD and compared to the full sacd section?
Thoughts on this please, if you have done this, did you compare the same same disc (Dual layer) or did you use a seperate red book disc of the same recording?
sm2727
115 posts
 
I too have heard the emm labs dac compared to dcs and Wadia combo. I think the emmlabs equipment is being hyped on audiogon by some interested parties. I've been looking up power cords and have seen paragraphs on the Emm labs stuff. There are at least five companies that make similarly priced equipment and I would love to see the emm labs fanatics pick their equipment out of the bunch. It does sound great...but to say it blows away digital equipment in the same price range is silly.
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