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

Two things, I don't think Wadia doubles the voltage into balanced IC. Also it's possible to run with a RDP-1 even though it's not a transport and dac. Just use the digital out and in. Wadia is built for this purpose considering the clocklinked I/O

Hi, your system certainly seems challenging.
i think it has a lot to do with matching (a very difficult task, i believe). i have my Wadia 6 (ser no. 003) directly drive a couple of Forte amplifiers (bi-amped) from 1988-98 via balanced ICs and to my recollection, it is one of the best setups i ever had. i only introduced a pre-amp (Musical Fidelity X-P100) when i decided to go back to analogue.

Jerry, the W 6&9 combo is still, to my taste, the best digital front-end there is (even with the newer products around)... problem is, direct-driving amplifiers with a Wadia is not for everyone; it certainly is a trial method judged by your ears and musical taste.

i would not introduce any 'foreign matter' in-between my Wadia and my amp, certainly not ANY pre-amp... but you have to decide which is the 'weak link'... for me, i'd test the combo with AMPS!!... cables are nothing, just excuses for audiophiles to spend.

if you are building your system around the W 7&9, then test them with other amps; somebody mentioned a boulder, which could also be your ticket... i would be very cautious in using the combo to drive tube amps... i suppose i'm just chicken :-)

enjoy the hunt!
edgar

I hadbeen using my wadia 861 directly plugged into amplifier. I had adjusted the voltage output so on most recordings volume was set >90

I recently purchased a preamplifier and there is an overwhelming improvement in sound.

I'm not sure what the preamp does but it clearly not a volunme control. For me it resulted in improved balance, tonality, and the prolly the most 3d imaging adn resolution.

cant recommend to get a preamp enough. your wadia will sound like a different player

Hello Jerry,

Although out of your league, I am running my EAD 7000 DAC (which I love BTW) directly into my amps, with a resistor based attenuator, I was also getting lean sound, but I solved it with very short speaker cables (10 inch) I am using mono amps, with the short cables everything fell into place right away....I would stay away from silver going direct.
I would also reccomend an Isolation transformer on the power line, It gets a fuller, cleaner sound out of your system.
I tried a bunch of preamps, I hated most of them and loved a couple, but distortion was always introduced to the signal path. IMHO

All the best

You guys are really funny! For what reason did you buy the very best single cd player like the Wadia 861SE to "bend" or color the sound afterwards? Doesn't make sense at all to me.
In any case the addition of ANY preamp between the Wadia and the Power Amp will only color the sound, it CANNOT ever get any better because its just an addional amplifier chain which is never as good as a straight wire.
There might be a possible mismatch between the Wadia and the Power Amp in some case, therefore the output of the Wadia is adjustable.
And for those specialists who believe in cutting of bits via the volume control: the wadia operates the volume control in the digital domain, not on the analog side. The 861 processes 24 bits while the cd itself contains a maximum of 16 bits of information.
Therefore 8 bits (or 256 steps) are available as "waste" just for the volume control. With only 100 possible steps (50 dB, 0.5 dB each step) degration of the sound even with the volume set on step 1 is just impossible - but who will judge the sound of the system at step 1, the speakers don't even produce any real sound at step 1. I do normal listening with the volume set to 50 or even 70....
I have tried many times with and without preamp - the system sounds best when the player is directly driving the amps. Maybe you guys should invest the money better in good speakers so that you can hear what your cd player really delivers...
Cheers!