Wadia 861 SE or 581 SE.

861 (non se):

• older (from 2001)
• unreadable display
• plastic remote
• Typical Wadia sound (big sound and punchy in bass section. A more blur sound.

581se:

• New (from oct. 2007)
• You can read the display from a distance
• A loooong loading time (between 15-20 sek.)
• Nice aluminum remote
• Big sound, but a lot more output in the middle range and NOT the typical punchy Wadia bass
• More dynamic, bigger sound, better control,
• It simply produced a better sound in any way!

But the 861 has the TEAC/Esoteric drive --> this should be the superior drive of the two. The TEAC/Esoteric drive should also sound better.

Chris

A couple of things. My new 581SE does not take 15-20 seconds to load...more like about 7-10 seconds. What some percieve as lacking bass, I feel is just a more real presentation across the sprectrum. I only have about 25 hours on mine but already am quite happy with the sound. I previously had the Wadia 302.

Wait a minute, Chris10an! I do not think that the 861 came with a plastic remote. I am pretty damn sure of that: my friend used to own a 861B & that had a metal remote. I used own an 861 that had a metal remote (I upgraded mine to a SE version. Of course, same remote control).
The plastic remotes used to be on the 302 model.

>> Typical Wadia sound (big sound and punchy in bass
>> section. A more blur sound.
I disagree with you completely. I used to own an 861 for about 1.5 years (before I upgraded it to a SE version) & I cannot say that the sound was blurred. Which algorithm were you listening to during your audition??

@ Bombaywalla:

Yes, the remote to this 861 were made of plastic.

In a direct A-B test between this two machine, the 861 sounded blur.