Wadia 170i transport experience?

06-24-09: Jab
Bombaywalla,
What type of link did you send us to? The question was a general one on how this player performs, not on what type of mods help the unit. I do not think a Nak. person is into mods.
I am also looking at the Wadia and Ejlif your answer helps.

Jab, this question on how a Wadia i170 works is asked again & again.
Altho' the link I sent you talks a lot about whether to mod or not to mod the i170 BUT if you read that thread you will get a lot of info about how the Wadia i170 works, what is good about it & what is not. There are excerpts from very experienced people like Steve Nugent & there is a whole tear-down report from Gordon Rankin who is considered a pioneer in the computer audio arena. You will also read which DACs others used to change/improve the sound.
When people mod certain sections of a product that itself tells you that those sections are most likely compromising the sonics & this itself goes towards answering the question of how well a Wadia i170 works.
So, altho' this might seem like a convoluted answer to a simple question of how well the Wadia i170 works, you will realize the question does not have a simple answer!
Different people have different criteria based on which they select the Wadia i170 (or something else) so different pieces of info have more or less meaning to different people.
I believe that if you read that thread you will be quite well educated on the Wadia i170 & your yourself will be able to the question posed in this thread.
There is a wealth of important info on the Wadia i170 in that thread.
I think that you saw the title which said "to mod or not to mod" & you just blew it off! Let the title not misguide you.

I own and love a Wadia 170i; however, it's only as good as the DAC you send the signal to. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you probably want one of the many devices available that take an iPod's analog output (as opposed to digital) and sends out a line level signal to a home music system. Teamed with the very best DACs with strong reclocking capacity, it's a wonder.

Dave

..... with strong reclocking capacity ......

Dave
Dcstep

Ach, the magic words (IMHO) pertaining to the Wadia i170!!!

Jab, essential details as the one quoted above (& why they matter for the i170) were discussued in that thread whose link I provided. Don't assume I'm a fool for trying to misguide you! ;-)

The question I have would the wadia sound good going to my nakamichi av-10 thru the coaxial output of the wadia to the coaxial input of my av-10? Thanks.

Joe in Mobile

Sorry Joe, I read three reviews of the AV-10 and no one really talked about it's reclocking ability. Being that it's Nakamichi, I'd expect better than average performance, so I think it's a relatively safe bet. Unfortunately the Wadia does seem to increase jitter, so the problem is likely with more than half the DACs out there.

It's inexpensive enough that I'd recommend buying it new from a supplier with return privileges. If you try it in your system and don't find it great in every way, then return it.

Dave