New Wadia 381i vs Puccini

Heard the 381 last week at my dealers showroom. Having made a time for the demonstration I arrived, listended for a hour and was really impressed. Then discovered the dealers assitant had hooked up the Wadia 781 instead of the 381. Switch out to 381. The 381 was definitely less impressive than the 781, lacked the scale and power of the 781 in (perhaps an unfair) direct comparison. Later compared it directly to the Sim Supernova. Wadia 381 was better and the Sim sounded flat and uninspiring in comparison. The 381 was, to my ears, much more musical and less analytical than some other Wadia's I had heard (not the 781). Anyway, will try to get a home demonstration of the 381 as things always sound different at home than they do in the dealers showroom (unfamiliar equipment etc). I'll post the result.

Thank you Genkides! For me a natural sound also is a key point. I am looking forward to your post.

Are you looking for CD only or CD and other formats like SACD?

Hi Bjbcab,
I do not need SACD; I have only a single SACD which came with a Sony DVD video/SACD player. But I would like to have the best sound on red book CDs.
I think with the USB input option the Wadia 381 "i" vesion and its capability to read WAV files from CD it is rather future proof (if this exists in digital audio).

Msw1, The DCS Puccini does not have a USB input unless you buy the U-clock. There is a digital SPDIF input but this does not sound as good as cd play because the digital input does not up sample to DSD, at least on my player. I think there is an upgrade but I do not have this yet. The USB input through the U-clock will be upsampled to DSD. In any event you are looking at about $22,500 total for player plus u-clock so this is not in the same league.

I have listened to Ayre cd players and they are quite good. Perhaps you could look at CXe-7 and their new usb dac (can't remember the name. I would also suggest taking a look at NAIM cds3 for cd playback and they also have a a separate d/a for with usb input. I have listened to the NAIM cds3 and it is very good and while the puccini is better IMO it compares quite favorably and is much cheaper. In the case of these Ayre and NAIM products the cost, while not identical, will more in line with the cost of a wadia 381i.