Wadia with or without a preamp ?

I have the Wadia 861 Direct to my Pass x350. With nunlavys 4 a,s. Sometimes the sound amazes me, Yes at above 70 is when it sounds it,s best .I agree at lower levels it lost some transparency.I aqm running SG designers ref. active sheilding balanced.I have wondered on a pre. and talked to STEVE Huntley on the matter,for me,The 2000.00 on a Full Ref. upgrade would yeild better sonics overall and is cheaper than a high end pre.
Iam glad someone brought up this topic, i wonder all the time how a audio research ref.Mk 2 would sound.Both steve Huntley and Denny at Audio Video Logic,Have said the Ref MK2 would be a great Match with my sysatem.
Tuff choice funds are tight now.

A $7000 preamp as a tweak for a $3000 or $5000 cd-player? Wouldn't the 861 or 270/27ix be a better way to spend that kind of money?

I was using Wadia 27 and found them running directly to power amps sounding too direct. The sound was upfront and very clear but lacked musicality. Especially when the dynamic gets really loud, the direct drive will always sound harsher and less controlled than thru a good pre. But the key word is GOOD PRE. You will not get good result running the Wadia thru mediocre pre. Tube pres are mostly favorable.
Now I got rid of the Wadia and have Dcs Elgar/Purcell in my system. It's a different story. My Dcs drives directly into the VK 60s(4 monoblocks) with absolute quiteness and all the musicallity one can ask for. So the lesson for me is, running direct is potentially good but very expensive to do it right. If there was any pre that makes my system sounding better, I have not found it.
Suchart

I think the 850 I auditioned run directly was a bit strident in the mid treble run directly into the amp. Having said that - what AMAZING soundstaging and imaging, not to mention ease of presentation and glorious midrange. Right now, it's too much $$ to pick up both the wadia and a top of the line pre (and that's what it would really need to add more flesh to each note (right now the emphasis is on the leading edge of notes, hence the imperssion of harshness)) - or perhaps an upgrade others have referred to-except I am not willing to spend $5k on a player that then needed another $2k to upgrade.... Just my $0.02.

Does anyone know how to adjust the output switches on the Wadia 850?