With Wadia, pre-amp or no pre-amp

With most (possiblly all) their designs Wadia recommends balanced ics for the shortest signal path and best performance. I went from Stealth PGS (excellent RCA's) to a balanced pair of Nordost Quattro fils w/ a Wadia 21i feeding a Coda 11 amp. The balanced Quattro's get my vote. Wish I had a pair of balanced PGS to do a real bal vs. single ended test. Steve Huntley at Great Northern Sound is better informed than most on what works well with Wadia gear.

My system consists of a Wadia 860x CD player, a BAT VK500 amplifier, Martin-Logan reQuest speakers, Nordost Quattro Fil interconnects XLR and Nordost SPM Reference speaker cables. In addition, there is a PS Audio P300 feeding the Wadia, one PS Audio 20-amp high current outlet for the speakers and one PS Audio 20-amp high current outlet for the amp. I run the Wadia straight into the VK500, no preamp. I adjusted the output voltage to .5 volts using the internal DIP switches. I sold a BAT VK50SE pre-amp. Today, I consider pre-amps as sound polluting devices........

JSL,
Your response is scary as your experience mirrors my own.
I too am thinking of selling my 50se. It's been sitting on standby for 6 months now since I received my statement upgrade from GNS. I may wait till I get a new set of cables and upgrade to the new 51se before finalizing my decision.

Running the unit direct is so sweet now. I can't say that I miss the pre at all. If you enjoy detail and no veils to your music, running direct can be a beautiful thing. However, I didn't always enjoy the direct sound prior to my mods. The sound was often too transparent and edgy at higher volumes. Thats all gone now fortunately.

I all depends on your listening habits. I have been selling Wadia equipment for almost 10 years. The digital volume does affect the sound.

If you like to listen at low volume levels late at night, you will really miss the lost resolution of the digital volume control at lower settings. In this case you will be better served with a good preamp. (A top notch preamp will not get between you and the music. Look at Wyetech, First Sound, Lamm, Pass)

If you normally listen at levels that are at 85% or higher, then the digital volume control should not be a problem.

It is possible to adjust the voltage output of the Wadias in order that you will have your digital volume setting at 85% or higher for your preferred listening volume.

Hope this helps

Go direct !!! I use Wadia 9 + 7 combo direct connect to the power amp, and I tell you there is no going back. I use to have the Mark Levinson No. 26S, that I just sold. Enough said ? Hope this help.

Regards
William

PS. I'd try to connect my old SAE cd player, that have variable out I try to connect to an el cheapo amp. Believe it or not, the sound and the resolution inproved the combo to the next level !!!