I really enjoy all of the opinions and component comparisons
expressed on this board. The one thing that is so important to me though, is the fact that we all have different ears, different tastes, and different goals for our home music needs. This fact is not prefaced enough.
There are great cd players but none are THE greatest. I think we should have some way of knowing what a persons system goals are and what their playback expectations are. We all seem to have differing views as to what great sound quality truly is..even amongst us 'philes.
Some folks seem to like their music slower and more melodic and sweet. Others want dramatic highs and lows with little sweetness (coloration). Some like the neautral, everything towards the middle and...keep it light, no deep base kinda sound.
The Wadia gets after the music from a very different perspective than the Capitole seems to. The Wadia (stock) is aggressive. The leading edges of music is sharp and always on time, sometimes seemingly a hair too fast. Transients are unrivaled in my opinion. The player can express subtle shades of sound and color like I have not heard before. The midrange is pure though and true, although not in a tubey way. Running direct via the stock 861 can be a little grainy and electronic sounding. It sounded this way in my set up at the time.Having said that, running direct with an 861 will give you an incredile view and feel for exactly whats on the disc! This alone prompted me to upgrade my 861 with GNS.
Lastly, the 861 seems to re-positions the musical lasdscape differently somehow than other players I have heard in other systems. When I first listed to the Wadia, the sound of this "re-positioning" was strange. I was used to the flat 2d presentation of wide and deep and thought that was all there was. Vocalists are always centered between the speakers somewhere. Background singers are right at each speaker. Bass player and piano are between the speakers also. The transparency and depth is pretty good I think. The musicians on the soundstage are all in their own space.
In any case I prefer at this stage of my audiophilia, a big system and a big sound. I do want a high level of neuance and refinement though. I feel I am getting that now that my player has been "charm-schooled" by Steve at GNS.
I would like to try other players like the AA or the Lindeman someday for the fun of it. I really want to hear the differences.
