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Wadia upgrade - Levinson or Naim?

I am looking to upgrade from a Wadia 830 CD player. I really like some aspects about it, such as resolution of the fine harmonic structure of instruments, deep bass, and a strength (slam?) that refuses to let music be ignored. What I really want to be different is its tendency to highlight the upper midrange a bit. I would like something with a bit fuller upper bass?lower midrange, and a more relaxed upper midrange. Given this, if I could also get a more liquid sound and PRAT, that would put me in audio heaven. After reading as mucha as I can, the top contenders seem to be a Levinson 39 or a Naim CDX. Has anyone compared any of these 3 directly? What kind of differences between them did you hear?
honest1
jshaw1004
53 posts
 
Why don't you give Wadia 861 CD player a try? It seems to meet all your upgrade anticipation. And, one more thing, it builds like a tank. Good luck!
rja's avatar
rja
2,370 posts
 
Send your 830 to Great Northern Sound for reference mod package. You're not going to believe the sound improvement!
9rw's avatar
9rw
318 posts
 
I had the Levinson 37/360S combination, which I'm sure beats the 390S, and the Electrocompaniet EMC1 trounced it. And then the Wadia 861 did the same to the EMC1 (and later EMC1MKII). I'm with Jshaw1004 on this one.
jshaw1004
53 posts
 
Check out the testimonies that GNSC has done for Wadia products at http://www.greatnorthernsound.com/testimony/ FYR.
wehamilton
65 posts
 
I Just had my Wadia 301 upgraded by Reference Audio Mods and the imrprovement is dramatic. Great bang for the buck IMHO to upgrade through mods rather than buy/sell.

For about $650, I got the Superclock 2, a Jensen cap, and about 50 Black Gates installed. It's still breaking-in (BG's are notoriously slow), but it sounded better than stock upon first use, and it's still getting better (I'm only about half way through the 300 hour break-in period).

The improvements are many- more weight to the presentation, less digital sounding, better soundstage and timbre. Pianos now sound rich and full, with proper weight, whereas before they had a slightly glassy sound that was annoying.

Reference Audio Mods really represents a value in upgrading, IMHO, since they also sell the parts. In fact, I didn't even know about them until I was searching for the best prices on Black Gates for my amp, and another A'goner (Fiddler) recommended I check them out. Not only did they have the best prices, they also installed them for the same price. I had my amp, then my CDP modded and both were big improvements. Even in components costing twice as much as mine, you won't find BG's, Jensens and Audio Consulting silver hook-up wire inside. If you want to enjoy the benefits of that level of parts, you'll have to put them in yourself.

I never modded anything before doing my amp, but now I'm a believer. If you've got something you like, you can make it better for much less than buying a new component. And just to disclaim this, I have no connection with these guys other than as a satisfied customer who felt he got good value and great sound for the money.
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